BORN THROUGH THE LIVING AND ENDURING WORD OF GOD

Passage: 1 Peter 1:22-2:3

Key verse: 1:22

NIV

22 Now that you have purified(A) yourselves by obeying(B) the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply,(C) from the heart.[a] 23 For you have been born again,(D) not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,(E) through the living and enduring word of God.(F) 24 For,

“All people are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25     but the word of the Lord endures forever.”[b](G)

And this is the word that was preached to you.

2 Therefore, rid yourselves(H) of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander(I) of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk,(J) so that by it you may grow up(K) in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.(L)

Footnotes
  1. 1 Peter 1:22 Some early manuscripts from a pure heart
  2. 1 Peter 1:25 Isaiah 40:6-8 (see Septuagint)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for (A)a sincere brotherly love, (B)love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 (C)since you have been born again, (D)not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through (E)the living and abiding word of God; 24 for

(F)“All flesh is like grass
    and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
    and the flower falls,
25 (G)but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word (H)is the good news that was preached to you.

A Living Stone and a Holy People

2 (I)So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 (J)Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual (K)milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have (L)tasted that the Lord is good.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

Our faith in Jesus purifies and transforms us so that we have sincere love for each other in our hearts. God gave us His one and only Son because He so loved the world. Our lives change when we love one another deeply, not with mere words, but from our hearts. We should get rid of all malice and deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind so that we may walk in love.

We have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of what is imperishable through the living and enduing word of God. Nothing in this world, not even human glory, endures forever. Only the word of the Lord endures forever. We must acknowledge that it is His word that allows us to grow. As we grow in our salvation, we will grow into the image of God and in our love for one another.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving us new birth through Your word. Help us to crave Your word so that by it we may grow up in our salvation. Help us to love one another deeply from our hearts just as You have loved us.

One Word: Love one another deeply