13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
Key Verse
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
1 Peter 1:23
Opening
Christians are people who have been born again.
Being born again does not mean that the person we once were becomes a little better.
It means that someone who was in sin and death receives new life in Jesus Christ and is born again as a child of God.
Today’s passage clearly shows who born-again Christians are and how they should live.
Born of water and the Spirit
→ Born again as children of God
→ Born again through the living Word
→ Living in the Word under the guidance of the Holy Spirit
→ Obeying the Word
→ Holiness
→ Loving one another deeply
1. Christians are people born of water and the Spirit.
John 3:5
“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
1 Peter 1:18–19
“But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”
Born of water and the Spirit
The precious blood of Jesus Christ
→ Cleansing from sin
→ Faith in Jesus Christ
→ The presence and seal of the Holy Spirit
→ New life
Christians are people who have been cleansed from sin by the precious blood of Jesus Christ and born of water and the Spirit, as the Holy Spirit dwells in those who believe in Christ.
This is connected to the fulfillment of the new covenant that God had already promised.
Jeremiah 31:31–34
The new covenant
→ God’s law placed within the heart
→ Written on the heart
→ “and will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
→ Sins forgiven and remembered no more
Ezekiel 36:25–27
Cleansed with clean water
→ Given a new heart
→ Given a new spirit
→ God’s Spirit placed within us
→ Enabled to live according to God’s Word
The new covenant was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
New life, born of water and the Spirit
2. Christians are people born again as children of God.
John 1:12–13
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”
“Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Being born again does not end simply with the forgiveness of sins.
Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has given new life to those who believe.
He has brought us to birth through the love of the cross.
Romans 8:15–16
We have received not a spirit of slavery that leads us back into fear, but the Spirit of adoption.
The Spirit Himself testifies that we are children of God.
The precious blood of Christ
→ Forgiveness of sins
→ New life
→ Born of God
→ Children of God
1 John 3:1–2
“that we should be called the sons of God”
Christians are not merely people whose sins have been forgiven.
They are people who have been born again as children of God.
That is why Peter says:
1 Peter 1:14
“As obedient children…”
Our identity has changed.
People who were under sin and death
→ Receiving new life in Christ
→ Children of God who call God their Father
3. Christians are people born again through the Word of God.
1 Peter 1:23
“by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
Why does Scripture say that we have been born again through the Word?
John 1:14
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us”
The One who came among us as the Word made flesh is Jesus Christ.
And 1 Peter 1:25 declares:
“And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
Therefore:
The Word
→ The gospel
→ Jesus Christ
→ Fulfillment of the new covenant
→ New life
→ Born again through the Word
As God promised in the new covenant, His Word is now not only a word written on tablets of stone, but a word inscribed on our hearts.
As we believe in Jesus Christ, who came as the Word made flesh,
are cleansed from sin by the precious blood of Christ,
and have the Holy Spirit dwelling among us,
we have become people born again through the living and eternal Word of God.
4. Those born again through the Word live in the Word.
Being born again is not the end.
It is the beginning of a new way of living in new life.
1 Peter 1:14–16
We no longer live according to our former desires.
“not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:”
We live in the likeness of our holy God.
“Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
Why do we live this way?
Because we have been born again through the Word, we live in the Word.
The guidance of the Holy Spirit
→ Living in the living Word
→ Hearing the Word
→ Obeying the Word
→ A holy life
→ The fruit of the Spirit
Romans 8:14
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
Therefore:
God’s children live in obedience to the Word with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
For those born again through the Word, the Word is not merely knowledge they possess.
The Word is the standard by which they live.
5. Living in the Word means loving one another.
1 Peter 1:22
“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:”
What is the fruit of a life that obeys the Word?
It is love.
It does not end with knowing a great deal about the Word.
Those born again through the Word live in the Word.
Those who live in the Word obey the Word.
Those who obey the Word love one another.
Then why have we become able to live in love for one another in Christ?
1 John 4:19
“We love him, because he first loved us.”
It is because Jesus Christ, who came as the Word made flesh, loved us first.
That love was shown most clearly on the cross.
Receiving the love of Christ’s cross
→ Born again as children of God
→ The guidance of the Holy Spirit
→ Obeying the Word
→ Loving one another deeply
Therefore, a life lived in the Word, in Christ, is ultimately
a life of loving one another and bringing life to others.
Closing
Christians are people who have been born again.
They are people born of water and the Spirit.
They are people born again as children of God.
They are people born again through the living and eternal Word of God.
And God’s children, born again through the Word, now live in the Word.
The precious blood of Christ
→ Cleansing from sin
→ The presence and seal of the Holy Spirit
→ Born of water and the Spirit
→ Children of God
→ Born again through the Word
→ The guidance of the Holy Spirit
→ Living in the living Word
→ Obeying the Word
→ A holy life
→ Loving one another deeply
→ Bringing life to others wherever we have been placed
Final Declaration
Those born again through the Word live in the Word.
Those who live in the Word obey the Word under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Those who obey the Word love one another deeply.
And that love is expressed in a life that brings life to others wherever each of us has been placed.
This is the life of God’s children who have been born again through the Word.