Introduction
Are you living like a disciple who has been made new, or like someone still trying to survive on old strength and old instincts? The central truth I want to press into your heart is this: because God has made us new through His enduring Word, we endure by loving one another fervently and growing through the pure nourishment of Scripture.
Peter is writing to believers under pressure, scattered, tried, and tempted to grow weary. And in one compact stretch of Scripture (1 Peter 1:22–2:2), he gives the “essentials” that never change from day one of faith to the finish line of eternity.
Main Points
Are you living like a disciple who has been made new, or like someone still trying to survive on old strength and old instincts? The central truth I want to press into your heart is this: because God has made us new through His enduring Word, we endure by loving one another fervently and growing through the pure nourishment of Scripture.
Peter is writing to believers under pressure, scattered, tried, and tempted to grow weary. And in one compact stretch of Scripture (1 Peter 1:22–2:2), he gives the “essentials” that never change from day one of faith to the finish line of eternity.
Love Is the Goal of New Life
Peter begins with a clear “since…then…”:
“Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.” (1 Peter 1:22)
Because you’ve been saved, set apart by grace, empowered by the Spirit, purified by truth, this is what your new life is for: love.
And notice where Peter aims that love. He doesn’t first send you to a distant mission field. He says, in effect: start with the people right next to you, love one another. Love the believers you worship beside. Love the saints who are different from you. Love across generations, preferences, maturity levels, and personalities. Love in the church family God placed you in.
This reframes why we gather. Church is not “me and God” with people as interruptions. We pursue God together, and we know we’re doing it when we genuinely love each other.
Fervent and Pure Love Has Substance
Peter doesn’t leave love as a vague feeling. He qualifies it:
- Fervently: with passion, energy, real pursuit, not dutiful, not minimal, not halfhearted.
- With a pure heart: unmixed motives, not love as a tool for getting something back, not love that secretly serves self.
This matters because there is such a thing as impure love, words and actions labeled “love” that are actually self-seeking, performative, manipulative, or temporary. God is calling you higher: love that is sincere, costly, and aimed at the good of another.
And this is not random morality. This is imitation. We love this way because this is how God has loved us, before we could repay Him, before we could prove ourselves, at our worst, with mercy and self-giving grace.
The Enduring Word Produces Enduring People
Peter grounds these commands in the miracle that made you new:
“Having been born again…through the word of God which lives and abides forever.” (1 Peter 1:23)
Then he contrasts two realities (quoting Isaiah):
“All flesh is as grass…The grass withers…but the word of the LORD endures forever.” (1 Peter 1:24–25)
Your old life, your flesh, your natural strength, your self-made glory, has a shelf life. It withers. It fades. It cannot carry you through trial, hardship, disappointment, or the long obedience of discipleship.
But the Word that saved you is incorruptible. It lives. It abides. It endures forever. And because God has planted that enduring Word in you through the gospel (1 Peter 1:25), you are not destined to burn out and collapse into spiritual defeat.
Yes, we feel the war inside: perishing versus imperishable, temporary versus eternal, weariness versus hope. But Peter’s logic is steady: the Word endures, so you endure. No trial gets to put an expiration date on God’s call over your life.
Put Off the Old, Don’t Feed It
Peter then moves from identity to action:
“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking…” (1 Peter 2:1)
These are not small sins. They destroy love. Malice is ill-will. Deceit fractures trust. Hypocrisy corrupts community. Envy resents others’ good. Evil speaking poisons relationships.
So I want to ask you directly: what are you currently feeding, love or corrosion? Because something is growing in you right now. Sin grows when it is tolerated. Bitterness grows when it is rehearsed. Coldness grows when love is postponed.
Peter’s call is not “manage” these things, it's lay them aside. They belong to the old life, the old nature, the perishing way.
Crave the Word Like a Newborn
Then comes one of the most tender, practical commands:
“As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” (1 Peter 2:2)
This is for brand-new believers, and for long-time believers who must never graduate from dependence. In comparison to eternity, all of us are newborns.
Peter’s picture is simple: a newborn doesn’t nibble; a newborn craves. A newborn is single-minded. A newborn rejects substitutes. And when the baby is satisfied, everything changes, rest replaces distress.
That is what the Word of God is meant to do in you. The gospel that birthed you is the truth that nourishes you. Scripture is not just information to master; it is milk for the soul, strength for endurance, clarity for perspective, and fuel for love.
Growth Is Inevitable, So Grow in the Right Direction
Peter says we desire the Word “that you may grow.” Growth will happen. The question is what is growing.
You can grow in:
- malice and suspicion,
- envy and comparison,
- hypocrisy and image management,
- criticism and evil speaking.
Or you can grow in:
- godliness,
- endurance,
- hope fixed on eternity,
- and the clearest measure of maturity: love.
Not merely growth in church activity, knowledge, or religious skill, but growth in Christlike love that becomes more fervent and more pure as the years go on.
Conclusion
Peter’s essentials are not complicated, but they are life-defining:
- The goal: love one another.
- The power: the enduring Word that made you new.
- The pathway: lay aside what kills love and crave what nourishes love.
- The outcome: growth that moves you toward eternity, not back toward the fading “grass” of the old life.
So I’m not asking you to leave with mere resolve, “I’ll try harder.” I’m calling you to return to the source: the Word that preached the gospel to you, the Word that lives and abides forever, the Word that creates love in a renewed heart. If you feed on that Word, you will grow, and as you grow, you will love.
Father, thank You for making us new by Your grace and by the living and enduring Word of God. Forgive us for the ways we have treated love as optional, distant, or secondary. Purify our hearts, and teach us to love one another fervently and sincerely, right here, with the people You have placed in our lives.
Help us lay aside malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and evil speaking. Give us repentance that is honest and specific. And like newborn children, give us a deep craving for the pure milk of Your Word, so that we would be satisfied in You, strengthened to endure, and truly grow in godliness.
Keep our hope fixed on eternity. When we feel weak, remind us that all flesh fades, but Your Word endures forever, and because Your Word abides in us, we will endure by Your power. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Conclusion
Peter’s essentials are not complicated, but they are life-defining:
- The goal: love one another.
- The power: the enduring Word that made you new.
- The pathway: lay aside what kills love and crave what nourishes love.
- The outcome: growth that moves you toward eternity, not back toward the fading “grass” of the old life.
So I’m not asking you to leave with mere resolve, “I’ll try harder.” I’m calling you to return to the source: the Word that preached the gospel to you, the Word that lives and abides forever, the Word that creates love in a renewed heart. If you feed on that Word, you will grow, and as you grow, you will love.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for making us new by Your grace and by the living and enduring Word of God. Forgive us for the ways we have treated love as optional, distant, or secondary. Purify our hearts, and teach us to love one another fervently and sincerely, right here, with the people You have placed in our lives.
Help us lay aside malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and evil speaking. Give us repentance that is honest and specific. And like newborn children, give us a deep craving for the pure milk of Your Word, so that we would be satisfied in You, strengthened to endure, and truly grow in godliness.
Keep our hope fixed on eternity. When we feel weak, remind us that all flesh fades, but Your Word endures forever, and because Your Word abides in us, we will endure by Your power. In Jesus’ name, amen.