God Purifies Souls, an exposition of 1 Peter 1:21-22 and 1 John 3:3
 

 

 

In 1 Peter 1:19-22, the focal point about the source of purification of souls is God as expressed by the Apostle Peter in the transition between 1 Peter 1:21-22.

In 1 John 3:3, the focal point about the source of soul purification within the Assembly of God is Lord Jesus as expressed by the Apostle John in the verse.

The Passages

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

  1. but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, [the blood] of Christ.
  2. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you
  3. who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
  4. Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,
(NASB broken by verse and number, 1 Peter 1:19-22)
but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, [the blood] of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,
(NASB unadulterated by verse nor number breaks, 1 Peter 1:19-22)

3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure
(1 John 3:3, NASB)

NASB Beneficial Notes:

  1. In the English translation of 1 Peter 1:20-22:
    1. notice that verse 19's "Christ" ends the sentence AND verse 20 starts with "For He was".
    2. notice that verse 20's "the sake of you" wraps into verse 21's "who through Him".
    3. notice that verse 21 terminates the sentence with "hope are in God".
  2. In the English translation of 1 John 3:3, notice the word "fixed" because this word has consequences to the denotation of the sentence.

King James Version (KJV)

  1. But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
  2. Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
  3. Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
  4. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
(KJV broken by verse and number, 1 Peter 1:19-22)
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
(KJV unadulterated by verse nor number breaks, 1 Peter 1:19-22)

3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
(1 John 3:3, KJV)

Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

  1. but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and unspotted - Christ`s -
  2. foreknown, indeed, before the foundation of the world, and manifested in the last times because of you,
  3. who through him do believe in God, who did raise out of the dead, and glory to him did give, so that your faith and hope may be in God.
  4. Your souls having purified in the obedience of the truth through the Spirit to brotherly love unfeigned, out of a pure heart one another love ye earnestly,
(YLT broken by verse and number, 1 Peter 1:19-22)
but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and unspotted - Christ`s - foreknown, indeed, before the foundation of the world, and manifested in the last times because of you, who through him do believe in God, who did raise out of the dead, and glory to him did give, so that your faith and hope may be in God. Your souls having purified in the obedience of the truth through the Spirit to brotherly love unfeigned, out of a pure heart one another love ye earnestly,
(YLT unadulterated by verse nor number breaks, 1 Peter 1:19-22)

3 and every one who is having this hope on him, doth purify himself, even as he is pure.
(1 John 3:3, YLT)

Word For Word Greek To English (www.scripture4all.org)

  1. but to-valuable blood as lamb of-un-flaws and of-un-spotted anointed
  2. of-before-having-been-known indeed before down-casting of system being-made-appear yet on last of-the times because-of you
  3. the-ones through Him believing into God the One rousing Him out of-dead-ones and esteem to Him giving as-besides the belief of-you and expectation to-be into God
  4. the souls of you having-purified in the obedience of-the truth through Spirit into brotherly-affection unfeigned out of-clean heart one-another love-you earnestly
(broken by verse and number, 1 Peter 1:19-22)
but to-valuable blood as lamb of-un-flaws and of-un-spotted anointed of-before-having-been-known indeed before down-casting of system being-made-appear yet on last of-the times because-of you the-ones through Him believing into God the One rousing Him out of-dead-ones and esteem to Him giving as-besides the belief of-you and expectation to-be into God the souls of you having-purified in the obedience of-the truth through Spirit into brotherly-affection unfeigned out of-clean heart one-another love-you earnestly
(unadulterated by verse nor number breaks, 1 Peter 1:19-22)

3 And everyone who having the hope this in him purifies himself just-as he pure is.
(1 John 3:3)

Beneficial Notes:

  1. The Apostle Peter wrote:
    1. Peter flowed actor as well as actions in a tapestry in the passage, with actors being nouns/phrases and actions being verbs/phrases
    2. Peter blended the focal points, the actor/actions, in an extended exposition when the Greek translation is examined, for example:
      1. "foreknown" in verse 20 refers to Christ, a point of focus, in verse 19 as it flows into verse 20.
      2. the "you" in "the sake of you who through Him" references us believers, a focal point, in verse 20 as it flows into verse 21.
      3. "through Him" with the "Him" in reference to Christ in verse 19, the "Him" being a focal point.
      4. "God, who" in "through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead" is another focal point this time onto God in verse 21.
      5. "raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory" the "Him" occurrences are to Christ, more focal point, in verse 19.
      6. "so that the faith of you and hope" later in verse 21 containing a focal point of "faith of you" referring back to "through Him are believers in God" much earlier in verse 21 all which means belief is imparted by God for belief unto in God.
      7. "so that the faith of you and hope" later in verse 21 contains another focal point of "you" which is we believers on whom God graciously works.
      8. "are in God" in which "God" as focal point refers to "God, who" in verse 21.
      9. the period at the end of verse 21 prematurely terminates the sentence in the NASB and KJV translations.
    3. The passage was NOT originally written with chapter separations nor verse numbers.
    4. The verses are all in the same paragraph according to the Greek manuscribt Codex Sinaiticus.
    5. Peter utilized a literary style of amplifying the work of God in we believers as Peter flowed the message from focal point to focal point.
    6. When the transition from verse 21 to verse 22 is treated consistently in the literary style Peter utilized in the letter, the truth manifests:
      1. verse 19 blends into verse 20 with

        "Christ foreknown"

        1. "Christ" in verse 19 as final word
        2. "foreknown" in verse 20 as first word
        3. This matches the Greek, and the YLT matches the Greek
        4. see how the NASB and KJV render the verse 19 and 20 transition
          1. NASB
            1. "[the blood] of Christ." end of verse 19
            2. "For He was foreknown" beginning of verse 20
            3. The NASB translators segmented with sentences between verse 19 and verse 20
          2. KJV
            1. "without spot:" end of verse 19
            2. "Who verily was" beginning of verse 20
            3. The KJV translators radically moved things around thus hiding the noun flowing literary style utilized by Peter
        5. rendered accurately is "as of a lamb unblemished and unspotted, Christ, foreknown before the foundation of the world"

      2. verse 20 blends into verse 21 with

        "you, who"

        1. "you" in verse 20 as final word
        2. "who" in verse 21 as first word
        3. This matches the Greek, and the NASB, KJV, and YLT matches the Greek
        4. rendered accurately is "you who through Him are believers in God"

      3. verse 21 blends into verse 22 with

        "into God, the souls of you"

        1. "God" in verse 21 as final word
        2. "the souls of you" in verse 22 as the opening phrase
        3. rendered accurately is "God, the souls of you having purified in the obedience to the truth through Spirit"
        4. See the clauses continuation remains intact:
          1. THREE CLAUSES: "hope are in God, the souls of you having purified in the obedience to the truth through Spirit, into a sincere love of the brethren"
          2. CLAUSE TO REMOVE TO CHECK FOR CONTINUITY: "the souls of you having purified in the obedience to the truth through Spirit"
          3. TWO CLAUSES TO VERIFY CONTINUITY: "hope are in God, into a sincere love of the brethren"
          4. WITH CONTINUITY CONFIRMED, RETURN TO THREE CLAUSES: "hope are in God, the souls of you having purified in the obedience to the truth through Spirit, into a sincere love of the brethren"
        5. This matches the Greek, and the YLT is closest to the Greek

  2. The Apostle John wrote:
    1. CLAUSE 1: And everyone who having the hope
    2. CLAUSE 2: this in him purifies himself
      1. The English word "himself" in 1 John 3:3 is translated from the Greek word ἑαυτὸν (heauton) (Greek Concordance)

        AND All 68 Occurrences of the Greek word "heauton" are the English word "himself" in the NT - not a single one is themselves

        AND The English word "themselves" corresponds to these Greek words:

      2. The word "everyone" would need to be matched by the word "themselves" - not "himself" - for everyone to purify themselves.
      3. this upon him
      4. the Assembly of God is referred to as the Body of Christ (Matthew 26:26, Ephesians 5:23, Colossians 1:18)
    3. CLAUSE 3: just-as he pure is.
    4. Implication of the word "fixed" inserted into the NASB English translation with no Greek word support:

      moves the source from Christ to the believer thus changing the "himself" referring to Christ to referring to the believer.

    5. RESULT: So, it appears the Apostle John was writing something more along the lines of:

      And everyone who has the hope of being like Jesus - conformed into Christ-likeness

      this, the hope, this in Jesus, this in Him

      purifies Himself, His Body, the Body of Christ, the Assembly of God, Himself

      just as Christ Jesus is pure.

More Accurate Translation

but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and unspotted, Christ, foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that the faith of you and hope are in God, the souls of you having purified in the obedience to the truth through Spirit, into a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another out of pure heart
(1 Peter 1:19-22)

And everyone who having the hope this in Him purifies Himself just as He pure is
(1 John 3:3)


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