"The Affection of God in the Soul of the Church"

1 Peter 1:22—2:3

1. God possesses us by His sovereign will. 1 Peter 2:9

2. The essence of His possession is affection. 1 Peter 2:3

Spiritual affection for Jesus results in spiritual affection for His other possessions. 1 Peter 2:1-3, 4:8; Philippians 2:1-5; Ephesians 4:2; John 13:34-35; 1 John 4:7-20

“We may be certain of two things. We may be sure that if we are professing Christians, and if our profession results in love of other Christians, then we have the life of God planted in our souls. Moreover, we may be equally as certain that the person who lacks such love is not born of God; such a person is not spiritually alive. We see that stated in 1 John 4:8: ‘Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.’” Thabiti Anyabwile

3. His Word is the agent for increasing our affections.
1 Peter 1:23 – 2:3

4. Affection for other believers requires taste buds. The
appetizers for taste buds are hope, holiness and fear. 1 Peter 2:3; John 14:21

Life Group Discussion

1. What is your most prized possession? Car, home, heirloom? What makes it special? What’s the difference between possessing something and something possessing you?

2. Why is it so important to attribute our born again status to the work of God versus our initiative? Relate that to God’s possession of us. How does this change base line Christian living?

3. Why is the life of the Christian chiefly understood as an affectionate life? Is there a difference between head and heart religion? Do we need both? Which one comes first?

4. What should you do if you have no taste buds for the Word? Does witnessing help? Why? Will your taste buds be more active at different times in your life?

5. What does it mean to pray the Word? Give some examples from your own reading. Spend some time as a group praying Ps. 119 or another passage. You might try praying 1 Peter. Go around the circle in your group praying and then talk about the experience. Did you lack things to pray for? Did you get bored? Were your prayers more ‘meaty’? Did you pray for someone’s health?