 you to be here. Well, we're going to get into first Peter chapter one. Now, we're going to look at verses 22 through 25, and it's one of those passages that is, it's a deep passage that I'm going to do my best to touch on, but the message is very simple and very basic. It's a message that we, as believers, are commanded by God to love one another. So we'll see that as we get into this portion of scripture. First Peter chapter one, verses 22 through 25, love one another. The apostle writes, 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. All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away. But the Word of the Lord endures forever. Now, this is the Word which by the gospel was preached to you. The Word of the Lord is the gospel which was preached to you. Now, the apostle Peter has been writing here in 1 Peter just to give you some context. The apostle Peter has been writing concerning the reality of a transformed life. That's what he's been writing concerning. And he's been pointing out that a transformed life gives great evidence of genuine salvation. In other words, when somebody actually comes into connection with God, there's going to be an evidence of it, and the evidence is going to be a new way of life. When you come into contact with God, there is a transformation. When you come into contact with God, there is evidence that that contact has been made. Contacting God, the great power of the universe. Contacting God is going to bring about a transformation and evidence in your life, and it's going to be unmistakable. Because anytime you come into contact with power, there is evidence. Years ago, when we were doing some construction in the early days of this church, we had purchased a building in Ontario on Maple Street, and we had some of the men come on a weekend, and we were tearing down some walls and preparing that we might be able to use it as a fellowship hall and all of that. And so my sons were very young at the time, and we were busy doing some work. And I was in one of the hallways, and I had removed one of the switches, the light on and off switches from the lights there, and I was beginning to remove the wires so I could take that power box, that electrical power box off, and somebody came and spoke to me and I turned and began to give them my attention without noticing that my hand went in between the two live wires. And so I felt this sense of power, and I remember pulling my hand back and looking at my fingernail, and my fingernail was on fire. It was a flame coming off my fingernail, and being an old hippie, it kind of like tripped me out. I was go, whoa. And then it hit me, your hand's on fire, and I remember going, you know, shaking my hand and it didn't go, so I just put it, I put it in my mouth, you know. And power, you come into contact with power, there is evidence. When you come into power, in contact with the power of the Lord and the Holy Spirit through the salvation that you have in Jesus Christ, there's going to be evidence. See, it's one thing for somebody to say, oh, I've got a relationship with God, I know God, and there are a lot of people in the United States who will answer any survey, yes, I'm a Christian or yes, I'm a believer. But the apostle Peter is saying, that's not enough. The apostle Peter is saying, listen, it's not enough to say that you have a relationship with God, there needs to be an evidence that exists. There's a transformed life, and that's what he's speaking about. It's been said, the truth is that though we were justified by faith alone, the faith that justifies is never alone. It always produces fruit, it always produces good works, it always produces a transformed life. And so a transformed life is an evidence of true salvation, we are saved by faith, but faith produces works. And so our life is going to be demonstrating the relationship that we have with God. We've become new creations, old things are passed away. If you hold all things are become new. And these all things that Paul speaks about as becoming news is including our new way of living, our new manner of life. And this new manner of life produces what the Bible refers to as spiritual fruit. And we who at one time had been lost, we who at one time had been walking in spiritual darkness, we were at one time away from God, have now been brought near to Him through Jesus Christ, and our life has now transformed. That's Christianity. Paul says in Ephesians 5 verse 8, you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, walk His children of light. And so that's what he's speaking about, walking in the light instead of in the darkness. And so the apostle here has been writing to the church that is scattered abroad, and he has said to them that as you have become a new creation, then you're going to be living what is called a holy life that evidences the reality you've got in your life as well as a reverence for God, a fear of God that is going to demonstrate that you understand who you are and who He is. No longer will you meander through life, not having any purpose, not knowing where you're going or what you're doing. Now you have purpose because the Holy Spirit dwells within you, leads you. Now you have purpose because you have understood why you've been created in the first place. And now you understand that you're just a sojourner. You're an individual who's simply passing through and as a result of that, having that attitude, there's also going to be an accompanying love for God and love for what He's done through Jesus Christ. And so if that's true in my life, then there are going to be evidences this transformed life is going to have. And one of the things that He wants us to understand is one of the evidences that we've been transformed is the evidence of love. That's what He's saying in verse 22 here in 1 Peter chapter 1 when He says, 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. You have purified your souls in obeying the truth. You receive the gospel of Jesus Christ and responded to it. And a result of that is going to be a reverence for God, it's going to be holiness and it's going to be love. Love is the earmark of a believer. Love is demonstrated in very basic ways. I think sometimes we think of love and we begin to think of how do I demonstrate love. Love is demonstrated in very, very basic ways and it's really easy to do an inventory of ourselves. It's easy to to see whether or not I actually love or I don't love. One of the scriptures that I think is most plain is found in Romans 1310. It's a very basic scripture, guys. But in Romans 1310 it says, love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. That makes sense to me and it's very basic. Love does no harm to a neighbor. That makes sense. So I'm not intending to harm my neighbor by doing something that would harm them like stealing their wife or stealing their goods. I'm not going to be speaking evil of them. I'm going to do things in a practical way that demonstrates that there's a reality in my life. And who is my neighbor? Just a person who lives on one side or the other across the street or behind me? No, Jesus would say that everybody's my neighbor. My neighbor is everybody and therefore love does no harm to anybody. That's the whole point. Love does no harm to a neighbor. So if I really have a love for a neighbor, I'm not going to be lusting after his family's goods. I'm not going to be doing things destructive that will be harmful to him. Love does no harm. Not only that, but the way that I live is going to be demonstrating the reality of love for God and for others. I'm not going to be this angry, sullen, bitter individual anymore. God is going to replace those kinds of things with new conduct, with a new life, with new substance. Colossians chapter 3 verses 8 and 9. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, dirty language. Don't lie to each other for you've stripped off your old evil nature and all its wicked deeds. Very basic, you know, dirty language. I've had people come up for prayer who as they're asking for prayer cuss at me and I say, Raul, you really ought not to talk like that. That's just so wrong, man. But I have, I really have. They're explaining to me why they're so upset. Then they use language and it's so common and I understand that. I understand that. I understand that people will listen to language and they pick it up and they think it's very explanatory. This is how I really feel. I understand that. But it's interesting how even during the time of the writing of Colossians, the Apostle Paul had to make it very clear, don't be using profanity. Don't be speaking like that. Because why? Well, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And what's really inside is going to come out. And so when I'm upset, what really resides within me is going to be evidenced. You see? But when I have a new heart, when God has done any new work in my life, when I begin to understand who I am and who He is, and when I begin to love God with all of my heart, which is really something that He asks me to do, but it takes a lifetime to begin to understand, even in an Iod, even in a small way, what that really means. Then I begin to realize that if I truly have a relationship with the invisible God, then I ought to be loving those who I do see. How can I say I love God whom I haven't seen and I hate the one that I do see, and therefore, it's easy for me to say, oh, I love God, but if I say, oh, I love God and I'm still hating my neighbor and doing harm to them, I really haven't understood what it means to be a believer. When all of that begins to gel and make sense of my life, and then I realize I ought not to be malicious. I realize that I ought not to live in that way. Why? Well, because God has given to me His Holy Spirit, which produces transformation in me. Ezekiel 36, 26, Old Testament book. God makes a promise. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. So the Lord doesn't work and He actually replaces that stony heart, that hardened heart with a soft heart, a heart that He actually can engrave His Word on so that we are beginning to do the things that please Him, not simply because we have seen it on printing, on outside, on some poster or some form of writing on a book, but because the writing on this book is now written on the tablet of my heart. And so from within, I begin to do those things that are pleasing to Him, not with an eye on reward, but rather because it gives me great satisfaction and joy to do that which is pleasing to Him. The transformation is from within. It's not from without. I was about four months old when my mom took me to a small church in Los Angeles that all of us know, it's called the Plaza Church, right outside Alvaro Street. I was four months old when my mom, who was a 20-year-old young woman, took me to the priest and they took me to this little alcove there in the church, small church. And he took that water and poured it on me and baptized me. That didn't change my life. How could it? I was four months old. What did I have to confess at that time? Forgive me. I've been getting grumpy because I haven't got enough sleep and my diapers really disturbing me at this point. I mean, what do I have to say? I mean, there's nothing I can say. You know, that three-month-old baby over there has drawn my attention. You know, what do I have to say? I didn't get saved until I was 20 years old. You see, those kinds of things as wonderful as my mom wanted to do the right kind of thing and her motives were great. The fact of the matter is, is I had yet to hear. I had yet to hear the gospel. I had yet to believe and I had yet to receive and therefore my heart remained corrupt because there was no newness. There was no wording grafted on me. It hadn't happened yet. I have to receive the word of God and I hadn't done that. You see. And so, transformation comes when God begins to write his word on the tablet of your heart. He begins to put within you a desire to love him and a desire to love others, to love your neighbor even as yourself. And so, this inner purification results from receiving the gospel, which is the gospel of truth. This purification occurs when you believe, when you trust the Lord and it results in a practice that demonstrates that you know him. It's like what Jesus said in John 15, verse 3, you are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Second Thessalonians 2.13, Paul says, we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. Believe in the truth. They had not only heard the message but they believed it. They put personal trust in the gospel. They heard that invitation, come unto me all you who labor in a heavy laden. I will give you rest. What an invitation. Pick up your cross daily and follow me. What an invitation. They had heard that even as Isaiah said in Isaiah 45, 22 and 23, the Lord's motivating him to write, look to me and be saved all you ends of the earth. I am God. There's no other. I have sworn by myself. The word has gone out of my mouth and righteousness shall not return. That to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. Well, that's something that Paul later on to the Philippians says, every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. We are believers because we have believed in the Son of God. We have been purified by the word of truth. So how are these believers going to reveal that they are actually believers? What is the practical test? How do you know that you have a relationship with God? Well, the apostle makes it very clear. They're going to make the reality of salvation. They're going to make the reality of their faith demonstrable by sincerely loving one another. Somebody says, see that's what makes it difficult. You stand up there and you say, love one another. You don't have to live with what I live with. And to that I say, bless you Jesus. Thank you God. No, I understand that Christian faith isn't easy, is it? Anybody here think it's easy to be a Christian? It isn't easy. Isn't it easier to tell somebody off than it is to bite your tongue? Isn't it? Isn't it easier? Yeah, it is. My tongue is really very very short. I've bitten it for so many years. It is a lot easier to get angry than it is to hold your peace. It's a lot easier to give into the flesh because the flesh is always there at the top just waiting to have an opportunity to express itself whether somebody cuts in line in front of you or is rude to you or says something to one of your friends or family members and it bothers you. Whether they steal something from you or they insult you or they let their dog do their business on your lawn. I mean, it's easier for you to say, what are you doing? How can we do that or at least to get angry with them? It isn't easy to love. It isn't easy. It's something that you actually have to die to yourself to be able to do. One of the things that I've discovered is that the Bible commands me to love one another, but it doesn't mean that I necessarily have to like everybody. You know, there are times if you're, if you have kids, there are times that I would think I'm supposed to love my child but I sure don't like them. Now anybody would say, oh that's just so cruel, oh that's mean. Your kid hasn't become a teenager. Come and talk to me in a few years. You'll admit it. You'll be on my side. I'll dislike them with you. No, I mean I can love you but that doesn't mean I have to like you. Love does no harm to a neighbor. That doesn't mean I get these goosebumps every time you walk into the room. Oh boy, here comes that precious person. It just means I'm willing to do good for you. I'm willing to do what's right for you. I'm willing to lay my life down if necessary to help you. And that's a greater, more significant thing than to simply say, oh I like hanging around with you and I like to drink coffee with you and isn't it cool that we, you know, it's just not that way at all. What we learn to do is we learn to love as the way the Lord Jesus Christ loved and in order to do that, here's the key. We need to do two things. One is we need to have His power, the power of the Holy Spirit. I need to be drenched in the Spirit of God. Romans 5, 5 says, hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. I need the power of the Holy Spirit in my life. I need God to pour His Spirit upon me, to drench me in it so that I can learn to love and be one who loves even as He would have me to be one who loves. We've been transferred into the kingdom of God. We're family in Jesus Christ. We're one in Him. He loved us and therefore we're to love one another. That is the birthmark of a believer, love. And you command me to give I unto you that you love one another as I have loved you. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have loved one for another. How is the world going to know that you saved us Jesus? This is how the world is going to know. You're going to have something the world doesn't offer. You're going to have something the world cannot give. I'm going to give you things that make you different. I'm going to give you hope. My hope I will give unto you. The world doesn't give you hope. I'll give you hope. I'm going to give to you peace. The world doesn't give unto you peace. In this world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. I'm going to give you hope and I'm going to give you peace but beyond this I'm going to give you love. Greater love has no man than this and a man laid down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatsoever I have commanded you. You're going to be an individual who actually demonstrates what I'm all about because you're going to love. You're going to love one another because one because you love God and two because you know that in loving God there's an expression and that is to love one another and by this people will know you've really been saved. You've really been changed. You're going to love. All you need to do is look around this room right now and ask yourself how many of these people would you actually hang around with in the world. The fact is is we probably wouldn't hang around with each other if we didn't have something greater than ourselves that united us together and that's the love of Christ. That's the fact because the friends that I choose are going to be friends exactly like me or who agree with me 99 percent of the time and I might have people in this room who disagree with me you know a lot of the time would I necessarily drink coffee with them hang around with them in the world no of course not why wouldn't I won't because we're really not alike we really don't have that many things in common but here we are if you look around you know we got the united nations in here we have people from various continents various countries various language groups all in this one room united in one way and what is it that united us the love of Christ the love of Jesus Christ that makes us one which demonstrates to the world that Jesus Christ is Lord and He's our Lord and we belong together and that's what Jesus said it's the birthmark in 1st John 3 23 this is His commandment that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another as He gave us commandment Galatians 5 13 and 14 for you brethren have been called to liberty only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh but through love serve one another for all the laws fulfilled in one word even this you shall love your neighbor as yourself love is the birthmark of the believer love for God and love for one another demonstrates that we truly know Him now what's interesting about all of this is notice how he speaks here in verse 22 and says he said through the spirit in sincere love of the brethren love one another sincere sincere love now that's interesting that's a that's an interesting word the word sincere the word sincere means to be undisguised it speaks of being without hypocrisy the real thing the real deal it speaks of having no ulterior motives but the english word sincere is interesting because we get the word sincere from the latin the word latin uh that the words in latin that are translated by the single english word sincere are uh sincera in latin it's sincera and sincera literally means without wax now how did we get the word without hypocrisy from that which is without wax how'd that work well during the time of the writing if i walked into a pottery shop and i wanted to buy a vase and the shop will say could be dark maybe there's some lamp light in there but i can't see very clearly and i find a particular vase that i like and i'd pick it up i'd look at it inspect it then i would turn it to look at its base and when i looked at the base i would look for a stamp and what i was looking for was the words sincera without wax because what that meant was that this was not broken there was no hairline fractures because what would happen is there were times that the shopkeeper might have something that had a hairline fracture in it and they would take wax and they would put it in the hairline fracture smooth it out so that you couldn't see it so when you bought it it looked like it was perfectly made and you take it out you'd lift it up to the sunlight and you'd see this hairline fracture and you'd realize you were taken because they had put wax in the broken or the fragmented pot or vase so in a way to guarantee the authenticity or the reality of this you would have someone who would stamp it sincera without wax and that's where the word sincere comes from where the apostle peter says we're to love one another sincerely we're to love one another undisguised we're to love one another without hypocrisy we're to love one another genuinely that's what the church is supposed to do love love is an interesting word because it's used in a variety of ways and the concept of love is used in some ways that are really not edifying and not proper some use the word love when they use love it's it's a word that really is speaking about an investment they use the word love and they use love as a concept in order that they might use it to get something for themselves so they say I love you when in reality what they're saying is I want to use you for my own pleasure and therefore I'm going to say to you I love you because it's something you want to hear I know that you demand it I know that you want it and I know that you'd be flattered if I say that therefore I love you and that's a word that people use all the time to get what they want from somebody else that is not a sincere love at all it's a manipulative love there are some who will act out love say they're dating somebody with children and they want to get to the to the to the woman will say from a man's perspective he wants the woman for himself and so what does he do he he pretends that he likes her kids because she's got a few kids and so oh he ruffles their hair and plays with them oh I love you kids is he really loving those kids or is he really trying just to get in good with the mother a lot of times I have to tell you they're just trying to get in good they're just using that to get to the mother that's the way it works because they've learned to use that word and to act that way is going to get them benefits later on some people use the word love as a weapon they use it to hurt and they use it to control they can use love in somebody's life in a way that makes that person think that they're sincere that they really care about them and so they say things in a flattering way oh you're beautiful in your sweet and I just really care for you but in reality they're withholding from them they're not really pouring their heart into and they're really not giving them of themselves completely what they're doing is they're trying to cause that person through through flattery to to care for them because when that person cares for them more than they care for that person now they can control that person you learned that when you were in high school didn't you if you were a guy and you were going after a girl you would do the best you could to make her really care about you because when she really did care about you then you could do whatever you basically wanted to do and get away with it so you tell her I'm going to come over she can't go out dad won't let her out the house that night so you say oh I'll be over I'll come and see you I'll be there on eight o'clock but you go out with your friends and you and your friends are going out and you're doing whatever it is that you do and you never call her you never let her know that you're not coming you just don't show up the next day you call up and how you doing she say I waited for you last night it was eight o'clock nine o'clock ten o'clock I finally went to bed at midnight you never showed up you never called oh I'm sorry I got caught up doing something else you know I wouldn't normally do that forgive me you know I love you what are you doing you've got more power in the life of that person because she loves you more than you love her and now you can use her in manipulator and you can hurt her and it doesn't matter to you because that's how love is isn't it that's how we do it we learned that in high school manipulating hurting using it for a weapon some people say love what they really mean guilt they use guilt can you come over tonight you know I love you well I I can't I have to do some things oh that's okay you know I'll sit here by myself eating popcorn watching the movie and I haven't had anybody come over for a while it's okay I understand you're busy don't don't don't don't don't don't you don't have to come over it's all right I've got other people who want to come over but you don't have to come over I'll call them oh wait a minute they're gone having good times by themselves can't can't you okay we use guilt I'll be there oh you don't have to no I'll be there no you don't have to it's okay Marie stop it no um guilt when I die you're gonna cry you gotta buy me flowers now when I can smell them because I won't smell them from the grave guilt what is he saying he's saying love sincerely love without hypocrisy genuinely care for one another and do so with a pure heart when he speaks concerning this purity by the way this purity of love love one another fervently with a pure heart that word pure in an old testament sense speaks of that which is clean of that which is forbidden that which imparts nothing unclean it's actually can be used as a picture of a vine a vine that has been cleansed by pruning so that it's fitting to bear fruit interestingly enough in israel when they had their vines they would take the vines and lay them on the ground they actually will lay the vines on the ground and then they get buckets of water and they pour the water on the vines and as they pour in the water on the vines they're actually that's a form of pruning they're washing it and they're getting rid of the dead branches and things of that nature as they're they're washing it down and then they're able to pick the pure fruit from it it's called pruning and and that's why when jesus was speaking in john 15 too he said every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away every branch that bears fruit he purges it that it may bring forth more fruit we are washed we are purged with the water of the word that's how that works and so the word of god washes and cleanses and takes those things off of us that are not not right before the lord and that's how we get into the word of god and that's why the word of god works within us like that and it purges us so he's speaking of a purged heart the purged heart comes to the washing of the the word of god and the power of the holy spirit it's not the result of positive thinking and it's never going to be the result of simply trying extra hard the purity of heart that we need is the result of abiding in jesus christ in john 15 four and five abide in me and i will abide in you no branch can bear fruit by itself it must abide in the vine neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in me i am the vine you are the branches if a man abides in me and i and him he will bear much fruit apart from me you can do nothing abiding in christ empowered by the spirit that's what god wants for us now how does this happen well he says in verse 23 having been born again not of corruptible seed but incorruptible now through the word of god which lives and abides forever corruptible versus incorruptible perishable versus imperishable what he's doing is he's contrasting what is called natural birth with spiritual regeneration you're born of water in a natural way but you need to be washed and brought to life in a spiritual way so the corruptible seed speaks of that which is natural natural birth the seed referring to how a father initiates human birth but in contrast you have the spiritual birth god initiating spiritual birth with the imperishable seed which he says is the living word of god so it's through the word of god which lives and abides forever that we are washed regenerated it's how we get born again god's word is received by faith it's acted upon in faith james 118 says it like this of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures you see all flesh according to verse 24 is as grass and the glory of man as the flower of the grass the grass withers its flower falls away but the word of the lord endures forever this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you all flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass isn't that true you may be the big thing for a while a person may be the big thing and before you know what they get older and suddenly they're not the big thing anymore because some new big thing came into into being some new beautiful person some new handsome person that's what happens that's just what life is the glory of man perishes how cool you are right now i mean americans are interesting because there's no doubt in my mind that we want to be cool as a matter of fact it's one of the compliments that you receive when somebody says man you're so cool yeah i am cool you know but that's a word that i see is kind of interesting it's it's it's almost a timeless word now at least it it's been used for a long time i mean you can use the word all the way from you know the 50s and possibly before that right in the 50s people would say cool and that's cool he's really cool 60s 70s same thing but there are words that that were only for certain periods i mean when's the last time you're speaking to somebody no i'm not saying this doesn't happen maybe it does when's the last time somebody described that guy as being man that guy's really groovy you know maybe he's a groovy dude you know it doesn't work anymore huh i said man i want to be groovy oh please call me groovy you know that that doesn't work anymore we used to have a word where if somebody was cute they were ginshi anybody ever hear that man he is she's so ginshi she is the ginshiest you know ginshi are you kidding me please don't call me ginshi you know so these are words that had a certain time that they are part of and you can always tell man that's an old movie look at that man you've seen that guy's groovy but the word cool i mean to this day you can be cool you know and that guy's so cool right and so when somebody doesn't think you're cool are you kidding me i am cool i wear converse you know i you know like rawl yesterday he was wearing skinny jeans i mean he's cool i just pictured that that's they come and they go they come and they go that beaver haircut anyway i mean that they come and they go but everybody wants to be cool everybody wants to have glory everybody wants to know to be known that's the way it is and and the apostle peter is saying listen there are things that are more important than transitory kinds of glory it's like the grass the flower the field it's beautiful now but the sun rises with a burning heat and it withers that and it dries up and it fades away and that's how the glory of man works they speak well of you while you're alive they say great glowing things if you're very wealthy because everybody wants to have a wealthy friend that they can sponge off of and it's interesting how that when somebody wins the lottery how all of these relatives come out of the woodworks who've never even remember yeah my name's smith yours is smith too we most be cousins and i need a loan and that's what happens you know that i know that glory pursue that which lasts is what the apostle is saying have a holiness of life have a fear of god have a regeneration experience where the holy spirit comes within you and transforms you writing god's word on your heart remember that you're here today you will be gone tomorrow so what lasts for christ is eternal but glory from man is temporary so don't pursue the accolades of man but pursue Jesus's words where he says well done my good my faithful servant and above all of these things sincerely love one another don't manipulate don't use but love with purity and without hypocrisy because that's what identifies you as a genuine christian it isn't related to whether or not you receive certain washings as a baby or certain rituals as a young person what matters is whether or not you have a clean conscience that's been washed by the blood of christ so that you can stand before him in the day of judgment and he can say to you were he to ask a question such as why should i allow you into my kingdom you can say to him i can enter in because i've been brought forth by the word of truth i have received your sacrifice in a personal way you atoned for my sin i asked you to forgive me to come into my life to cleanse me i was born again i was born not a perishable seed but imperishable by your very word and as i embraced you and your word entered into my life i actually began to sincerely love god and other people with an understanding that i'll never love god as much as he loves me but i certainly do love him for what he's done for me and if he has forgiven me of my sins a love does no harm to others therefore i'm not going to seek to take vengeance or try to destroy based on any pain i've experienced but i'm going to learn to walk in the freshness of the spirit and the holiness of god and the empowering and i'm going to do my best to understand his word put it into practice and this all comes because i've been born again by the word of god a word that lives and abides forever and because it does i live too