1 Peter 1:22-25
Revised Standard Version
22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brethren, love one another earnestly from the heart. 23 You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers, and the flower falls,
25 but the word of the Lord abides for ever.”
That word is the good news which was preached to you.
- What is your first impression in reading these verses?
The concept of obedience purifying sticks out. For others it was the eternal and imperishable aspects of the good news. The gospel is what underlies the eternal as the flesh is perishable. The discussion centered around the act of accepting Christ is the act option of being obedient. This is not a saved by works piece, but recognition that Christians have accepted Christ as their savior.
- What does the phrase “purified your souls” mean to you?
The big answer was cleansed from your sins. By the blood of Christ that we worked on last lesson. God forgives, and we are forgiven, but it is because of what Christ did. I picture us putting on the robe of righteousness before we stand before the judgement throne.
- What does the phrase “obedience to the truth” mean to you?
Again, from the discussion above of first impression it is believing and following the gospel, the good news, that Christ died for us, so we can live.
- A) What does the phrase “earnestly from the heart” mean to you?
The group answered were genuine, with Christ, and from God. My original notes had oneness with Christ.
- B) What does “brotherly love” mean to you?
It was best put something like, “No matter how big a screw up my brother is, I still love him because he is my brother.”
Taken together, we discussed these two from a perspective of “I personally cannot love, because I do not care, but I can love because of Christ in me loving.” God made us to need Him and to be capable of love, but sin and our sin natures make it impossible to really love without relying totally on God. So when my heart is aligned with Christ, then I can love my brother because he also is loved by Christ.
- What does “Living and abiding Word of God” mean to you?
We spent time discussing the difference between versions with abiding vs. enduring. For me, the abiding meant God’s Word was dwelling in our hearts, active (living) in us, creating alignment between us and the ideal of Christ. For others abiding was no different from enduring which for me was only that it lasts forever. I just felt the permanence was not the focus so much as the indwelling.
- What does “flesh like grass” mean to you?
The idea was basically that our earthly lives are short and purposeful.
- What does “abides forever” mean to you?
As from above, I took this t0 mean once Christ is in your heart, he never leaves.
- The last point was to compare grass/perishable with imperishable/born anew.
We did not get there, but the idea was to sum up the new life we have in Christ that allows us to focus on the eternal, to love those around us as Christ loves them, and to do so with some urgency knowing this age will not endure as will the new heaven and new earth.