1. Purified to Love 1 Peter 1:22-23a Troy Self, Associate Pastor

2. Introduction The supreme expression of my Christlikeness is not merely my standards of separation, a zeal to win souls, a compulsion to search and be right in Scripture and doctrine of Scripture, but love…and particularly love of fellow Christians. (John 13:35) By this all shall know that you are My disciples, if you have love toward one another.

3. A proposed outline: When Were Believers Enabled to Love? Who Are Believers to Love? How Are Believers to Love?

4. When Were Believers Enabled to Love? Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth Our status: purified Peter writes that the believers have cleansed themselves morally. He does not mean that they have washed their bodies or have undergone ceremonial cleansings to participate in a religious feast.

5. When Were Believers Enabled to Love? In fact, the New Testament is devoid of ceremonial regulations—except for the decree to abstain from eating sacrificial food, blood, or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. Kistemaker:The readers understood the verb purify in terms of moral purity. They themselves have been and are personally involved in purifying themselves (see James 4:8; I John 3:3).

6. When Were Believers Enabled to Love? Gill: they had been impure; and indeed, their whole persons, souls and bodies, were so by nature; even all the members of their bodies, and all the powers and faculties of their souls: it is internal purity, purity of the heart, that is here particularly respected; though not to the exclusion of outward purity, for where there is the former, there will be the latter; but there may be an external purity, where there is not the inward one: this the apostle ascribes to the saints themselves, but not without the grace of God, the blood of Christ, and the operations of his Spirit;

7. When Were Believers Enabled to Love? Purified souls are also converted souls In Psalm 19:7, the Hebrew word translated converting is shuwb. It means to “return … come back to; to turn around (figuratively); to turn to Jehovah … to cease from … to restore (Lexical Aids to the Old Testament, The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible). So, how does the Law of God convert the soul?

8. Converting the soul…Psalm 19 Note the sequence in Psalm 19: “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul.” The Law reveals the holy nature of God, which is in direct contrast to the sinful nature. “The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.” Testimonies are the stories of God’s dealings with individuals and His nation. They reveal His ways, which often involve the birth, death, and fulfillment of a vision.

9. Converting the soul…Psalm 19 “The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart.” Statutes are Biblical principles applied to specific situations. The heart affirms their wisdom. “The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.” As we read God’s Word, the Holy Spirit reveals to us truths that we would not otherwise understand and brings us to conclusions that we would not reach using our own reasoning.

10. Converting the soul…Psalm 19 “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever.” When we are aware that God is watching and evaluating every one of our words, thoughts, and actions, we begin to understand wisdom, which is an essential tool for every converted soul. “The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.” The formal decrees of God are just and right because they are expressions of His holy nature.

11. Converting the soul…Psalm 19 Until the soul is converted, we will not understand the ways of God and will often be frustrated by things that happen.

12. When Were Believers Enabled to Love? The means: obeying the truth How do believers attain purity? Peter explains, “By obeying the truth.” He means that the believers are obedient to the truth of God’s Word; when they live obediently in that sphere, they are pure. The sphere of obedience is God’s revelation in Jesus Christ (v. 12).

13. When Were Believers Enabled to Love? Peter implies that the readers have accepted the teachings of the gospel in faith. The result: unfeigned [sincere] love “unto unfeigned love of the brethren.” When we obey the Word of God, we express our love not only to God but also to our neighbor. In the New Testament the words neighbor and brother have equal standing in respect to the command to love one’s fellow man.

14. When Were Believers Enabled to Love? Nevertheless, in the context of the New Testament epistles the word brother has a spiritual meaning; it refers to brothers and sisters in Christ This brotherly love must be sincere, without hypocrisy (2 Corinthians 6:6) By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned…

15. Who Are Believers to Love? The object of sincere love: the brethren At salvation, believers become members of Christ’s body, the church, which then becomes the target for their new, Spirit-empowered capacity for love Sincere love is the prevailing standard for believers God can use the loving unity of believers to attract a lost world and awaken it to its need for salvation

16. Who Are Believers to Love? The command: love one another The emphasis falls on the main verb, purposely placed in the last part of the verse: “Love one another with a pure heart fervently...” Peter precludes the possibility that members of the Christian community will have only a liking for one another without deeply loving each other from the heart.

17. Who Are Believers to Love? Peter repeats the command first given by Jesus on the night of his betrayal (John 13:34) and taught by the apostles Paul (I Thess. 3:12; 4:9; II Thess. 1:3), Peter (I Peter 1:22; 2:17; 3:8; 4:8), and John (I John 3:23). Peter qualifies the command to love with two adverbial expressions: “fervently” and “from the heart.”

18. How Are Believers to Love? Fervently The well-known New Testament verb agapaō expresses the ideal kind of love, that which is exercised by the will rather than emotion, not determined by the beauty or desirability of the object, but by the noble intention of the one who loves. Fervently (ektenōs) is a physiological term meaning to stretch to the furthest limit of a muscle’s capacity.

19. How Are Believers to Love? Metaphorically, the word means to go all out, to reach the furthest extent of something (Luke 22:44; Acts 12:5; cf. Acts 26:7). That is how Peter used it in 1 Peter 4:8 when he wrote, “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” God wants believers’ love to stretch way out so it graciously forgives and covers sin among believers