A LIVING HOPE, Ron Ward
BORN OF IMPERISHABLE SEED
Passage: 1Peter 1:22~2:3  
Key verse: 1:23
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 Peter 1:22 Some early manuscripts from a pure heart
- 1 Peter 1:25 Isaiah 40:6-8 (see Septuagint)
Cross references
- 1 Peter 1:22 : Jas 4:8
- 1 Peter 1:22 : ver 2, 14
- 1 Peter 1:22 : S Jn 13:34; S Ro 12:10
- 1 Peter 1:23 : ver 3; S Jn 1:13
- 1 Peter 1:23 : Jn 1:13
- 1 Peter 1:23 : S Heb 4:12
- 1 Peter 1:25 : Isa 40:6-8; S Jas 1:10, 11
- 1 Peter 2:1 : S Eph 4:22
- 1 Peter 2:1 : S Jas 4:11
- 1 Peter 2:2 : 1Co 3:2; Heb 5:12, 13
- 1 Peter 2:2 : Eph 4:15, 16
- 1 Peter 2:3 : Ps 34:8; Heb 6:5
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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!