Crave

The Gospel for REAL Life - A Study of 1 Peter  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  51:39
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Today we are continuing our study through Peter’s 1st letter.
Peter wrote this letter to encourage believers in His day. However, the words the Holy Spirit inspired Him to write, are just as needed today. We face the same struggles of various kinds. God allows trials in our lives to test us. Not so that we will fail. But so that our faith will grow, and be seen to be true. He tests us to see us succeed in this life, and to see how faith will be rewarded.
Peter begins this letter encouraging the believers with the precious gift of salvation that God has given us.
He reminds them that they have been
Chosen by the Father - 1 Peter 1:1-2
Sanctified by the Spirit - 1 Peter 1:2
Brought into obedience and sprinkling with Jesus’ blood - 1 Peter 1:2
Born again to living hope - 1 Peter 1:3
Inheritance, imperishable, undefiled, never ending, reserved for them - 1 Peter 1:4
Protected by God’s power - 1 Peter 1:5
Salvation is coming - 1 Peter 1:5
Trials are for showing their faith, for their success and reward - 1 Peter 1:6-7
After going over these great blessings, Peter reminds them to
Fix their hope on the grace coming to them - 1 Peter 1:13 (Preparing their minds for action, and thinking properly)
Be holy, be like your Father - 1 Peter 1:14, not conforming to the old ways of the world
Live life in reverent fear - 1 Peter 1:17, knowing Him, and the precious price payed for your salvation, not wanting to disappoint Him
That brings us to the portion we will be looking at today. 1 Peter 1:22-2:3. Let’s read it together.
1 Peter 1:22–2:3 NIV
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Let’s Pray.
Peter begins by saying,
1 Peter 1:22 NIV
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.
Just like Peter has been doing so far, he gives an exhortation for how the people should be living, but that exhortation flows out of the blessing of God.
Look at this verse closely. What is the exhortation?
Love one another deeply, from the heart
What is all that comes before the exhortation? The setting. The circumstance in which we live.
To try to make this clear, lets look at a similar sentence, using our immediate context. It is like saying,
Now that you have arrived here at the church by driving in your car so that you are joining in worship, worship the Lord from your heart.
Setting: Now that you have arrived here at the church by driving your car so that you are joining in worship
Exhortation: worship the Lord from your heart.
The command is to worship from the heart.
The setting is that you have already arrived here and are joining in worship.
The same goes for Peter’s exhortation.
Setting: Now that your souls are purified by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other
Exhortation: Love on another deeply from the heart
The setting is the circumstance we are in. We have been purified. We have been washed when we were saved. This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.
1 Corinthians 6:9–11 NIV
Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
How were we washed and purified? When God saved us!
Titus 3:5 NIV
he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
When we believe the good news, God saves us. We are washed from all our sins. We are forgiven and purified. But now only does he wash us clean, he purifies and renews. He gives us new life. That is being born again. Born into a new life. Born as a new creation. Born as a child of God, to be like Him, in His image, righteous and holy.
That is why Peter says, our souls were purified by obeying the truth. The truth is the word of God, John 17:17. Obeying the truth means we listened to what God’s Word, what God has said, and to believe it. That is the obedience God desires! Jesus said in John 6:29, the work God wants from us is to believe in Him, the one God sent to save us. or as John wrote in 1 John 3:23, God’s command is to believe in the one He has sent, and to love one another!
We were purified the moment we obeyed the truth that God sent His Son to save us. We obey it by believing it! We obey it by relying on it alone! Faith is more than lip service. Faith is action based upon full reliance.
Peter also says that our circumstance is that we were purified which resulted in something. What did the purification result in? A sincere love for each other.
What does sincere mean? It is more than lip service. It is more than just saying to your face, ‘I love you.’ It is real love. And real love results in real actions.
According to this verse, we are in the circumstance of having sincere love for each other. We have it. It is a done deal.
Really? Than why do I see a lack of love in myself? Why do I struggle to love others? Why do I struggle to think of others instead of just thinking of myself? Why do I struggle to show love to others instead of dwelling on how they have done wrong?
If you are like me, I tend to operate believing that I do not have sincere love. So, I pray, God, give me love for them.
Is that a proper prayer? What does God say in His word? What is this verse saying? Do I really have sincere love, or don’t I? Do I need God to give me sincere love, or did He give it already?
Let’s move on for a bit, and come back to this. I think Peter expands on this, and we might get more understanding as we go along.
How were we purified? How were we born again?
1 Peter 1:23 NIV
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
God uses His word to give us new birth.
Peter uses two illustrations for the word of God in this verse, and the verses that follow.
The first is the seed. The Word of God is called a seed.
When you plant a seed in the ground, does it have all the information, all the genetics that it needs for the plant to grow to full maturity? For instance, an apple seed. Is it lacking anything? No. That seed has everything that is needed for the plant to grow and bear fruit. It just needs to be planted in the ground. It does need some watering, or ongoing nourishment, but it has all that is needed for full maturity.
The word of God has been planted in us! God planted His word in our hearts. He has saved us. The plant has started to grow! The seed has all that is needed for the plant to grow to full maturity and bear fruit! Nothing else needs to be added! It is all in there!
But just like a seed in the garden, it needs to space to grow. Weeds need to be pulled out.
That is why Peter then says,
1 Peter 2:1 NIV
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
There are weeds in our hearts. Notice that these things mentioned here come from the heart, from our old wicked heart. When those weeds are there, the new growth of the word of God is smothered, and hard to find. It is hindered in its growth.
Is the plant there? Yes. It is there. It is just being choked out by the weeds. So, what is the need? The need is to pull the weeds, and let the plant grow!
Our circumstance is that God has purified us.
Our circumstance is that God has planted His word in our hearts.
Our circumstance is that God has given us sincere love for each other.
The problem is not that I lack love, but that it is choked out by the malice, the deceit, the hypocrisy, the envy, and all the other evils of my heart.
1 Peter 2:2–3 NIV
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
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