1 Peter 1:22-2:3

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 99:1-5
• Hymn — My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less (#521)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Hymn — Amazing Grace (#460)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — 1 Peter 1:22–2:3
• Sermon
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: The Power of God's Word

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:22–2:3

I. The Power of God's Word That Brings Love

1 Peter 1:22

A. Purified souls come from obedience to the truth

1. "The truth" is the whole counsel of God's Word, centered on Jesus Christ
2. The obedience Peter calls for is the obedience of faith — repent and believe on Christ
3. This is simpler than Old Testament obedience because Christ fulfills all that the law required

B. The evidence of a purified heart is earnest love for brothers and sisters in Christ

1. The Greek word translated earnestly means "stretched" or "strained" — the same word used of Jesus in Gethsemane
2. This love is active, not merely a feeling or state of mind
3. Christ's own pure, stretched, dying love for the church is the source: Ephesians 5:25–26 — Christ loved the church and gave himself for her, cleansing her by the washing of water with the word
4. When Christ penetrates the heart by his Spirit through the Word, his pure active love replaces our impure, selfish desires

II. The Power of God's Word That Brings Life

1 Peter 1:23–25

A. The new birth is accomplished through the living and abiding Word of God

1. This is the second mention of new birth in the epistle; the first, in 1 Peter 1:3, names the resurrection of Christ as the agent of new birth
2. Here the agent is the living and abiding Word of God — resurrection and Word are presented as almost interchangeable: to be reborn by the Word received in faith is to be reborn by the resurrection of Christ
3. 1 Peter 1:8 — though these believers have not seen Christ, they believe and rejoice; the resurrection is brought before them through the proclaimed Word
4. Galatians 3:1–2 — Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified before the eyes of the Galatians through the preached Word received by faith

B. The whole counsel of God and Christ cannot be separated

1. John 1 — the Word of God was made flesh; to receive Christ is to receive the Word made flesh
2. To deny the inerrancy of God's Word is to deny Christ; you cannot embrace Christ while rejecting the whole counsel of Scripture
3. Christ is the yes and amen to all of God's Word; his fulfillment of Scripture proves their inseparability

C. The whole counsel of God finds its focus in the gospel of Jesus Christ

1. Peter quotes Isaiah 40:6–8 — all flesh is like grass, but the Word of the Lord stands forever
2. He then identifies this enduring Word with the gospel: "this word is the good news that was preached to you" (1 Peter 1:25)
3. The proclamation of the gospel is the primary means by which God plants his life-giving, imperishable seed in the heart

III. The Power of God's Word That Brings Growth

1 Peter 2:1–3

A. Those born again by the Word must put off sins that destroy brotherly love

1. The list — malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander — deals with horizontal relationships within the covenant community
2. To love from a pure heart requires both positive pursuit of brothers and sisters and negative mortification of these vices

B. The newborn believer is to be nurtured and grow by the pure milk of the Word

1. The Greek word translated spiritual (logikon) is rooted in logos (word); the KJV and NASB render it "the milk of the word"
2. The same Word that plants the imperishable seed of new birth also nourishes, strengthens, and grows the believer into salvation
3. The already/not yet dynamic: believers are already born again and seated in Christ (1 Peter 1), yet still growing toward the consummation of salvation
4. As faith is tested through suffering, believers grow closer to the day of Christ's return and taste more of the coming glory
5. "If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good" (1 Peter 2:3) — the Word is where we taste the goodness of the Lord

C. The doctrine of inerrancy is inseparable from the gospel itself

1. If God's Word in all its counsel is not trustworthy, then Christ is not trustworthy and the believer has nothing to stand on
2. Because Christ's Word is trustworthy, believers are called to feed on it daily, be reminded of their identity as new creations, and grow more and more into the salvation that is theirs in Christ