Born Anew — I Peter 1.17-23

If you address as Father the one who judges impartially according to each person’s fruitful acts, then live in reverence during the time of your pilgrimage on earth. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. You cry to Him, “You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.” “I will be your Father, and you shall be my sons and daughters,” says the Lord Almighty, who shows no partiality.

The Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what each has done. Our spiritual ancestors died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth. Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe. For steadfast love belongs to the Lord, who repays to all according to their fruit.

My brothers and sisters, do not claim the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory while showing partiality, but, in your hearts, sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you. Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of flesh and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the reverence of God.

You know that you were ransomed from the futile pagan conduct inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. For the ransom of life is costly, and our works alone can never suffice. It is he who redeems us from all iniquities. Thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. You were bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good fruit. He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

However, false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. So, with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental spirits of the world. Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the wretched do, in the futility of their minds. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! You have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood.

God put Christ forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed. The blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, will purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

He was destined before the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. He chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. You have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood. You who are blessed by the Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Christ has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith. He would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

In these last days God has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

Through Christ you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your trust and hope are in God. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Salvation will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord. God raised him up, having released him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. Christ emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of humanity. Being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name—Lord.

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness. He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. For a little while he was made lower than the angels, namely, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. He has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born anew from above to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Prepare your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual affection, love one another deeply from the heart. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands and purify your hearts. You have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.

A new commandment he gave to us, that we love one another: just as he has loved us, we also are to love one another. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with mutual affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Let mutual affection continue. The aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. Honor everyone. Love the family of believers. Revere God. Everyone, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. Remember, Jesus answered Nicodemus, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born anew from above.” Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. In fulfillment of his own purpose, he gave birth to us by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.