“Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” (1 Peter 1:22-23 NASB1995)

What is the truth that we must obey? That is a subject over which many people disagree. But in the Scriptures we are taught that faith in Jesus Christ, if it is biblical faith, which is persuaded of God, and is gifted to us by God, must result in us dying to sin and obeying God in practice or it is not biblical faith which saves. It is not teaching that if we do sin that we are cut off from God (see 1 John 2:1-2), but it is teaching if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, that we will not inherit eternal life with God. But, instead, we will face the wrath of God for not honoring him as God.

And what does it look like if we have purified our souls by obeying the truth? It means we have, by the grace of God, in the power of God, and by biblical faith in Jesus Christ, been cleansed of our sins via dying with Christ to sin and now living to obey him and his commands. No longer do we continue to make sin our practice, but now righteousness and obedience to our Lord are what we practice. It means our lives are now surrendered to Jesus Christ to do his will, to live holy lives pleasing to God as we yield control of our lives over to God. For obedience to God is the condition of purification.

And without obedience to God in the forsaking of our sins and in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living, we cannot love others with the sincere love of God for others who profess faith in Jesus Christ and for those who have not yet surrendered their lives to the Lord to do his will. For to love with this kind of love involves us living to please God and preferring what he prefers, which is all that is righteous, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his commands. So to love is to do for others what is for their good, i.e. what God deems right in his eyes.

“For, ‘All flesh is like grass,
And all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
And the flower falls off,
But the word of the Lord endures forever.’
And this is the word which was preached to you.” (1 Peter 1:24-25 NASB1995)

All of us humans are born with sin natures, in the image of Adam, the first man to sin against God. None of us are righteous in our own merit, of our own flesh. And we all fall short of the divine approval of God in our flesh, outside of faith in Jesus Christ. We live, and then we die, and all that we owned or accomplished in this life is then gone with us.

But the Word of the Lord endures forever, which is the Word that should have been preached to us, that Jesus gave his life up for us on that cross to put our sins to death with him so that, by faith in him, we will now die to sin and live to God and to his righteousness, in walks of obedience to his commands, all in the power of God. And that Word is Jesus.

So, if we want to be saved from our sins and to have eternal life with God, we must, by faith in him, be crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as servants of God and of his righteousness, in following the leading of the Holy Spirt in the ways of God and His Truth.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You

In Obedience to The Truth
An Original Work / April 24, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love