"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart" (1 Peter 1:22).
We are more accustomed to think of knowing the truth, Peter takes us one step farther in living the gospel by calling us to obey the truth. The wisdom of the Bible would say that we have not really known the truth if it does not lead to obedience and action. Truth that is known but not lived is not really known.
In these verses, Peter draws out a crucial implication of the gospel of Christ. To know God and be known by him leads us to love our brothers. As Jesus taught we cannot claim to love God and withhold love from our neighbor. This is why we are placed in the world and in the church. In the church we learn to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. In the world we learn to love our neighbor as God loved the world in Christ.
If we do not serve both the church and the world, we demonstrate that we have not understood the gospel of Christ. In that circumstance we are far from it.
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