Living and Powerful: The Animation of Scripture | Part 2

1 Peter 1:22-23

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.

Peter gives us three things in this text that are worth considering in our discussion about Scripture’s animation. (1) The word of God is alive; (2) the word of God gives life; (3) the word of God makes brotherly love possible. Let’s take a look at each of these in order.

First, the word of God is alive. He says it “lives,” using zaō, the same word used in Hebrews 4:12 (there translated “living”). If you’ll recall from our previous examination, this word means both that Scripture itself possesses life and also that it is able to give us life. We must be careful not to miss the significance of this. Zaō does not just mean life-giving; it is only used of something or someone who is truly alive. We might wrongly think Scripture is like food: good for us, nourishing, and worth consuming. Yet most foods are days, weeks, or months removed from life by the time we eat them. While Scripture is like food in its vital value, it is distinct. It does not just give life; it is alive. Even as we read it, as we study it, as we understand it, it is vibrant with God’s power.

There is a part of this that is difficult for our minds to comprehend. How can words be alive? They are alive because they are the truth of God. While they may pass through innumerable copies and printings, as long as the truth of God’s words is preserved, it is alive with God’s power. When we read the Bible, we experience the power of its truth and are transformed.

Second, the word of God gives life. In Hebrews, Scripture’s animation (life) is seen in its ability to reveal our true selves. Nothing is hidden from the piercing scalpel of God’s word. When we encounter Scripture and it works on our hearts, our sin and need are plainly shown. But here Peter focuses on its ability to transform us. He says that new birth comes through God’s word. We are “born again…through the word of God.” How do we know God’s word is alive? Its effect. It imparts life to its hearers. It regenerates. It is life-giving, thus we know it is alive.

This tells us two things about our relationship with Scripture. First, we are able to be saved if we read it in faith. If we desire spiritual life, we can come to God’s word, be shown the truth, and be saved. It is powerful to save. Second, we can only be saved if we read it (or are otherwise exposed to its truth). No other book or source of information is able to tell us what we need to know to be saved. Scripture alone is able to impart spiritual life. Without God’s word, no one could be saved. But with His word, we can be saved! He has given it for that express purpose—that we would know and receive the gospel. Salvation can be known and experienced through Scripture.

Third, the word of God makes brotherly love possible. Take a look at the text again. He tells us that, because we have experienced the gospel, we are to “love one another fervently with a pure heart.” Why can we do this? We have been born again. Genuine brotherly love results from experiencing the life-transforming power of God’s word. In fact, true love is only possible for those who have been regenerated. The natural man, the spiritually dead man, cannot love like this. His love is self-interested, self-righteous, and self-serving. The love modeled in the Bible is self-sacrificing and self-forgetting. Biblical love is service, is prioritizing other’s needs above our own and giving of our time and resources for their benefit. If we are to give and receive the kind of fervent brotherly love described here, we must first be born again through God’s word. And thus God’s word makes love possible. It animates our hearts (which were cold and lifeless), enabling us to love others. Without spiritual life, there is no love. With life through God’s word, we can also love.

1 Peter 2:2

As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.

Several verses later, Peter tells us God’s word has another effect on us. Not only does it regenerate us, but it also helps us grow spiritually. In fact, it is essential to our growth. A newborn baby is entirely dependent on his mother’s milk for daily (even hourly) nourishment. Even a few days without his mother’s milk may cause his death. So too we Christians must continually feed on the word if we are to stay spiritually alive. Scripture is alive, it makes us alive, and it keeps us alive.

Think too of the command Peter gives here. He does not just tell us to feed on the word, he calls us to desire it. This speaks of more than duty; it speaks of yearning to feast on God’s word. As the father of two hungry boys, I experienced early on that there are certain needs I cannot meet. A hungry baby is only satisfied with his mother’s milk, and try as I might to distract him, it is only a matter of time before he must eat. He will not be satisfied otherwise. This must be our desire for God’s word. We are not just to placidly consume three or four verses a day. We must diligently desire God’s word, knowing that our very life depends on whether or not we feed on it. We must love the word, feed on it, and grow.

Animation Applied

Good Christian theology is both intellectual and tangible. It ought not only to affect our minds but also our actions. In light of this principle, how does a right understanding of Scripture’s animation affect our daily walk? First, it ought to inform our approach to evangelism. On what do we rely when we share the gospel with unbelievers? Do we depend on a winning personality? Or maybe we hesitate because we don’t have people skills. Do we look for a neat trick, a new method, a marketing technique? Or are we confident that God’s word is living and powerful, capable to convict and to save? It’s easy to think the simple truth is insufficient, that we need to make the gospel more accessible, more palatable, or more relevant. Yet God has told us that His word is powerful. Are we willing to share the truth of Scripture and allow God to work through it?

What about our mentoring, counseling, and discipleship? If we believe Scripture is powerful, we ought to make it central to any solution we offer. Is our confidence in methods, systems, theories, and philosophies, or is our confidence in God’s word? God has given us His word so we may grow. Do we lead others to God’s word so it can work on their hearts? Wisdom without the Bible is foolishness. Technique without the Bible is vanity. Sincerity without the Bible is misguided. Resolve without the Bible is weak. Philosophy without the Bible is empty. Accountability without the Bible is fickle. Many of these can be helpful in measure, but none are effective without God’s living word.

This holds true not only in our care for others, but also in our own spiritual lives. Where do we turn when our faith is shaking, or when we fail? Do we soak ourselves in the word? Or do we turn to another spiritual high, another revival, another conference? Do we rely on fickle human experiences or do we return again to the living word? Let us drink deep the pure milk of the word, that we may grow thereby.

One more note. Scripture is powerful, but its power is vested in its truth. It is not a good-luck charm. You can write it on every stud of your house and it will have no effect on you unless you believe its words. The Bible is not fairy-dust to sprinkle over someone when he is having a bad day. It is powerful, wonderful, encouraging, life-giving, immeasurably valuable, but only as the Spirit instructs us in it and impresses it on our hearts. We must know it. We must understand it and receive it. We must submit to it. Scripture’s life-giving power is experienced in conjunction with good and faithful study of its content. Let us not think that Scripture is effective if we do not understand it. We experience its power only as we encounter God’s truth held within the words on its pages.

God’s word is living and powerful. It convicts sinners and leads them to God. It tells the gospel and through it imparts spiritual life. And it continues to lead the believer in true spiritual life—closer and closer to God.