1 Peter 2 Part 1: Longing for the Word
1 Peter 2 Part 1: Longing for the Word
1 Peter 2:1-3; Ephesians 4:31-32; Acts 5:1-11; Isaiah 29:13-14, Exodus 20:17; Exodus 20:16 - Put aside the your corrupt nature and live by the Word of God
“Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.”
1 Peter 2:1-3 NASB1995
We are now in 1 Peter chapter 2. Peter tells his flock that they should be like newborn babies, longing for the pure milk of the Word. The things he tells us to set aside are all negative and sinful behaviors of adults (and perhaps many children who have been exposed to the corrupt nature of this world). No newborn baby would know to have malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander. These things have to be learned. If we long for the Word, we will grow with respect to our salvation, because we have tasted the kindness (grace) of the Lord.
So the Word of God is pure, opposite of the many sinful behaviors we should set aside (Peter only lists a few). David Guzik, in Enduring Word commentary, talks about the failure of Christians to desire the pure milk of the Word:
The failure to either desire or to receive this pure milk of the word is the reason for so many problems in both individual Christian lives and in congregations. “The sickly condition of so many Christians sets forth a lamentable complaint of the food with which they are supplied. To say nothing of strong meat, they do not even get milk. Hence the Church of God too much resembles the wards of a children’s hospital.” (F.B. Meyer)
If we look at those sinful behaviors that interfere with our eagerness for God’s Word, let’s start with the word malice. All of the definitions in the following paragraphs for the words in 1 Peter 2 come from the Blue Letter Bible; the antonyms for those words are suggested by the Merriam-Webster Thesaurus. Malice comes from the Greek word κακία or kakia, meaning ill-will, wickedness, evil or depravity. Four top antonyms (opposite words) for malice are: love, devotion, friendliness, civility. If we harbor malice in our hearts, we push out love and devotion and don’t want to be reminded of God’s love for us that permeates His Word. We are unfriendly, uncivil, and not devoted to anything but the evil in our hearts. Paul talks about malice in Ephesians as one of the things we certainly must discard in our lives:
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”
Ephesians 4:31-32 NASB1995
What about deceit? This word comes from the Greek word δόλος or dolos, meaning guile, craft, fraud, deceitfulness. Four top antonyms (opposite words for deceit are: honesty, sincerity, good faith, openness. If we are deceitful, we can’t be trusted and we think we can hide things from a sovereign God. Probably the most famous (and chilling) story of deceit in the Bible is in Acts 5, the story of Ananias and Sapphira:
“But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it. The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him. Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price?” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.” Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.” And immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.”
Acts 5:1-11 NASB1995
The problem isn’t that Ananias and Sapphira wanted to keep some of the proceeds from the sale of their land. They could have kept it all or donated only part, but they intended to deceive the early Church by having them think that they were donating all of the proceeds when they were not. God is not deceived and His Word is full of stories like this to keep us honest!
The next sinful behavior is hypocrisy. This word comes from the Greek word ὑπόκρισις or hypokrisis, meaning acting under a feigned part, dissimulation. Four top antonyms (opposite words) are honesty, sincerity, openness, truthfulness. Hypocrisy is a really widespread state of being in our society these days, with many people wanting to dictate changes to other people and their beliefs and lifestyles, while they are doing the same things themselves without altering their behaviors. An example would be some of the “elite” experts on “climate change”, who fly to conferences around the world in private jets and live exorbitant lifestyles, yet they want the average person to give up their car, give up flying and significantly reduce their consumption of energy and many food products. Jesus spent hours of His ministry on Earth denouncing hypocritical religious leaders. Hypocrites distort the Word of God. God has this to say about hypocrites, in Isaiah 29:
“Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote, Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.””
Isaiah 29:13-14 NASB1995
Envy is another sin that needs to be put aside to be able to drink in the pure Word of God. The Greek word for envy is φθόνος or phthonos, meaning jealousy, spite, envying, resentment, covetousness. Top antonyms (opposite words) for envy are sympathy, kindness, benevolence, goodwill. Envy is, of course, described as one of the seven deadliest sins and has its own prohibition in the Ten Commandments:
““You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.””
Exodus 20:17 NASB1995
Envy is at an all-time frantic state in our society, with so many focused on what they don’t have (and their neighbor has) rather than having gratitude for the sufficiency of what God provides. Gratitude should be one of the top antonyms for envy.
Finally, we are to put aside all slander. The Greek word for slander is καταλαλιά or katalalia and it means backbiting, evil speaking, defamation. Four top antonyms (opposites words) for slander are praise, respect, honor, and esteem. Slander is another serious sin that God included in His Ten Commandments:
““You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
Exodus 20:16 NASB1995
So by putting aside these sinful behaviors, we can ask the Holy Spirit to guide us into a expanded version of the fruits of the spirit (adding on to Galatians 5), to guide us into desiring nothing but the sweet milk of God’s Word, as newborns (born again):
Love
Devotion
Friendliness
Civility
Honesty
Sincerity
Good Faith
Openness
Truthfulness
Sympathy
Kindness
Benevolence
Good Will
Praise
Respect
Honor
Esteem
And, lastly, we should model gratitude, because we have tasted the unending kindness (grace) of our Lord! The newborn can’t say thank you yet, but the innocent child is clearly grateful for the care it receives as it bonds with its provider.
My next devotional examines 1 Peter 2:4-5, Coming to Jesus as a Living Stone.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Make me a newborn again, with innocence and a desire for the pure milk of Your Word. Remove all malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy and slander from my sinful self and fill me with many fruits of the Spirit. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.