[249 words]
First Peter was written to Christians scattered throughout Asia. He says that they had been “born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:23). Seeds are remarkable things in their ability to reproduce. Gardeners love them and farmers live by them. But sometimes seeds spoil: moister gets in, mildew occurs and the seed is ruined. That seed will not produce a crop. But there is a seed, Peter said, which is incorruptible. It is the word of God.
Jesus often talked about seeds in His parables. In reality there are two kinds of seed being sown in the religious world today. Jesus called one “good seed” and the other “tares” (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43). The good seed is the incorruptible word of God which lives and abides forever and the tares are the seeds of false doctrines sown in the hearts of gullible men who will not study to show themselves approved unto God. The incorruptible seed will produce Christians. The tares will bring forth pseudo-Christians.
The incorruptible seed will result in being “born again”; born of “water and the Spirit” (John 3:3, 5). When the incorruptible seed is sown men will “die to sin”, be “buried in baptism”, (planted), and “raised to walk in newness of life” (Romans 6: 1-5). When the tares are sown the new birth will not take place, even though they speak of being born again.
Alton Norman
Owingsville, KY