Peter most earnestly urged the scattered believers to love each other with pure hearts, fervently! And notice where he went for his argument. Not to the law. Not to nature. Not to philosophy. He went straight to that high and divine nature that God has implanted in his people.

Think of it like this: a wise tutor teaching young princes doesn't just tell them to "be good." He reminds them who they are. Their bloodline. Their destiny. Their position. So Peter looks at God's people—heirs of glory, princes of the blood royal, descendants of the King of kings, earth's truest and oldest aristocracy—and says to them: "Love one another! Why? Because of your noble birth—born of incorruptible seed! Because of your pedigree—descended from God himself, the Creator of all things! Because of your immortal destiny—you will never pass away, though all earthly glory will fade and die!"

We need to recognize, in the spirit of humility, the true dignity of our regenerated nature and actually live up to it. What is a Christian? Compare him to an earthly king, and the Christian adds priestly sanctity to royal dignity. A king's royalty often lies only in his crown—take it off and he's just a man. But with a Christian? Royalty is infused into the inmost nature. Through the new birth, you are as much above the natural man as a human being is above the beast that perishes.

Surely then, you ought to carry yourself in all your dealings as someone who is not of the multitude! You have been chosen out of the world. Distinguished by sovereign grace. Your name is written among "the peculiar people." You cannot grovel in the dust like everyone else. You cannot live after the manner of the world's citizens.

Let the dignity of your nature and the brightness of your prospects, O believer in Christ, constrain you to cleave unto holiness and to avoid the very appearance of evil!