Full Text for Sermon Study on 1 Pet. 1:17-25 (Text)
<1tnurnrbtu
m~rnlngirul lInut41y
Continuing
LEHRE UND WEHRE
MAGAZIN FUER Ev.-LuTH. HOMILETIK
THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY-THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY
Vol. IX March, 1938 No.3
CONTENTS
Page
Growth in Exegesis. w. Arndt ___________ ____________________ . ___________________ 161
When does the New Testament Economy Begin? W. F. Beck ______ 168
Jes.53 und "die Decke ueber dem Alten Testament"
P. E. Kretzmann ______________ • ___ 173
Sermon Study on 1 Pet. 1:17-25. Th. Laetseh _______ • ________________ 182
Recent Manuscript Discoveries. R. T. Du Bran ___________________________ 195
Miscellanea _______________________________ . ___________________________________ 203
Theological Observer. - Kirchlich-ZeitgeschichtIiches _________ 209
Book Review.-Literatur ____ ._._. __ . _____ . ____ _ .___________ . _______ .______ _ 229
Etn Predlger muss nleht alleln toei-
den. also dasa er die Schafe unter-
weise. wie sle rechte Christen sollen
!eln. sondern such daneben den Woel-
fen toelmm. d888 sIe die Scha!e n1cht
angrelfen und mIt falscher Lehre ver-
fuehren und Irrtum elntuehren.
Luther
Es 1st keln Ding. das die Leute
mehr bel der ltirche behaelt denn
die gute Predigt. - Apologie. Art. 24.
If the trumpet give :Ill uncertain
soW1d who ahall prepare hlllUlelf to
the bnttle? - 1 Cor. 14. 8.
PubUshed for the
Ev. Loth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States
CONCORDIA PUBUSBING BOUSE, St. Louis, Mo.
ARCHIVE
182 Sermon Study on 1 Pet. 1: 17 -25
~eis~eit meffen fonnen unb witb ERofes im mefit bes ptopfje±ifdjen
®eiftes nafjerommen. ®t witb bie ERenfdj~eit ~iet auf biefet ®tbe et~
!Of en, nidjt wie bet djtiftIidje EReffias, bet bie ERenfdj~eit bon bem
@Sdjicffal bet aufiinftigen 5lBer± etfofen will. ®in meHianifdjet ®ebanfe,
bet in bet djtiftIidjen 5r~eologie oetont witb, ift bie ftellbetitetenbe unb
etfofenbe Shaft bes S)eHanbes. ZSn bet fjeotiiifdjen muffaffung ift biefet
®ebanfe giinaHdj aowefenb. ®s witb etwartet, ba\3 bet EReffias einen
gto\3en poIitifdjen unb geiftridjen SDienft bettidjten witb. moet feine
einaigattigen ~otafrge wetben nidjt bie ®tfofung ;ssraels obet bet
ERenfdjfjeit bon i~tem gegenwiittigen @Sdju1bauftanb oehlitfen. SDie
IDlenfdjen mfrffen butdj i~re eigenen mnftrengungen bie Unfdjulb unb bie
mero~nungen bet meffianifdjen Uta gehlinnen." (@S. 309.)
5lBie froeraus trautig I SDas Hate ~od ®ot±es witb oeifeitegefett,
bas ganae ~eue 5reftament, ferbft in feinen tein gefdjidjtridjen 5reHen,
einfadj ignotiert. SDie meffianifdjen ZSbeen bet jfrbifdjen lRaooinet finb,
fdjon allein aUf ®tunb bes mten 5reftaments, boIIig ungenfrgenb. SDie
djiHaftifdjen 5rtiiume finb giinaHdj unfjaHbat. Unb baoei biefet itautige
SUftanb bet @5erbftgetedjtigfeit, bes ~etfaff ens auf eigene~ Stun! ~olle
bodj ®ott biefen oHnben ;sub en unb allen, bie i~te mnfdjauungsweife
ieHen, Me mugen offnen, fo ba\3 biejenigen untet i~nen, bie au feinen
~usetwii~rten ge~oten, ben ~eg bes ~tiebens butdj ;s®fum «vEQroitev"to<;; receives its color from the contrast to foreknown,
hence is not to be taken in the sense of "revealed by the preaching
of the Gospel," but manifested as the Lamb of God by His ap-
pearance in the world in order to carry out the divine decree of
redemption. The same Christ who was in eternity the object of
God's loving knowledge was manifested as such "in these last
times," a standing designation of the New Testament times. Hence
the word manifest involves the preexistence of Christ. Our Re-
deemer is the eternal God, who with His Father and the Holy
Spirit determined upon the decree of redemption through His
blood, 1 John 1:7. Can there be any doubt as to the validity of
His ransom to obtain for us an eternal redemption? Heb. 9: 12.
Here is not vanity, not corruption; here is reality, eternal, infinite
value. Precious blood shed for our ransom!
Sermon Study on 1 Pet. 1: 17 -25 189
For you, who by Him do believe in God, that mised Him up
from the dead, and gave Him glory, that your faith and hope might
be in God, v. 21. "For you." Christ was manifested as the Redeemer
of all men; but since unbelief rejects the ransom of Christ, it is of
no profit to the children of unbelief. Only faith grasps Christ and
His ransom, His work of redemption; only faith obtains the
blessed fruit of the labors of the Redeemer; and so in a particular
manner Christ was manifested for them, for their eternal welfare.
You "do believe," are believers, have come to saving faith, are in
possession of the ransoming blood, partake of all its blessings.
You are no longer guilty sinners; for your Redeemer, the spotless
Son of God, has taken your guilt upon Himself and paid every
penny of your debt. You are no longer subject to punishment;
for Christ has shed His blood for you, suffered your penalty in full.
You are no longer slaves of sin and Satan, doing the will of God's
arch-enemy; you are ransomed from their dread power, delivered
from their dominion; you are free, loving, beloved children of God.
You are believers in the precious blood of the Lamb, blessed in
time and eternity.
This faith is not of the believers' own making, they have come
to saving faith not on their own initiative; they owe their faith,
as they owe their redemption, alone to grace, alone to Christ.
They are believers "by Him," bL' Ctll1;OU, through Him. Christ alone
has made their faith possible. Without His ransom there would be
no possibility of saving faith, no occasion for it, no ground on which
it could stand safe and sure. All around there would be nothing
but sinking sand, treacherous bogs, vanities. Not satisfied with
having furnished a safe foundation for their faith, Christ Himself
wrought faith in them, since they could never have come to Him
by their own power, Eph. 2: 1-10. Christ is in every sense of the
word the Author of faith, Reb. 12: 2. They believe "in God," EL\;,
toward God, the true God revealed in Jesus Christ as their recon-
ciled Father. The goal of faith is God, toward whom faith is con-
stantly reaching out its arms, whom it embraces ever the more
closely, with whom it becomes ever the more intimately united.
Moreover, the believers need not harbor the slightest fear that
their faith will be doomed to disappointment. That faith which
Christ has wrought, which rests on the firm foundation of His ran-
som, is a faith in God, "who has raised Him up from the dead and gave
Him glory," who by His exaltation of Christ has placed the stamp
of His approval on the work of redemption of His Son, proclaiming
His ransom an all-sufficient one and admitting into the fulness of
His glory Him who came as the Representative and Forerunner of
all who would follow Him in faith. God's exaltation of His Son was
the fulfilment of Christ's request in John 17: 20-24. All this for the
190 Sermon Study on 1 Pet. 1:17-25
purpose "that your faith and hope might be in God," toward God.
Again the apostle calls attention to the fact that God is the aim and
object of the Christians' faith. And to what lengths did God go
in order to accomplish that purpose! In order that our faith and
hope be in God, there was God's eternal decree of redemption, there
was the manifestation of Christ as our Ransom, there was the shed-
ding of His precious blood, there was the engendering of our faith
by Christ Himself. In addition to all this there was the exaltation
and glorification of Christ by the Father - all for us; all, in order
that we might with all boldness and confidence come to Him and
ask Him as dear children ask their dear father; all, in order that
our faith and hope might not be the vague, uncertain, fruitless belief
of a heathen in his idols, in that which is not God, which is vanity,
Deut. 32: 21; Ps.115: 4-8, but that it might be faith, certainty, trust,
reliance on the true God, the Father of Jesus Christ; all, in order
that our hope might not be like a beautiful mirage, rousing high
expectations, but just as surely dashing them to the ground, ending
in disappointment and despair, but a hope which maketh not
ashamed, a hope based on the immovable Rock, the Rock of Ages,
the Rock of our salvation through the blood of Christ, Rom. 8: 29-39;
2 Tim. 1: 12; Job 19; 25-27. All this "ye know," v.1S. Shall you,
then, not pass the time of your sojourning here in fear, v.17, lest
you lose these precious promises? "How shall we escape if we
neglect so great salvation?" Heb.2:3.
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, v.22. The apostle continues
his admonition, urging them to prove their sonship by brotherly
love. We prefer to regard the participial clause "having puri-
fied," etc., as a motive for, not as a part of, the admonition. "Having
purified your souls." An act of purification has set in, a cleansing
of their souls from every fault, a sweeping out of all that was
impure and unclean. This purification is described as an act per-
formed by the Christians, as an act in the past. When and how did
this cleansing occur? The apostle says "in obeying the truth," in
obedience to the truth. Whether we take EV in the sense of "in
the sphere of" or as the instrumental 8V does not materially change
the sense, as we shall see. The truth of which Peter speaks is that
precious truth described in vv. 18-21. To this message of truth they
had become obedient, they no longer opposed it, resisted it, Rom.
2: 8; 8: 7; 1 Pet. 4: 17, no longer regarded it as foolishness, 1 Cor.
1: 23; 2: 14; they accepted it, believed it by the almighty power of
their Redeemer, v.21. Having entered the sphere of obedience of
truth, of faith in the Gospel, of trust in Christ, they at once through,
by means of, this faith purified their souls. This faith, rather Christ,
Sermon Study on 1 Pet. 1: 17-25 191
whose ransom they had accepted, who granted to them through
faith deliverance from the power of sin, thereby gave them the
power to purify themselves, so that for the first time their soul,
their inner life, brought forth clean, pure, Christ-centered, God-
directed thoughts and desires, something utterly impossible in their
former conversation.
The perfect 1]yvL%6'tE~ does not denote that this cleansing has
been done once for all. The first purification has been finished, that
is a thing of the past; but the state of purification still continued.
Robertson speaks of the punctiliar, durative perfect, "where the
completed act is followed by a state of greater or less duration"
(Grammar, first ed., p. 895). As a house needs not only the first
sweeping, but continued cleansing, so the house of our heart must
be cleansed daily lest it again become a cesspool of iniquity. This
is done "through the Spirit," the Holy Ghost, shed into our hearts
by Christ. Though these words are omitted in most manuscripts,
they express a truth taught elsewhere, 1 Pet. 1: 2; 1 Cor. 6: 11;
2 Thess. 2: 13. This was and is a purification "unto unfeigned love
of the brethren." Being children of God, loving Him as their
Father, Christians will naturally take an interest in all the children
of God, their brethren and sisters in Christ Jesus, become attached
to them in a brotherly love that is unfeigned, not simulated, not
hypocritical. The uJtO%Q(,;1]~ was the actor, the stage-player, who
often voiced sentiments foreign to his convictions, whose love was
often mere stage-play. Christians have purified their hearts.
Hypocrisy, simulation, they abhor. In obedience to truth they have
become truthful and strive to be truthful, unfeigned also in their
brotherly love. Now, if they have purified their souls with such
love in view, they should reach out toward their goal, "see that ye
love one another with a pure heart fervently." Do not only
theorize, do not waste time by pronouncing brilliant eulogies on
the beauty of brotherly love. Practise what you preach, reduce
your purpose to action, come down to realities, love one another,
with, 8%, out of, a pure heart. Let your love flow from a clean
heart, purified by faith from all selfishness, from all respect of
persons, Jas. 2: 1-9. Let it be a love that loves the brother because
he is a brother, irrespective of his station in life and society; a love
like unto that of your God, whose children, of your Savior, whose
brethren, you have become. Neither let your brotherly love be like
a brush-fire, a fire of thorns burning fiercely for a little while, but
dying out completely almost as quickly as it has burst into flame.
Love rather fervently, E%'tEVW';, stretched out; love intently, as-
siduously, persistently. Let it remain pure love, fervent affection
despite all provocations, irrespective of the peculiarities of the
brother, his shortcomings, his annoying habits and customs, over-
192 Sermon Study on 1 Pet. j : 17 -25
looking all his failings and seeing in hint only the brother, the
child of God.
But Peter adds still more reasons for such "continuous intensity
of love," as Luther calls it; rather, he elaborates what was briefly
indicated before. He had already called attention to the regenera-
tion of his readers in v.3, to their. resultant sonship, vv.14,17;
to their faith, their obedience to the truth, vv. 21, 22, implying
regeneration. Now he expatiates on this thought, bringing out in
particular the incorruptible means of regeneration in startling con-
trast to the vanities the world can offer. Being born again, not ot
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which
liveth and abideth forever, v. 23. The apostle contrasts the natural
birth, the first birth of man, with the spiritual birth, his second
birth, the regeneration which every Christian has experienced.
Natural birth is brought about by corruptible seed. Man is flesh,
sinful, mortal, and his seed is sinful, corruptible, mortal seed,
unable to produce life in its perfection. All it can do is to bring
forth men doomed to a vain conversation, ending finally in ever-
lasting death and damnation. Regeneration, whereby man is made
a child or God, endowed with spiritual life, an heir of eternal life,
this birth can impossibly be produced by corruptible seed, John
1: 12,13; 3: 3,5,6. This second birth requires an incorruptible seed,
such as the Word of God is. Some interpreters translate: "the
Word of the living and abiding God." We prefer the translation of
Luther and the Authorized Version. The contrast is between
perishable and imperishable seed; and the seed is not God but the
Word. Moreover, in the passage quoted from Isaiah the living and
abiding qualities of the Word are stressed. The Word of God, un-
like the word of man, is a living, enduring, abiding Word. And this
Word is not the personal Word of John 1; it is a word which is
preached, proclaimed, in the form of glad tidings, v.25, the Gospel.
Being the Word of God, it partakes of divi.ne qualities, John 6:63.
It is imbued with life and power. One need only think of those
majestic words spoken in the days of creation, by the power of
which heaven and earth were brought forth and by whose almighty,
enduring, abiding power they are conserved and enabled to func-
tion properly to this day. What marvelous changes impossible to
man has the Word of God which is preached to us as Gospel
wrought! Saul was transformed by this Word in a brief moment
from a persecutor to an obedient child of God. Untold millions of
Christians throughout the ages, children of God in the New and
the Old Testament, bear witness to its life-giving, life-preserving,
comforting, sustaining power. Says Luther: "God sends forth His
Word, the Gospel, and lets the seed fall into the heart of man.
Wherever that enters the heart, the Holy Spirit is present and
Sermon Study on 1 Pet. 1: 17 -25 193
makes a new man. There an altogether different man comes into
existence, different thoughts, different words and deeds. Thus you
are completely transformed. All that you have formerly fled you
now seek, and what you formerly had sought you now flee. In
natural birth the seed received is changed, so that it no longer is
seed; but this is a seed that cannot be changed, that endures
forever. But it changes me, so that I am transformed into it, and
whatever is evil in me by nature disappears altogether. Therefore
it is indeed a miraculous birth and a strange seed." (St. L., IX,
1003.) This power the Word of God will retain until the end of
time. As the means of our redemption was incorruptible, so the
means of our regeneration is imperishable. To the end of time it
will regenerate, sanctify, purify, preserve, bring to eternal salvation
poor, lost, condemned sinners. Marvelous!
Only the Word of God can produce this marvelous change, the
regeneration of man. 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; but the Word of the Lord endureth forever.
And this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you,
vv. 24,25. The apostle quotes Is. 40: 6, 8. All flesh, all mankind,
every offspring of Adam, all are as grass, weak, corruptible, perish-
ing, unstable, Job 14: 1,2; Ps. 90: 5,6; 103: 15, 16. And all its glory,
all that flesh boasts of, its mighty works, its pride of life, its right-
eousness, its pleasures and gaieties, all that flesh holds in so high
an esteem that it willingly sacrifices for it the imperishable gifts
of divine grace, all is as "the flower of grass," often falling away
before the grass withers, and follows its flower to the inexorable
grave. Stoeckhardt quotes Fronmueller: "The flesh also has a
glory of its own, its flower. It clothes itself in forms of beauty, of
wisdom, of nobility, of patriotism, even of holiness. It develops
forms of government, art, and science, philosophic systems and re-
ligious schools, in so far as they are not permeated by the Spirit
of God. For that reason they wither so fast, even faster than they
came into blossom." Again we exclaim, Vanity of vanities! All is
vanity!
Thank God, the Word of the Lord, that Word which is pro-
claimed to us as good tidings of great joy, EUUYYEA.U:rltEV, this Word
of God endureth, abideth (same word as v.23) forever. It endures
as long as the world endures; yes, it outlasts time, it remains un-
changed in eternity, Matt. 24: 35. Precious Word! This is the im-
perishable Word of Truth by which you have been regenerated.
This is the Word into whose nature you have been changed. Ought
your love not to be true, unfeigned, even as this Word is truth?
Ought you not to be enduring in your love, even as this Word
endures forever?
13
194 Sermon Study on 1 Pet. 1:17-25
The imperishable hope, v. 21; cf.2-12; the imperishable ransom,
vv. 18-20; the imperishable Word, vv. 23-25, three imperishable,
ever efficacious motives for true sanctification of life! What a con-
trast between these imperishables and the vanities the world can
offer: perishable flesh, vv. 23, 24; perishable conversation, v.18;
perishable glory, v. 24. What will we choose? Whom will we serve?
J udica Sunday is named for the opening word of the introitus,
Ps. 43: 1, an appeal to God to judge us and plead our cause and send
out His light and His truth. The epistle falls in with the thoughts
of this psalm, reminding us both of His judgment and His light that
they might bring us to His holy hill, the goal of our Christian hope.
The underlying thought is found in v. 17 b, brotherly love in v. 22
being but an evidence of such fear of God. Hence the theme might
be chosen: "Pass the Time of Your Sojourning Here in Fear."
1) Remember that the Father is the Judge. 2) Remember that
you were ransomed by the precious blood of Christ. 3) Remember
that you were born again of incorruptible seed. - This epistle offers
opportunity to refute the false conception of the fatherhood of God
current in our day. The True Conception of the Fatherhood of
God. 1) He is a Father who is also our Judge. 2) He is our
Father only because of the ransom paid by His Son. 3) He is the
Father only of such as have been regenerated through the Gospel.-
Proceeding from 1 Cor. 2: 6-10, speak on The Mysterious Miracles of
the Gospel. 1) It teaches a God who is our Judge and Father.
2) It offers a redemption from our vain conversation. 3) It regen-
erates us and makes us children of God (works faith, justifies,
purifies, engenders hope, preserves to eternal life ). - The Almighty
Power of the Word of God. 1) It works faith in the atoning work
of Christ. 2) It gives us power to purify our souls (vv. 17, 22 ff.) . -
The Word of God Alone Offers Us True Values. 1) Over against
the vanities of sin it offers us a perfect ransom and fear of God.
2) Over against the vanity of the material world it offers us the
everlasting Gospel. - In order to encourage believing Israel to re-
main loyal to their God, Moses sets before them life and death that
they might choose life, Deut. 30: 15-20. A similar choice is laid
before us by our heavenly Father. Only His children have the
power to make the choice. What Shall We as Children of God
Choose? 1) Perishable flesh or the imperishable Gospel? 2) Perish-
able conversation or the imperishable ransom? 3) Perishable glory
or the imperishable hope? TH. LAETSCH
.. ~