Read with Me
1 Peter 1:22-25 (HCSB)
By obedience to the truth, having purified yourselves for sincere love of the brothers, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again—not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God.
For
All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory like a flower of the grass.
The grass withers, and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.
And this is the word that was preached as the gospel to you.
Listen with Me
The mode and methodology of salvation have been hotly debated in the Church over the centuries. Some have taken the position that salvation is purely an act of God, with nothing required on the part of the people except faith. Others have taken a position that obedience is vital to salvation and to remaining in it.
But here we see Peter looking at the issue not as either/or, but as both/and. He urges his readers to love each other sincerely having purified themselves by obedience to the truth. But in the very next sentence, he acknowledges that it is the new birth through the word of God makes that obedience possible.
Peter understands that there is an element of self-effort in the purification process, that without the active engagement of the will, obeying God’s commands out of sincere love and gratitude, there can be no real purity, no true holiness. That is because the holiness God gives is a holiness of heart that must be worked out in the life of each person’s words and actions. God does not make cut-glass saints good only for display on the shelves and reliquaries of the Church. Instead, He creates mighty saints, powerful ambassadors of His kingdom on earth, who go forth carrying the power of God and His purity into the real world and transforming the world wherever they go.
But the ability to live out what God makes possible must originate in the individual will. Fear, distrust, and an unwillingness to take the light into the dark places to which God sends us, effectively nullify the purity and power God has placed in our hearts. It is only when we as God’s people trust Him, only when we believe the word of the Lord that endures forever and that has been taught to us, that we can truly become all God can make of us.
Pray with Me
Father, I think too much of the time we only believe that You can do in us what we see a way to do in ourselves. We believe You can help us to be better, but we don’t see ourselves as ever able to rise to the level of truly being a saint. But the gospels and epistles are replete with Your promises to fill us with Your Spirit, to purify our hearts, and to empower us to do amazing things that will move your plan forward. All of these are not just true in theory. They have been lived out by the great saints all through the ages, not by their own internal fortitude, but by You living and moving freely in and through them. Lord, help me to believe all You have shown me in Your word, and help me to be willing to work with You and allow You to live them out in and through me today. Amen.