Thursday Devo
Scripture:
1 Peter 1
21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.
22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.
22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
Commentary:
1:20–21 Christians should live in holy fear (v. 17) because they are deeply loved and should not despise that love. God planned (Christ was foreknown, cf. v. 2) from eternity past when he would send Christ, and he chose to reveal him at the time in history when these believers lived (for the sake of you) so that they would enjoy the inexpressible privilege of living in the days of fulfillment (cf. vv. 10–12). They should be full of hope (hope functions as an inclusio—a literary envelope—beginning and ending this section; vv. 13, 21), for Christ’s being raised reminds them of their future reward.
1:22 Peter’s call for his readers to love one another is grounded in their conversion, which occurred when they were obedient to the truth (i.e., the gospel) and therefore were purified and cleansed (see note on v. 2 for “obedience” and “sprinkling”).
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2406.
1:22 Peter’s call for his readers to love one another is grounded in their conversion, which occurred when they were obedient to the truth (i.e., the gospel) and therefore were purified and cleansed (see note on v. 2 for “obedience” and “sprinkling”).
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2406.
Questions:
- Holy thinking and living, with a healthy fear of the Lord, will ultimately show itself in our holy LOVE for one another. Remember, in the family of God there is no me... only WE. There are no lone rangers in the body of Christ. When culture says ME first, Jesus says OTHERS first. We are to love one another DEEPLY, with all our hearts, and there can be no true love coming from an unclean heart. God transforms us, which enables us to love one another the way we should. Jesus said this would be the sign that we are true believers, that we love each other. In order to love on another in these ways, we must put ourselves in community with other believers. Have you ever had a time that you were isolated as a Christian? What was that like? And can you say that at this point in your walk with Jesus you are loving people around you "deeply, with all your heart?"
- We were all born with a deep need for intimate human relationships... being both fully known and fully loved. But few of us ever find this kind of community in the church, especially when it's a big church. As believers we have to seek out these relationships where we can build relationships with other Christians while wearing no masks and not pretending. What if there existed a place where you could be fully known and fully loved, where people would care for you, have your back and be there for you? What kind of difference would this make in your life? What are you doing to seek out this kind of community?
Pray:
- That you would love people the way Jesus did.
- That God would send people into your life that would give you the Godly community you need.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
2. Are there sources outside the Bible that confirm the Biblical account of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead? Many Roman and Jewish historians have confirmed that the apostles died as martyrs for preaching that they saw Jesus risen from the grave. No one dies for something they know to be a lie.
(Luke 1:1-4; Acts 26:26; 1 John 1:1-4, Josephus, Clement, Hegesippus, Tertullian, Origen, Polycarp)
(Luke 1:1-4; Acts 26:26; 1 John 1:1-4, Josephus, Clement, Hegesippus, Tertullian, Origen, Polycarp)
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