1 PETER 1:22–25
BORN AGAIN BY THE WORD OF GOD
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
— 1 Peter 1:22–25, KJV
These verses bring Peter's first chapter to a powerful conclusion.
He began the chapter by saying Christians have been:
“begotten…again unto a lively hope” — verse 3
Now he returns to the same idea:
“Being born again…” — verse 23
But this time Peter tells us something more about that new birth.
It is connected with:
truth, obedience, purification, love, the Word of God, and the gospel.
And then Peter reaches back hundreds of years to Isaiah to explain why God's Word can give people a hope that does not die.
“YE HAVE PURIFIED YOUR SOULS”
Peter begins:
“Seeing ye have purified your souls…”
We need to read this carefully.
Peter has already emphasized what God has done.
God begot them again.
God raised Jesus.
God guards them through faith.
Christ's blood redeemed them.
So Peter has certainly not suddenly changed his message to:
You saved yourselves.
Yet neither is Peter afraid to describe something they did.
“ye have purified your souls…”
This is another example of something we repeatedly find in Scripture.
God acts.
Human beings respond.
Peter does not seem troubled by putting those truths next to each other.
We should be cautious about constructing a theology that requires us to erase either one.
“IN OBEYING THE TRUTH”
How had they purified their souls?
Peter says:
“in obeying the truth…”
That is significant.
He does not merely say:
knowing the truth.
Nor:
agreeing with the truth.
He says:
“obeying the truth.”
For Peter, truth is something to which people respond.
That fits what he has already written.
In verse 2 he described God's people in connection with:
“obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.”
In verse 14:
“As obedient children…”
And now:
“obeying the truth.”
Later he will speak about those who:
“stumble at the word, being disobedient.”
— 1 Peter 2:8, KJV
Peter sees a contrast:
The Word can be obeyed.
The Word can be disobeyed.
That tells us something important about biblical faith.
Faith is not merely acknowledging that certain facts are true.
Real faith responds to the truth.
“THROUGH THE SPIRIT”
The KJV reads:
“in obeying the truth through the Spirit…”
There is a textual issue here worth knowing about.
Some ancient Greek manuscripts include the words corresponding to “through the Spirit,” while some important early manuscripts do not. That is why some modern translations omit the phrase.
This does not create a theological contradiction. Peter has already spoken explicitly about:
“sanctification of the Spirit” — 1:2.
But because we are going deeper, we should recognize when the manuscript evidence affects the wording.
We should not build an argument that depends entirely upon “through the Spirit” being present in verse 22.
The larger teaching about the Spirit's work is already clear elsewhere in the letter.
WHAT DOES “SOULS” MEAN HERE?
Peter says:
“ye have purified your souls…”
The Greek word is psychē.
We encountered this same word in verse 9:
“the salvation of your souls.”
It is tempting to automatically interpret psychē as an invisible part of a human being that lives inside the body.
But the word can have a broader meaning: life, person, self, as well as “soul” depending upon context.
For example, Peter later speaks of Noah's family:
“eight souls were saved by water.”
— 1 Peter 3:20, KJV
He means eight people.
So when Peter says:
“purified your souls”
we need not picture merely the cleansing of one invisible component of a person.
Peter is talking about people themselves being purified.
PURIFIED FOR WHAT?
This is where Peter may surprise us.
We might expect:
You have purified yourselves in obeying the truth so that you can go to heaven.
But that is not what he says.
He says:
“unto unfeigned love of the brethren…”
The truth produces a changed relationship with other people.
That is extremely important.
If our study of biblical truth makes us better at winning arguments but worse at loving Christians, something has gone wrong.
Peter connects:
truth → obedience → purification → love.
Truth is not merely information to be stored in the mind.
Truth changes the way we treat people.
“UNFEIGNED LOVE”
The KJV word “unfeigned” means genuine, sincere, without hypocrisy.
The Greek word is anypokritos—literally, unhypocritical.
Peter is not asking for a performance.
It is possible to behave politely while inwardly despising someone.
It is possible to say all the correct Christian words while harboring jealousy, bitterness, or resentment.
Peter calls for something deeper:
“unfeigned love of the brethren.”
Real love.
Not religious theater.
TWO DIFFERENT WORDS FOR LOVE?
There is something interesting in verse 22.
Peter first speaks of:
“love of the brethren”
The Greek word is philadelphia—brotherly or family affection.
Then he commands:
“love one another…”
There the verb is from agapaō.
We should not exaggerate the difference between Greek words for love as though each always had a completely separate technical meaning. Greek usage overlaps.
But Peter's wording is still striking.
They already possess genuine brotherly affection.
Peter tells them:
Keep loving one another—and do it intensely.
“WITH A PURE HEART FERVENTLY”
Peter says:
“see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.”
The word translated “fervently” carries the idea of something extended, stretched out, earnest, or intense.
Peter will use related language again:
“And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves…”
— 1 Peter 4:8, KJV
Christian love is not supposed to be casual.
Why would Peter emphasize that to suffering Christians?
Because pressure can pull people apart.
Fear can make us selfish.
Suffering can cause us to turn inward.
Peter tells people facing difficulty:
Do not withdraw from one another.
Love one another earnestly.
“BEING BORN AGAIN”
Now Peter returns to the language with which he began the chapter:
“Being born again…”
Verse 3:
“hath begotten us again…”
Verse 23:
“Being born again…”
The Greek verb is anagennaō.
Peter uses it only in these two verses in the New Testament.
The picture is unmistakable:
A new life has begun.
Christianity is not merely an improved version of the old life.
Something new has been born.
IS THIS THE SAME AS JESUS' “BORN AGAIN” IN JOHN 3?
The ideas are certainly closely related.
Jesus told Nicodemus:
“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
— John 3:3, KJV
But the Greek wording is not identical.
John uses gennaō anōthen, which can carry the sense of being born again or from above.
Peter uses anagennaō, meaning to beget again or cause to be born anew.
So we should not claim Peter is quoting John 3.
But both passages use new birth to describe the radical beginning of new life from God.
“NOT OF CORRUPTIBLE SEED”
Peter now explains this birth by using the image of seed.
Human life begins from seed that belongs to the mortal world.
Human beings are born.
Human beings grow.
Human beings die.
Peter calls that:
“corruptible seed.”
But the new birth has another source:
“not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible…”
Why can this new life lead to an inheritance that never perishes?
Because its source does not perish.
“BY THE WORD OF GOD”
Here we reach one of the most important statements in the passage.
They have been born again:
“by the word of God…”
What does Peter mean by “word of God”?
Verse 25 helps us answer.
Peter says:
“this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
So Peter is not primarily talking about possessing a physical Bible.
He is talking about God's message—the gospel that was proclaimed to them.
They heard the message about Christ.
They believed it.
They obeyed the truth.
Through that gospel message, new life began.
DOES THE WORD ITSELF CAUSE THE NEW BIRTH?
We should be careful with the language.
Peter has already said:
God “hath begotten us again” — verse 3.
Now he says:
“Being born again…by the word of God.”
These statements are not competing explanations.
God is the source of the new birth.
His Word is the means through which the gospel reaches people.
And verse 22 has already spoken of their response:
“obeying the truth.”
Once again Peter holds together what we sometimes separate:
God acts.
The Word is preached.
People hear and obey.
New life results.
Peter does not seem interested in eliminating one part to protect another.
WHERE DOES BAPTISM FIT?
This verse does not mention baptism.
So we should not insert the word into verse 23 as though Peter wrote it.
But neither should we isolate this verse from the rest of Peter's letter.
Later Peter will say:
“The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us…”
— 1 Peter 3:21, KJV
And here he says:
“ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth…”
Those statements belong to the same letter.
Elsewhere in the New Testament, hearing the gospel, believing, repentance, confession, baptism, forgiveness, and receiving new life are often described from different angles.
Peter does not give us a systematic order of salvation in these four verses.
His immediate point is that his readers have received new life through the enduring gospel they heard and obeyed.
We should let this passage say that much—and not force it to answer questions Peter is not addressing here.
“WHICH LIVETH AND ABIDETH FOR EVER”
Why is the seed incorruptible?
Because God's Word:
“liveth and abideth for ever.”
Now Peter sets up an enormous contrast.
Human beings die.
Human glory disappears.
Empires disappear.
Wealth disappears.
Reputations disappear.
But God's Word remains.
To demonstrate that, Peter quotes Isaiah.
PETER GOES BACK TO ISAIAH 40
Peter writes:
“For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.”
This comes from Isaiah 40:6–8.
That context is worth looking at.
Isaiah says:
“All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:”
“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it…”
“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”
— Isaiah 40:6–8, KJV
Isaiah's contrast is between human frailty and God's enduring Word.
Peter takes that same contrast and applies it to the gospel proclaimed to Christians.
“ALL FLESH IS AS GRASS”
That includes everyone.
Kings are grass.
Emperors are grass.
Generals are grass.
Rich people are grass.
Poor people are grass.
Preachers are grass.
Scholars are grass.
Peter himself was grass.
Every human teacher who has ever interpreted Scripture is grass.
That should produce some humility.
“ALL THE GLORY OF MAN AS THE FLOWER OF GRASS”
A flower may be beautiful.
But its beauty does not last.
Peter is not denying that human beings accomplish impressive things.
He is reminding us that none of them endure forever.
Rome looked permanent.
It wasn't.
Human institutions may appear permanent.
They aren't.
Our own reputations may seem terribly important.
They aren't permanent either.
“THE GRASS WITHERETH”
Peter's readers were living under the shadow of human power.
That power could frighten them.
But Peter reminds them:
Human power has an expiration date.
The emperor dies.
The empire eventually disappears.
The Word of God remains.
That would have been an extraordinary source of courage for Christians who appeared powerless in comparison with Rome.
“BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURETH FOR EVER”
This is the great contrast:
FLESH — grass.
HUMAN GLORY — flower.
GRASS — withers.
FLOWER — falls.
WORD OF THE LORD — endures forever.
Then Peter makes one final statement that we should not overlook.
“THIS IS THE WORD WHICH BY THE GOSPEL IS PREACHED UNTO YOU”
Peter identifies Isaiah's enduring Word with the gospel message his readers had received.
That is remarkable.
Isaiah said:
“the word of our God shall stand for ever.”
Peter says:
“this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
The gospel about Jesus Christ is not a religious novelty invented by Peter and the other apostles.
It belongs to the continuing fulfillment of the Word God had been revealing through the prophets.
Remember what Peter just said in verses 10–12.
The prophets searched into the salvation that has now been announced through the gospel.
Now Peter quotes one of those prophets and says:
That enduring Word has been preached to you.
The chapter has come full circle.
SOMETHING ELSE IS HAPPENING HERE
Notice how many times Peter has contrasted what perishes with what does not perish.
1 Peter 1:4
The inheritance is:
“incorruptible.”
1 Peter 1:7
Gold:
“perisheth.”
1 Peter 1:18
Silver and gold are:
“corruptible things.”
1 Peter 1:23
The new birth is:
“not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible.”
1 Peter 1:24
Human beings are like grass that:
“withereth.”
1 Peter 1:25
But:
“the word of the Lord endureth for ever.”
Peter is building a deliberate contrast throughout the chapter.
This world passes away.
What God gives does not.
That is why Christians can live as strangers and exiles without despair.
Their most important possessions belong to the world that does not perish.
DOES “THE WORD OF GOD” HERE MEAN THE WHOLE BIBLE?
We should answer carefully.
Certainly the Scriptures are God's Word.
But that is not precisely Peter's point in this verse.
He defines what he means:
“this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
His immediate reference is to the gospel message they heard.
If we simply turn verse 23 into a general statement about owning or reading the Bible, we may say something true while missing Peter's actual point.
These Christians had heard God's saving announcement concerning Jesus Christ.
That message produced faith and obedience.
Through it they had been born into a new life.
And unlike human ideas, that message will never become obsolete.
TRUTH AND LOVE BELONG TOGETHER
Perhaps one of the most important lessons in these verses is easy to miss.
Peter begins with:
“obeying the truth”
and ends with:
“the word of the Lord endureth for ever.”
But right in the middle he commands:
“love one another with a pure heart fervently.”
Peter does not separate truth and love.
Neither should we.
Truth without love can become cold, proud, and argumentative.
Love without truth can become little more than sentiment.
Peter gives us both.
Obey the truth.
Love one another fervently.
The enduring Word should produce an enduringly changed people.
TEXT BEFORE TRADITION
There is a particularly useful lesson here for the way we study Scripture.
Peter says his readers:
“obeyed the truth.”
He does not say they merely inherited the truth.
In fact, only a few verses earlier he had spoken about a former way of life:
“received by tradition from your fathers.”
Something inherited had to be tested against something greater.
The enduring standard was not:
What have we always believed?
It was:
“the word of the Lord.”
That does not mean everything we've always been taught is wrong.
Much of it may be exactly right.
But if God's Word endures forever while human beings are grass, then no human tradition should be protected from examination.
That includes our own.
The question remains:
What does the text actually say?
QUESTIONS WORTH THINKING ABOUT
Why does Peter say his readers purified themselves “in obeying the truth” rather than merely “believing the truth”?
What should genuine obedience to truth produce in our relationships with other Christians?
Can we claim to love biblical truth while treating other people without love?
When Peter says Christians are born again “by the word of God,” what does verse 25 tell us he means by “the word”?
Why does Peter contrast the new birth with corruptible and incorruptible seed?
What things in our lives presently seem permanent but are really only grass and flowers?
Are some of our beliefs based more upon what we've always been taught than upon what we have personally examined in the enduring Word of God?
If God's Word endures while every human teacher is grass, how should that affect the humility with which we study Scripture?
NEXT DEEPER STUDY
1 PETER 2:1–3 — “DESIRE THE SINCERE MILK OF THE WORD”
That short passage raises a question that is often overlooked:
Is Peter calling these Christians spiritual babies who need elementary teaching—or does “milk” mean something quite different here?
The answer becomes much clearer when we refuse to lift those three verses away from what Peter has just said in 1:22–25.
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