1 Peter 1:22

Seeing ye have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another from the heart fervently:

Hart paraphrased the meaning of the first clause here thus, "They must realize that they have cleansed themselves ideally at baptism";[55] and that this is surely the meaning of it appears to be certain when the passage is compared with Acts 2:40. On Pentecost Peter admonished those whom he was exhorting to be baptized to "save yourselves from this crooked generation." Here it is evident exactly what Peter meant by one's saving himself or purifying himself, the same being references to one's obeying the gospel of Christ. Of course, Peter did not mean by this that a man is his own saviour, or that he is in any sense the causative force of his purification; therefore, we should ask, "In what way is a person able to save himself or purify his soul?" Both here and in Acts 2:38ff, it is clear enough that he does so by obeying the gospel, and that is something that the man himself must do. He must fulfill the conditions that are prior to his being saved; and, through the fulfillment of such antecedent conditions, the Christian, in the sense of his having done that, saves himself. It was altogether proper for an apostle of Jesus Christ thus to speak with reference to people's saving themselves, because there are certain things one must do to be saved; and the people who do them are indeed saved, and those who neglect or refuse to do them cannot be saved at all, at least as far as any promise of the Christian gospel is concerned. Wesley's notion that "The Spirit bestows upon you freely both obedience and purification,"[56] has no foundation in the New Testament. While true enough that the Spirit of God aids Christians in their obedience after their conversion, there is a prior, antecedent obedience that must precede the Spirit's entry into Christian hearts; that obedience must be provided by the one who would be saved; and it is of this that Peter speaks here.

Seeing ye have purified ... "This is the perfect tense, pointing to a past act of obedience which has enduring results."[57] It is therefore a clear reference to the conversion which comes at the beginning of the Christian life, and not to subsequent spiritual endowments of the Christian.

In your obedience to the truth ... means simply, "by your obeying the gospel." As Dummelow put it, "The truth is the substance of the gospel."[58]

Unto unfeigned love of the brethren ... One is not merely saved, but saved for some holy purpose; and, in this passage, the love of the brethren is identified as that holy purpose.

Love one another from the heart fervently ... See in the introduction for Peter's fidelity in conforming his teaching to that of the Master. This shows that Peter had not forgotten the Saviour's commandments to this very end. Of particular interest is the word "Fervently," which may also be translated "earnestly." Wheaton cited four usages of this word in the New Testament, here, in 1 Peter 4:8, and in Luke 22:44, and in Acts 12:5, the latter reference being to the prayer offered on behalf of Peter himself. "It denotes with supreme effort, `with every muscle strained.'"[59]

[55] J. H. A. Hart, op. cit., p. 52.

[56] John Wesley, as quoted by Roy S. Nicholson, Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 10 Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1967), p. 276.

[57] G. J. Polkinghorne, op. cit., p. 588.

[58] J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 1042.

[59] David H. Wheaton, op. cit., p. 1240.