First Peter
How Shall We Then Live in a Post-Christian Culture
“The Call to Desire the Pure Milk of the Word”
1 Peter 2:1-3
Review
The passage to be considered this morning falls, contextually, in what we are terming as the section addressing the sanctification of believers (1:13-2:12). In 1 Peter 1:13, after having explained the greatness of our salvation in 1 Peter 1:1-12 (i.e., what God has done in salvation), Peter says: “therefore.” That is, in light of this great salvation we are to live in consistency with this great salvation. In previous sessions we have learned that we are called to live in hope (1:13), called to live in holiness (1:14-16), called to live in fear (1:17-21), and called to love one another fervently (1:22-25). This week, we will consider our call to desire the pure milk of the Word (2:1-3).
Introduction
There is an ancient fable which is told concerning three men who make a journey across a Middle Eastern desert. Late one evening, a stranger mysteriously appeared before them from out of nowhere. The stranger informed them that they would soon be crossing a dry river bed and that they should pick up stones from the river bed and put them in their packs. He went on to inform them that they should look into their packs the next morning and the result would be that they would be both glad and sorry. Then suddenly, he disappeared as quickly as he had come. Just as was told them, the three travelers soon came upon the dry river bed and decided to take the advice of this stranger. They spent an hour or so picking up rocks and placing them in their packs and then went to bed. The next morning they opened up their packs and discovered an amazing thing -- all the stones had turned into precious jewels! They also discovered their stranger's prediction had come true -- for they were very glad for the stones they had picked up but sorry they hadn't picked up more! I believe this fable well illustrates us and the amount of quality time we spend in the Word of God. For like our three friends, most of us will look back at the end of our lives and be glad for the time we did spend but probably be sorry that we didn't spend more.[1]
“1 Therefore, (having put) putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, (so) that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.”
There is one command, one participle, and one goal. What is the command? The command is to “long for the pure milk of the word.” The “putting aside” (the participle) of the evils enumerated in verse 1 is a subordinate duty which prepares one for carrying out the command. Finally, note that salvation is not the starting point (as it is in 1:22) but the goal toward which obedience to the Word moves us. Salvation in Peter’s epistles (1:1-13), as with Paul (Ephesians 1:3-14), has a past, present, and future dimension.
Understanding this structure enables us to see that the verse reads more like this: “Having put aside malice and guile and hypocrisy and envy and slander (the participle), long for the pure milk of the word (command), so that you may grow in respect to salvation (goal).” Now that we understand the structure of the passage, let us consider five things:
· The “therefore”
· The “milk of the word”
· The command
· The participle
· The goal
The “Therefore”
The first thing I want to consider in this passage is the “therefore” in verse 1. I do not understand Peter’s “therefore” in verse 1 to be the beginning of a new thought but as the conclusion to his teaching in 1:22-25. What he is about to say in verses 1-3 is based on what just went on before.[2] What was that? What just went on before was the statement (v. 23) that we are born again (by God) through the word of God. Therefore — since you have new life by God's working — "put aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word." Since you have been born again by the word of God, therefore, now long for the word of God. Or as Robert Rayburn comments: “The idea is that having crossed the boundary into a new country, having left behind the ways of that former country, there is a new citizenship to practice.”[3]
The “Milk of the Word”[4]
Second, let us consider what the “milk” of the word[5] means. Is "the spiritual milk" merely the word of God? Or is it something more specific in the word? John Piper thinks it is something more specific. Notice: “Like newborn babes (who are born by the word of God), long (the way babies do) for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation if (that is, since!) you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.” Do you see the connection between the intense longing or craving for the "spiritual milk" in verse 2 and the tasting of the kindness of the Lord in verse 3? It is much clearer if you put them together: "Long for the spiritual milk, since you've tasted the kindness of the Lord." So it seems to Piper (and I agree) that the milk referred to here is the milk of God's kindness that we are commanded to long for. Or stated a different way: “the spiritual milk is the word of God revealing or transmitting the kindness of the Lord." You were born again by that word — namely, by the powerful kindness of God in that word, and now go on longing for that word and for the day by day experience — tasting — of the kindness of the Lord through His word.
The Command
Having now explained the meaning of the “therefore” and what the “milk” of the word refers to, let us look at the central command in this passage – “long for the pure milk of the word.” Having been born again, Peter now addresses his readers as though they were newborn babies. Normally, babies have an inborn appetite for milk. You don’t have to teach a baby to want milk. Why then does Peter command us to “long for the pure milk of the word”? The logic is the same found in 1:22-25. The new birth has purified our souls so as to produce and promote brotherly love. A God-given love for our brothers and sisters in Christ is implanted in our souls at our conversion. This makes possible a growth to a greater love which Peter commands Christians to pursue. Likewise, the new birth causes us as newborn babies to desire the “milk of the Word” of God. Peter then commands us to develop this appetite by partaking of the Word.[6]
Not only does he command us to develop an appetite for the word, he also summons us to “crave” that spiritual food. It is a strong word. The same Greek word in this passage also appears in the LXX translation of Ps 42:1: "As the deer pants for the streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God." Like a newborn baby craves the breast, cries for it, even wails for it, we Christians are to crave this milk. Let us be clear of one other thing. Here "milk" is not, as elsewhere in the NT, used as a contrast to meat or solid food. It is not as though Peter is saying that these Christians are spiritual children who can handle nothing but milk. They should be ready for meat but they are not. No. Milk is simply the appropriate food for the newborn and the young. Milk is here a symbol of spiritual nourishment, especially the nourishment that is brought by the word of God.[7]
The Participle
Fourth, let us look at the participle. “Having been born again by the word of God, put aside all malice and guile and hypocrisy and envy and slander, like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word.” The participle captures what John Piper calls the “destructive side of the word of God.”[8] One of the ways the word of God creates a desire for the milk of God's kindness is by destroying the desire for other things[9] – particularly those things that are opposed to the word of God. What are some of these things mentioned by Peter?[10]
· Malice -- a desire to hurt someone with words or deeds.
· Guile -- a desire to gain some advantage or preserve some position by deceiving others.
· Hypocrisy -- a desire not to be known for what really is.
· Envy -- a desire for some privilege or benefit that belongs to another with resentment that another has it and you don't.
· Slander -- a desire for revenge and self-enhancement, often driven by the deeper desire to deflect attention from our own failings. The worse light we can put another in by slander, the less our own darkness shows.
If you want to experience a desire for God's word, if you want your desires to grow, if you want to taste fully the kindness of the Lord -- realize that as our satisfaction in God's kindness rises, the controlling desires of malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy and slander must be destroyed. And the reverse is true. As you resist them and lay them aside, desires for God grow stronger and more intense. Peter’s bottom line is this: the desire to taste and enjoy God's kindness will not flourish in the same heart with malice, guile, hypocrisy, etc.
The Goal[11]
Finally, let us consider the “goal” of this command. Since we have a certain inborn appetite, a much greater appetite can be developed by partaking of the Word which God has provided for us. And so we see that longing for God’s Word develops our appetite for it and enhances our partaking of it. The result is spiritual growth. The truth of God enables us to grow in respect to our salvation:
· “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).
· “Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth” (John 17:17).
· “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth” (John 17:19).
Practical Application[12]
In closing, I want to address the concept that John Piper calls: “spiritual fatalism.” Spiritual fatalism is the belief or feeling that you are stuck with the way you are. “This is all I will ever experience of God.” That is, the level of spiritual intensity that you have now is all that you can expect to have. Others may have stronger desires after God and may have deeper experiences of personal pleasure in God, but you will never have those because it’s not you!
Tragically, spiritual fatalism is common in the church. It leaves people stuck. It takes away hopes and dreams of change and growth. It squashes the excitement of living — which is growth. It's like saying to a gawky little girl who feels like her body is all out of proportion: “Well, that's the way you are, and you will always be that way”, when in fact she is meant to grow and change. It would be tragic to convince her of a kind of physical fatalism — that her growth is stopped right there at 13. So it is with the spirit. Only spiritual fatalism is much worse because greater things are at stake.
In this text God commands us not to be spiritual fatalists. Peter says in verse 2: "Like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation." The word for "long" here is a command to desire. What this means is that if you feel stuck because you don't have the kind of spiritual desires that you should, this text says: “You do not need to be stuck!” It says: "Get them!” That is, if you don't desire the milk of the word, starting desiring it!
Now, isn't that amazing! A command to feel longings we do not feel. A command to feel desires we do not have. Is anything more contrary to spiritual fatalism than that? Spiritual fatalism says: “I can't create desires. If they're not there they're not there. If I don't feel things the way the Psalmists seem to feel when they say: "As a deer pants for the flowing streams so my soul pants for you O God" (Psalm 42:1) — if I don't feel that way toward God, then that's that.” That's what spiritual fatalism says.
But God says: "Desire the pure milk of the Lord!" Now before you raise all kinds of objections, like -- “How can you command me to have a desire? What can I do to obey a command like that? How do I just produce a desire? My whole problem is that I don't have the strength of desire I want. And you just tell me to desire. You may as well tell a lame man to walk.”
Remember that just as essential as having the desire for the word that we are supposed to have, is having the trust in God that He gives what He commands. If God says to desire, when we don't desire, then we must trust Him that He knows something we don't know. He must have some power we don't have. There must be a way. In conclusion, we should not settle for less than what God commands.
How does this work out practically? Robert Rayburn writes: “While I can't tell you how to find that craving (no one can), I can tell you what is right for you to do. I can tell you how you ought to seek it. You ought to pray for it. You ought to read the Word of God in hopes that the glory of that Word will itself awaken in you a hunger for more of it. You ought to come expectantly to the worship service on Sunday. You ought to engage in spiritual conversation about it with other believers. You ought to read of other believers in the past who craved the Word of God until their example stirs your soul as well. All of that we should do. And if we don't do it, we have no one to blame but ourselves if we do not grow up in our salvation. But with all of that being said, I still cannot say why at one time there is such a craving for this milk and at another time there is not. I can merely encourage you to not settle for less than what God commands.”[13]
[1] Dwight Edwards, “First Peter”
[2] Adapted from John Piper, “Long for the Pure Milk of the Word”, By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: www.desiringGod.org. Email: mail@desiringGod.org. Toll Free: 1.888.346.4700.
[3] Robert Rayburn, “First Peter”
[4] Adapted from John Piper, “Long for the Pure Milk of the Word”, By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: www.desiringGod.org. Email: mail@desiringGod.org. Toll Free: 1.888.346.4700.
[5] “While 1:22-25 and 2:1-3 both deal with the subject of the Word of God, each has a different emphasis. In 1:22-25, the Word is the “seed” by which we have been born again. In 2:1-3, the Word is the “milk” by which we grow as Christians. In 1:22-25, Peter appeals to the eternal nature of the Word of God to show that the love of believers should be eternal. In 2:1-3, Peter appeals to the nurture of the Word of God, which results in the growth of the saints and ultimately in our salvation.” -- Robert Deffinbaugh, “The Glory of Suffering: A Study of 1 Peter”
[6] Adapted from Robert Deffinbaugh, “The Glory of Suffering: A Study of 1 Peter”
[7] Adpated from Robert Rayburn, “First Peter”
[8] Adapted from John Piper, “Long for the Pure Milk of the Word”, By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: www.desiringGod.org. Email: mail@desiringGod.org. Toll Free: 1.888.346.4700.
[9] “Hypocrisy, envy, and slander are stated in the plural rather than in the singular. The inference is that various and sundry forms of each of these evils exist, and all of them are to be rejected and put off.” -- Robert Deffinbaugh, “The Glory of Suffering: A Study of 1 Peter”
[10] Adapted from John Piper, “Long for the Pure Milk of the Word”, By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: www.desiringGod.org. Email: mail@desiringGod.org. Toll Free: 1.888.346.4700.
[11] Adapted from Robert Deffinbaugh, “The Glory of Suffering: A Study of 1 Peter”
[12] Adapted from John Piper, “Long for the Pure Milk of the Word”, By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: www.desiringGod.org. Email: mail@desiringGod.org. Toll Free: 1.888.346.4700.
[13] Robert Rayburn, “First Peter"
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