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BEREAN COMMUNITY CHURCH

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1 Peter 1:20-25

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Wednesday February 16, 2021

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1 Peter 1:20–25 (NASB95)

²⁰For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you 

²¹who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 

²²Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 

²³for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 

²⁴For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off, 

²⁵But the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you.

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Group Discussions

1. Share the inductive questions you came up with in your prep of 1 Peter 1:20-25.

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• Share some of the observations you made in your study of 1 Peter 1:20-25.

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• What is the relationship between a Christian’s life of love and his/her understanding of the Word of God? Can a Christian live in bitterness and unforgiveness?

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Three Imperatives in Response to 1:3-12 found in 1:13-19

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v.13 – fix hope completely (aorist active)

v.15 – be holy in your behavior (aorist passive)

v.17 – conduct yourselves in fear (aorist passive)

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Three Imperatives in Response to 1:3-12 found in 1:13-19

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v.13 – fix hope completely (aorist active)

v.15 – be holy in your behavior (aorist passive)

v.17 – conduct yourselves in fear (aorist passive)

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v. 22 – love fervently (aorist active)

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Power and Will of God from Ch. 1

• 1:2 / has foreknowledge
• 1:2 / sanctifies
• 1:2 / raise Jesus from the dead
• 1:3 / causes re-birth
• 1:5 / protect perfectly
• 1:6 / allows for trials and distress
• 1:11 / predicts and ordains
• 1:12 / reveals plan
• 1:15 / is holy
• 1:17 / judges perfectly
• 1:18 / redeems
• 1:20 / foreknows and reveals
• 1:21 / raise Jesus from the dead
• 1:21 / glorifies Jesus
• 1:23 / causes re-birth
• 1:25 / reveals

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1 Peter 1:22

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• The perfect tense of the participle signifies a past action that has ongoing consequences.

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• You have been purified… and it’s going to show…

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• The result of conversion = “sincere love for your fellow-Christians.”

• This statement is immediately followed by a command to deepen and intensify this love.

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Fervent Love

• “Fervently” (ektenos) – physiological term; to stretch to the furthest limit of a muscle’s capacity. “Go all out”

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1 Peter 1:22 (NASB95)

²²Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,

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1 Peter 4:8 (NASB95)

⁸Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.

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Love God 🡪 Love Brother

• Fruit of flesh: … enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions… those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

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• Fruit of the Spirit: Love… (Galatians 5:22)

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1 John 4:7–8 (NASB95)

⁷Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 

⁸The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

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1 John 4:19–21 (NASB95)

¹⁹We love, because He first loved us. 

²⁰If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 

²¹And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

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Love through Pursuit

Romans 12:18 (NASB95)

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¹⁸If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

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Ephesians 2:8–10 (NASB95)

⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 

⁹not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

¹⁰For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

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Matthew 18:21–23 (NASB95)

²¹Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 

²²Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 

²³“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.

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Matthew 18:27–29 (NASB95)

²⁷“And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. 

²⁸“But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 

²⁹“So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’

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Matthew 18:33–35 (NASB95)

³³‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ 

³⁴“And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 

³⁵“My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

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Matthew 24:6–14 (NASB95)

⁶“You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 

⁷“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 

⁸“But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. 

⁹“Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 

¹⁰“At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 

¹¹“Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 

¹²“Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. 

¹³“But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 

¹⁴“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

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Group Discussions

1. Are you a loving person? Is there evidence of the effectual love of Christ in your life?

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• In what ways can your group members pray for and encourage you to love fervently?

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For Next Bible Study (Wednesday 3/2)

1. Carefully read 1 Peter 2:1-8 [you have 2 weeks].

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• Ask inductive questions of these verses and come up with observations.

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• How do these verses fit into the context of the rest of the section, chapter, and letter?

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• What are some practical and measurable applications you can draw from these verses?

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• Who are the people of God? What groups of people make up the “royal priesthood, etc.”?

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