Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Christian brotherhood flows from new birth of an imperishable seed, God's abiding word; the consideration urged to lead us to brotherly love. As natural relationship begets natural affection, so spiritual relationship spiritual, and therefore abiding love, even as the seed from which it springs is abiding, not transitory, as earthly things.
Of ... of ... by. "The word of God" is not the material of the spiritual new birth, but its mean. By means of the word the man receives the incorruptible seed, the Holy Spirit, and so becomes "born again:" John 3:3-5, "Born of water and the Spirit," where, there being but one Greek article to the two nouns, the close connection of the sign and the grace signified is implied. The word is the remote and anterior instrument; baptism, the proximate and sacramental instrument. The word is the instrument in relation to the individual; baptism, in relation to the Church (James 1:18). We are born again of the Spirit, yet not without means, but by the word of God. The word is not the begetting principle, but that by which it works: the vehicle of the germinating power (Alford).
Which liveth and abideth forever. The Bible is a living organism, not a haphazard collection of fragments: its parts have a mutual relation and a special function, subordinate to the design of the whole. It is because the Spirit of God accompanies it that the word carries the germ of life. They who are born again live and abide forever, in contrast to those who sow to the flesh (Galatians 6:8). 'The Gospel bears incorruptible fruits, not dead works, because it is itself incorruptible' (Bengel). The word is an eternal power. For though the speech vanishes, there remains the kernel, the truth comprehended in the voice. This sinks into the heart, and is living-yea, is God Himself. So God to Moses, Exodus 4:12, "I will be with thy mouth" (Luther). 'The gospel shall never cease, though its ministry shall' (Calov). The abiding resurrection-glory is connected with our regeneration by the Spirit. Regeneration, beginning with renewing man's soul at the resurrection, passes on to the body, then to the world of nature.