The Gospel Grows Us (1 Peter 1:22-2:3)
Up until this point, the apostle Peter has been laying out the truths of who we are as believers in Christ.
We have been called to set our hope fully on the grace that is to come, to be holy as God is holy, and to live in awe of our Father.
These imperatives have been grounded in the indicatives of what God has already done for us. But now, in this section of the letter, Peter transitions into corporate language, calling the exiles to live a certain way in response to these truths.
The call to holiness is not just personal but corporate. It is not only about individual holiness but about a holiness that is expressed in how we live together.
There is a call to love one another in 1 Peter 1:22, but this love is not something that we are told to do in isolation, disconnected from the gospel and our identity. It is not a vague or abstract kind of love; it is a love that flows directly from what God has done for us.
Love Grounded in the Gospel (v.22)
Peter begins by exhorting the exiles, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.” (1 Peter 1:22).
This is not just a call to love more, but a call to love as people who have been purified by the truth of the gospel. The imperative to love one another is firmly grounded in the indicative of what God has done for us through Christ. Our ability to love is directly linked to the gospel’s work in our hearts.
Love, as Peter presents it, is not something that we can manufacture on our own. It is not something we can simply command ourselves to do apart from the transforming power of the gospel.
Love must be directed from its true source—the grace of God. Peter’s command is not simply to love more but to love from the foundation of the grace that has been given to us.
It is setting our hope fully on the grace to come, as Peter has already exhorted in verse 13, that enables us to love as we should. This love is not just an emotion or a feeling; it is the manifestation of the gospel working itself out in our relationships with one another.
Love Informed by the Gospel (v.22)
Peter goes on to call us to love “earnestly from a pure heart.” (1 Peter 1:22).
Love, according to Peter, is not just a surface-level action but a deep, intentional, and informed practice. We love because we have been loved first by God (1 John 4:19), and we love with the knowledge of the gospel—that Christ has given His life for us and that we have been born again through the living and abiding word of God.
This love is also informed by the truth of who we are as a community. The call to love one another is a call to live out our new identity as the people of God, and this love is to flow, primarily, to the other recipients of the same gospel. Our relationships with one another are meant to reflect the reality of what God has done for us in Christ.
Love Intentionally (v.22)
Peter doesn’t just say, “love one another.” He qualifies this love with powerful adjectives: “love one another earnestly, from a pure heart” (1 Peter 1:22).
The Greek word used here for “earnestly” speaks to a love that is fervent, intense, and intentional. It is not superficial or casual love. It is a love that is intentional, a love that actively seeks the good of others.
This love is not passive—it requires effort, focus, and intentionality. It is a love that is cultivated through deliberate actions and choices, much like a gardener who carefully tends to the plants in his garden.
Love, in the Christian life, is a choice. It is an active decision to love others, even when it is difficult, even when it requires sacrifice. This kind of love is only possible when we are constantly reminded of the gospel, when we are regularly hearing and meditating on the truth that Christ has loved us, not because we are deserving but because He is merciful.
Our love for others is the outflow of that gospel-shaped heart, a heart that has been purified by the truth and is being made more like Christ every day.
The Source of Love: A Pure Heart (v.22)
Where does this love come from? Peter tells us that it comes from a pure heart (1 Peter 1:22).
We are not just called to love more, but we are directed to the source of true love—our hearts, purified by the gospel.
The purity of our hearts comes from the gospel itself. As we hear and respond to the gospel, our hearts are changed. The gospel purifies our desires, our thoughts, and our actions, enabling us to love in a way that reflects the love of Christ.
Love may be demonstrated in many ways, but it is only transmitted in one way: through the word of God. Just as salvation comes through hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17), so too does love.
It is through the gospel, the word of God, that love is communicated and grows in us. The gospel is the source of love, and it is through the gospel that we can love others genuinely and sacrificially.
The Gospel: The Imperative to Put Away Anti-Love (2:1)
In light of the call to love, Peter then exhorts the exiles to “put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander” (1 Peter 2:1).
This gospel shaped understanding not only calls us to love but also to actively reject what undermines love: malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. These are the anti-love attitudes and actions that distort the love we are called to show to others.
Because we have been loved by God, because we have been cleansed and purified by the gospel, we are called to put away anything that works against love. Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander are all forms of selfishness that reflect the opposite of the self-sacrificial love of Christ. They are destructive to relationships and undermine the unity that the gospel brings.
Desire the Pure Milk of the Word (2:2)
Peter’s call to love one another is intertwined with the gospel in yet another way.
In 1 Peter 2:2, he urges the exiles to “as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby.”
The analogy Peter uses here is one of a newborn’s insatiable desire for milk. Just as an infant’s growth is entirely dependent on the nourishment found in milk, so too must believers continually long for the nourishing word of God. This is not something we “grow out of” as we mature in our faith. On the contrary, just as babies always need milk, we will always need the gospel.
Milk is simple, but it is precisely what a newborn needs to grow. It’s not complex or fancy, but it’s essential and life-giving. Likewise, the gospel is all we need for spiritual growth. We don’t need additives or enhancements to make it effective. It doesn’t need to be watered down or made more palatable. The gospel is sufficient for us.
The more we grasp the depths of the gospel, the more we reflect the love and character of Christ in our relationships with one another. Just as babies need milk to grow, so we need the gospel to grow in the love that Peter calls us to.
The Gospel Grows Us (2:2)
This growth in love, Peter tells us, is the result of “the milk of the word.”
As we hear and meditate on the gospel, it grows our faith, and this growing faith is what enables us to live out the love we are called to show one another. The gospel is the means of our spiritual growth. Just as physical nourishment is necessary for physical growth, so spiritual nourishment from the word of God is necessary for spiritual growth.
This is why the gospel must remain central to our lives as Christians. Without the gospel, we cannot grow. Without the gospel, we cannot love as we are called to love. Without the gospel, we cannot live in a way that reflects God’s holiness. The gospel is the foundation, the fuel, and the sustenance for everything we do as Christians.
Conclusion
The call to love one another is not just a command that stands on its own; it is grounded in the gospel.
It is the gospel that purifies our hearts and enables us to love as Christ loved us. It is the gospel that grows our faith and equips us to live as the people of God in a world that desperately needs to see His love. As we continue to hear and respond to the word of God, we are nourished and strengthened to love deeply, intentionally, and sacrificially. If we are to grow in holiness, we must keep the gospel at the center of our lives, continually gazing upon the love of God revealed in Christ, and allowing that love to fuel our love for others.
The gospel is the source, the means, and the goal of our spiritual growth, and it must remain central to everything we do as we live out our calling to love one another.