Study
of First Peter Lesson
19
Review:
Observations:
1. Peter made it clear in vs:22
that purification of our souls was necessary if we are to love one another from
a pure heart.
2. This he reminds us requires obedience to the Word of God,
the empowering of the Holy Spirit and an understanding of the Word.
3. Now in vs:23 Peter turns to our new birth in order to
establish the basis for our being able to fulfill the command to love from a
pure heart.
4. What Peter is arguing here is that the
"offspring" (the believer fulfilling the command to love) should have
the same nature as the "seed" that produced it!
5. Our love should be lasting because the seed (the Word) by
which we were regenerated is everlasting.
6. As all creation was brought into existence by the spoken
Word of God (“And God said, ‘let there be … ’” Genesis 1:3f.), so we were brought to life by His Word.
7. Since this seed, the Word, is imperishable so also is the
salvation that flows to us from the results of regeneration.
8. The nature of this Word is that it is living and enduring
and it is so because the One who speaks is eternal, faithful, and truth and has
the power and ability to carryout all that He says, all that He promises.
1:24-25 Peter expands on the
permanency of the Word of God
Quote here
from Isa 40:6-8. A passage designed to bring comfort
to
With this quote he
depicts the transitory nature of human life when compared to the eternal nature
of the Word.
All the glory of human existence he's saying is as temporal in nature as is the
grass, the flowering plant.
By glory he's bringing into view all of man's achievements by which mankind
is attempting to commend themselves to one another.
Peter continues THE
GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF,
Both of these verbs
are gnomic aorist which says we have a timeless fact presented,
its true yesterday - today - tomorrow.
"BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER."
THE WORD r`h/ma speaks of what is communicated most often
used of the spoken word
But the Word of the Lord, kurioj refers to His authority, rulership
abides
me,nw, abides, remains, endures; the present is what
is referred to as a customary present, which says the word abides or endures
continually then as well as now and also tomorrow.
This last phrase And this is the
word which was preached to you.
actually defines the portion of the Word that is being focused on, the gospel message communicated to them.
Summary of 1:24-25
1. Peter is further illustrating
the fact that the Word of God is living and enduring by his comparing it to the
transitory nature of mankind and the flower of the grass.
2. Peter's point here is that
physical birth inevitably leads to physical death.
3. It is the sin nature which
resides in the body that not only corrupts our thinking and viewpoint when in
rulership and it also contains the aging factor.
4. Our "new birth"
stands in contrast and cannot be negated by physical death or anything else for
that matter. (Rem. Rom 8:38-39)
- Reason is
that since its seed is imperishable so is the result, our eternal future with
Him.
5. This then is another proof
text for our positional or eternal security as believers in Christ.
6. Since we have been born
again/regenerated through the agency of the living - enduring Word we should
eagerly desire the milk of the Word even as the new believer.