As we go through 1 Peter, we’re seeing the work of holiness being accomplished in us. The apostle continues on, showing us the reason for this transformation.
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
1 Peter 1:23 NIV
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, then you know that one of my main themes concerns the Word of God. I believe that we miss it if the only way we view the Word is thinking about it as the Bible.
In many of my posts I talk about the relationship between the Word of God and the Scripture. The Bible is the written Word of God. But we also need to hear the Word from the Holy Spirit. This is where the power of God intersects with our lives.
The Bible teaches that we must correctly handle the Word of Truth. In order to do that I must be studying the Scripture – the written record of God’s Word – so that I can handle the Word I receive from God today.
In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
Acts 19:20
The Bible uses many terms in relation to the Word of God. It uses language such as spread, increased, grew, reached and multiplied. In the above verse we’re told how. The verse says in this way. If you read through this nineteenth chapter of the Book of Acts you’ll get a taste for the effects of the Word.
We see the gifts of tongues and prophecy being manifested. There was boldness in preaching. Handkerchiefs and aprons that touched Paul were taken to the sick and they were healed.
Demonic spirits were confronted and expelled. There was widespread repentance such that a group of new believers burned the equivalent of $5,000,000 worth of satanic sorcery books.
That’s the way the Word of God is described as growing. Literally, the above verse says that the Word became a force to be reckoned with. The Word of God is alive and it grows.
The fact is that we’ve been saved by the living Word of God. That Word is a seed that’s growing inside of us. It will never decay or diminish. It’s there forever.
Peter explains to us that it’s living and enduring. It’s always alive and growing. Nothing and no one can extinguish its flame.
Somewhere along the line somebody spoke God’s Word to you. It doesn’t matter whether they used the Bible or not – you heard a Word from God that changed your life. It might have been a Bible verse, a word of prophecy, or a statement of divine truth. Either way, you received it, it grew inside of you, and eventually you accepted Jesus Christ and were born again.
That’s how the Word of God starts its work in you. The fact that you’ve established Christ as your Lord and Savior is proof that the Word has taken residence in you. Now it’s up to us what we do with that seed.
That’s why Peter is writing his letter. So that we can experience the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in us. That should be our goal. To walk more and more into the Lord’s holiness and righteousness.
Question: What was the Word of God that brought salvation into your life?
© 2025 Nick Zaccardi
The Spirit and the Word 