BORN OF IMPERISHABLE SEED

Passage: 1 Peter 1:22-2:3

Key verse: 1:23

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
1. Have sincere love for each other (1:22-25) When we obey the truth of God, and learn to love one another, God purifies us. Because we have been purified, God's people should love one another deeply, from the heart, not with the hope of getting something in return. Why should we do this? Because we have been born again. In fact, we are born of imperishable seed. All people are perishable, just like the grass. But, like the word of the Lord endures forever, so we are born again to eternal life. Because of God's word, we are imperishable! 2. Crave pure spiritual milk (2:1-3) How can we love each other deeply? First, we need to rid ourselves of all sin (deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of any kind). Next, we need to crave pure spiritual milk. If we don't crave the things of God, sin is ultimately what we end up craving. We have tasted that the Lord is good. Let us therefore crave the things of God.

Prayer: Lord, thank you that we have been born again of imperishable seed. Help us to love one another and to crave pure spiritual milk.

One Word: I am born of imperishable seed!