First Peter
Verses twenty-two through twenty-five: In this passage the Apostle Peter emphasized the importance of the Word of the Lord which was at that time being recorded in the writings of the apostles. The Truths they were writing is collectively called God’s “witness” in Matthew 24:14. Here Jesus declares that His “witness” would be preached throughout the world before He returned. The Old Testament had long ago been codified and made available for public hearing to those who would attend Temple or synagogue meetings where it was read audibly. The writings of the apostles would eventually be compiled and made available to the world as the “New Testament.” Because the New Testament is simply the extension of the Old Testament, there should not be a break between them. The careful observer will note that Matthew picks up where Malachi leaves off. The two Testaments combined would become the most widely purchased tome ever printed.
In verse 22 Peter writes of the true saints’ souls having been “purified” by “obeying the Truth” through the power of the Holy Spirit. He notes that such Scriptural purifying of the saints’ souls produces pure, godly love for their brethren. Such obedience to the Word of God, which Jesus calls “Truth” in John 17:17, causes saints to be born “again.” In reality, those who will spend eternity with Jesus Christ will, by the time they enter the Father’s kingdom, have been “born” three times. The first birth is experienced by all human beings as the product of a sexual union of a male and a female. The second birth is accomplished when one is converted to the Lord. This is the point at which Satan steps into the process and lures God-seekers away from His strait gate and narrow way which leads to the Kingdom of God. It is also at this point that the devil entices the believer to enter his wide gate and to walk his broad way leading to the Lake of Fire. “Few,” the Lord tells us in Matthew 7:13,14, will choose His gate and way. This process is erroneously called the “salvation experience” by the Institutional Church. See Hope and Salvation, All That Glitters and Bait and Switch. The third birth will take place when Jesus Christ returns to earth at His Second Advent. At that time the Scripturally-defined salvation/born again experience will take place. In the “twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52) God’s obedient children will be changed from flesh to spirit–be born again–and will rise to meet Him in the air. From there they will descend to the Mt. of Olives and will follow their Messiah into Jerusalem where He will establish the Kingdom of God (Zech. 14:4). See The Kingdom of God. Verses 23 & 24 tell us that births 2 & 3 will be made possible by true God-seekers having obeyed the incorruptible, eternal Word of God. Though the world and everything on it will pass away, the Word of God will never pass away. This Word, the Lord tells us, is the gospel that God’s true, called, appointed and anointed ministers have preached and taught to this day. L.J.
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