1 Peter 1:22-25 Belief and Obedience
“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one anoher earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for ‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.’ And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
“What is truth?” Pilate asked (John 18:38) Jesus answered this many times in many ways. In John 14:6 He clearly stated that He was the Truth and in John 3:16 He said that “whoever believes in him (the Truth) will have eternal life.”
So what is Peter saying here? “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth…”? By believing that Jesus Christ is who he says he is. My propitiation (Jn.2:2), my Savior, my Redeemer, my Lord, etc. I am being “obedient to the truth”.
Putting my trust in You, Lord God, believing Your Word and acknowledging Your Sovereign rule in my life, welcoming Your rule and embracing You as my true love pledging my allegiance to You alone is demonstrating my “obedience to the truth”.
Faith is always accompanied by action.
Faith is proactive if it is alive.
Obedience is always motivated by love.
Trust/Belief always results in obedience.