“All flesh is like
grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word s the good news
that was preached to you.
I Peter 1:22-25
We who have received Jesus Christ’s atonement are eternally
saved because we have obeyed the truth about His person and His finished work
on the cross. We are IN CHRIST forever, and nothing can change that. Our
temporal fellowship with Him can change, however, and it does anytime we sin. There
are many ways born again believers sin and are not even aware of it. There are
many ways born again believers deliberately sin, and aren’t greatly concerned
about it, because “we’re only human” and we cannot lose our salvation. Yes, we
are only human, but as believers we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and He is grieved
by our sin. When we sin, we are out of fellowship with God and the Holy Spirit
cannot communicate to our human spirit the things God wants us to know. God has
provided a way for the believer who has sinned to “purify our souls.” That is
by confessing to God the Father the sins we are aware of having committed (I
John 1:7-9). We are thereby agreeing with our Father about the sin, and He
forgives us that sin, and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. This renews our
fellowship with Him and enables us to continue growing in grace. The carnal
Christian is not growing, is not learning, is not serving. He is stagnant and
useless to the kingdom of God. He may be involved in many “do good” projects.
He may be on a frantic search for happiness. He is most definitely not
spiritual.
This is not minimizing the issue of sin. The sins have all
been paid for by the blood of Christ, and the believer who confesses is
acknowledging that fact. This practice maximizes our service. The stagnant,
neutralized Christian has nothing to contribute to the service of Christ. The
longer he stays out of fellowship, the darker his soul becomes, until he is
severely disciplined and perhaps taken by the sin unto death, which removes the
unrepentant carnal believer from the battlefield to protect others from
becoming casualties as well.
Out of fellowship (carnal) believers don’t have much in
common with in fellowship (spiritual) believers. Two or more carnal believers
are a disaster waiting to happen. Peter wanted his flocks to stay in
spiritual fellowship with God and with each other, demonstrating to one another
and to the world the mutual love that Jesus commanded us to cultivate (John
13:35). We live in the devil’s world, brethren. We are under constant attack. We
need each other.
We are no longer worldlings. We have been born again. We are
spiritual beings with an eternal destiny. Our newly created person is incorruptible.
Natural human flesh will die and deteriorate, and that is good, because the old
sin nature will die with it. Our new person was conceived and birthed by the
Word of God, which cannot die. We are now the offspring of Him Who is
imperishable.
Verses 24-25 are from Isaiah 40:6-8.
When I taught small children as young as 3 years old, Isaiah
40:8 was the first scripture I taught them to memorize. Peter quotes it here. Some of those kids are
now approaching age 40, and they have never forgotten that verse. It is easily
visualized with colorful graphics and has a natural cadence. A 3 year old doesn’t
understand the doctrine, but 10, 12, 15, 20 year olds do, and it is right
there, stored in their memory banks for life.
It is important to remember that God’s Word is imperishable,
powerful and eternal, and when every material thing is gone, including our
human bodies, that Word will STAND FOREVER.
Peter reminded his people and us that the imperishable Word
of God is the good news (gospel) that was preached to us and saved our souls.
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