1 Peter 1:17 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.
2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
MEMORY VERSE: Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: —1 Peter 1:18, 19
CENTRAL THOUGHT: Because we have been delivered from the power of sin and eternal damnation by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His shed blood, we must diligently lay aside all ungodliness in obedience to His Word, and walk in love and obedience to God faithfully.
WORD DEFINITIONS
1 Peter 1:17, “without respect of persons”: Not judging by outward appearance. “pass the time of your sojourning here”: Live in this earthly pilgrimage. “in fear”: With due respect and reverence before God.
Ver. 18, “vain conversation”: Worldly life and conduct. “tradition from your fathers”: Copying the life style shown by your kinsmen.
Ver. 19, “precious blood”: No other blood could avail for our salvation.
Ver. 20, “verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world”: Truly was planned and purposed from eternity.
Ver. 23, “born again”: Spiritually born from above. John 3:3-7
Ver. 25, “gospel”: The good news and glad tidings of salvation.
Chapter 2:1, “malice”: Ill-will and hatred. “guile”: Deceitful ways and conversation. “hypocrisies”: Deceitful actions under pretence. “envies”: Ill will and jealousy.
Ver. 2, “sincere milk of the word”: The true basic principles of God’s word.
Ver. 3, “gracious”: Kind, useful, beneficial, and lovingly helpful.
Ver. 4, “disallowed”: Refused and rejected. “precious”: Honorable, dear, and of great value.
Ver. 5, “lively stones”: Members who are spiritually alive and quick to do, strong and steadfast. “spiritual house”: A holy dwelling of faith and eternal life. “spiritual sacrifices”: Offerings of honor and worship to God and obedience to His word regardless of the cost.
LESSON BACKGROUND
Our lesson today is a continuing on of Peter’s wise counsel in his epistle. It had been brought out in previous verses how this great salvation had been inquired of and searched diligently by the prophets who prophesied of the great grace that was to come to us through Christ. It was even stated that the angels desire to look into these wonderful blessings, and, seeing the earnest desire of the prophets and the angels, we also ought to give earnest thought and consideration. We must set our hearts on these wonderful treasures of eternal wealth, forsake the ways of worldly lust and earthly vanity, and seek earnestly to be holy in all of our ways of life. Peter quoted from Leviticus 11:44 and 45, stating that we should be completely holy in all manner of conversation. He urges us to pass the time of this earthly pilgrimage in godly fear, a vital and important admonition to which we should take heed.
He states that our redemption was not by the vanities of wealth and worldly wisdom. The price paid for our salvation was the precious blood of Christ, the Lamb of God. Jesus allowed those wicked men to nail Him to the cross, where He was lifted up to be seen by mankind, a plan ordained before the world was created. It came to pass in God’s purposed time for us and all humanity. By Christ, we believe in God who raised Him from the dead to eternal glory. Seeing that we have gained this purity of heart and soul from Him, as an example of love to humanity, we must now be diligent to love one another with a pure heart fervently. What a wonderful privilege we have to take advantage of what Christ has accomplished and provided for us! How diligent and earnest we need to be in our loving service to Him, Who is the living Stone, rejected of men, but chosen and so precious to God!
–Bro. Leslie Busbee
QUESTIONS:
1. Why do we need to live our earthly lives in godly reverence and fear?
2. What price was paid for our deliverance from sin and death?
3. Who was it that paid so willingly and faithfully that awful price?
4. Because of that price, what steps should be taken in our hearts and lives?
5. How can we truly purify our souls, and what are the wonderful results?
6. Why was Christ so disallowed and rejected by mankind?
7. How can He be accepted, honored, and so precious to us?
8. What is our future as mortals if we are not born again?
COMMENTS AND APPLICATION
Oh, how wonderful is this great plan of salvation that Christ accomplished for us by His willing death on Calvary! If we will take heed to the truth of the Bible concerning Christ and what He suffered for us, think what gain and benefit we will have! We will save our precious inner being from eternal ruin and loss! This earthly life is just a short sojourn. Even if we live a hundred years it will soon be over. Think of the millions of people who have lived on earth down through the ages! We need to wake up to the truth of our existence! We are mortals, and our earthly days are passing so swiftly! Oh, there is something in the inside of a human being that is yearning and reaching for hope and a brighter future. Can we believe it? Why can’t we? The Holy Spirit of God is everywhere, knocking at the hearts of humanity. The gospel of Christ has been brought forth and made fully known. How much more can be done or said?
We realize that God is not going to force Himself on us. There are other attractions that work against His wonderful appeal. The world, the flesh, riches, pleasure, and other allurements work against the appeal of the grace of God. So sad, so sad it is that the majority of society is carried away and deceived! Things seen and felt by fleshly appetites have the pre-eminence, but we know that the Spirit of God can help us to be drawn to His grace.
We can look back down the journey of this earthly tread and rejoice in the goodness and drawing power of His love and grace. We have the Holy Bible that contains the heart-drawing message of declaration and attraction. There are godly and holy people who are inspired and used of God to hold forth the message of His great love and salvation. In the days of youth a person needs to get serious about his or her eternal welfare—the sooner one can make that wise decision, the better off he or she will be!
—Bro. Leslie Busbee
REFLECTIONS
It is always fascinating to look at a globe of the Earth and observe all of the various continents separated by vast bodies of water. Then, it is always interesting to find the country in which you live and then be able to point to your area of residence. It is mind boggling to think about the fact that this planet Earth is home to over seven billion people: and our Lord created each one of them and knows them by name. He even knows the thoughts and intents of the heart of each soul.
Then think of Calvary and the crucifixion of Christ and all that was accomplished there. The Lord Jesus Christ provided the perfect sacrifice of redemption for all mankind. This great salvation was not reserved for just those people born in the first one hundred years after Christ’s birth. Nor has it expired in this, the twenty-first century. The precious blood of Jesus was shed for all people regardless of their gender, race, culture or location. He was the perfect sacrifice to take away the sins of the whole world: for all sins, for all time, for all people. The power of the blood is not diminished by the sins of seven billion people. It is still able to save to the uttermost.
Is it any wonder that the Apostle Paul described this as a great salvation? It brings a clearer meaning of the most quoted scripture in the Bible “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. We praise the Lord for this plan of salvation!
–Sis. LaDawna Adams
NICODEMUS WAS CONFUSED BY STEVE FINNELL
John 3:5 Jesus answered. “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (NKJV)
Those who deny that Jesus was talking about water baptism present two conflicting possibilities. 1. That Jesus was referring to amniotic when He mentioned water. and 2. That Jesus was saying that water was referring to the Holy Spirit.
1.Did Jesus really mean that a qualification to enter the kingdom of God was you must be born of amniotic fluid?
2. To say that water is synonymous with the Holy Spirit, then John 3:5 would be translated as such. Unless one is born of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. There is no Bible translation that translates it that way.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (NKJV)
Jesus said you must be born again. Being born of amniotic fluid is being born the first time. It is not being born again. Natural childbirth is not a requirement to enter the kingdom of God.
When Jesus said you must be born of water He clearly meant water baptism.
When Jesus said you must be born of Spirit He certainly meant the Holy Spirit.
Nicodemus was confused about being born again, he was not confused about being born the first time.
Being born of water is a requirement to enter the kingdom of God. That is an undeniable fact.
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Dear Brother,
Thank you for your interest in the lesson, and the comment.
May I present a third possibility? This is one which, after careful study, because I had a question about “water and the Spirit”, has satisfied me on the subject.
Have you considered the thought about the WORD being the ACTUAL thing SIGNIFIED by the water? Here are some Scriptures that come to mind:
I Peter 1:23 “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”
James 1:18 “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.”
Titus 3:5 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;”
Ephesians 5:26 “That he might sanctify it and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,”
John 15:3 “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.”
John 1:12-14 “But as many as received him [the Word], 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 man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. . .”
Surely through these Scriptures we see that the Word of God and the Spirit of God are the regenerating agents, not water baptism. Baptism, although a rite commanded by Jesus, and mandated by His own example, only signifies the new birth, or life, which has already been given, and the death and burial of the old life of sin. Peter describes it as “an answer of a good conscience toward God.” I Peter 3:21. That reminds me of Hebrews 9:14, which tells us that the blood of Christ is what purges our conscience from the dead works of trespasses and sin. Baptism symbolizes that inward cleansing.
Again, thank you for your thoughts and consideration. May God continually lead us by His Spirit.
Sincerely,
Angela Gellenbeck