1 Peter 1:23

1 Peter 1:23 ‘for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.'

‘for' -Which connects this verse with the previous verses. We are called to fervently love one another, because we are all part of God's family (1 John 5:1). It is inconsistent to claim to be born again and yet refuse to love the members of the family into which you have been born.

‘born again' -‘to produce again, beget again, beget anew' (Thayer p. 36).

‘not of seed which is perishable but imperishable' -The new birth isn't. physical birth (John 3:3). The word ‘perishable' means: ‘subject to decay or destruction' (Arndt p. 857)

‘that is, through the living and abiding word of God' -

POINTS TO NOTE: 1. The ‘seed' that causes the new birth is the Word of God (1 Corinthians 4:15; James 1:18). Therefore the ‘spirit' part of the new birth mentioned by Jesus in John 3:5. is the role played by the Word of God. The Word is preached, the heart is convinced, faith is produced, the individual repents, confesses and is baptized=one is born again. Compare with Mark 16:15; John 3:5; Acts 2:37; Titus 3:5... The Word of God is called incorruptible seed, which infers: A. The Word of God will exist in every generation, in. pure and incorruptible form (Matthew 24:35). Therefore, we must reject every theory which states that the Bible has been corrupted, books are missing or books have been added, etc…B. The message of the Bible is always fresh, new and relevant to the real needs of any generation. The Bible never needs any improvement. This is also inferred by the statement that the Word of God is ‘living' (present tense) (Acts 7:38; Hebrews 4:12). C. By obeying teaching found in the Bible. person is never made worse, they only can become better. D. The Church that Jesus founded can exist in any generation (Ephesians 3:21; Hebrews 12:28), because the ‘seed' which produces Christians is incorruptible (Luke 8:11)

‘living' -A great reminder to people who seem to think that their own opinions will have. better chance at converting someone than the words and examples in the Bible. ‘The implications for evangelism are obvious: ultimately it is neither our arguments nor our life example that will bring new life to an unbeliever, but the powerful words of God himself- words which we still have preserved today in Scripture.' (Grudem p. 91) So let us never tire of plain Bible teaching or preaching, let us never tire of Biblical illustrations and Biblical examples. Let us never think that our own humanly devised sayings or illustrations could ever be more relevant or powerful than the words found within the Bible.

‘abiding' -‘remain, last, persist, continue to live' (Arndt p. 504). Which means that the New Testament will always remain just as authoritative as the first day it was written. The New Testament does reflect God's views, and it will until the end of time (John 12:48). The gospel remains. living and active message that will always find room to grow in honest and good hearts. With the gospel, Christians are assured that they are never preaching an outdated message.