“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, and 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 NASB2020
“So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.”
1 Peter 2:1-3 NLT
“So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk. You’ve had a taste of God. Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God’s pure kindness. Then you’ll grow up mature and whole in God.”
1 Peter 2:1-3 MSG
Almost half (13 or 14 of 27 books) of the New Testament is made up of the epistles of Paul to the early Christians. I personally love Paul’s writing, as I find him to be a kindred spirit; someone who was antagonistic to followers of Christ but then came to faith in God. Today, though, we look at Peter’s epistle to the Roman provinces in Asia Minor.
Unlike Paul, Peter had been with Jesus since the beginning of His ministry. Peter had personally witnessed many of the miracles performed by Jesus, and was thought of as the chief Apostle of Jesus Christ. This epistle has a very similar message to Paul’s to the scattered members of the early church — get rid of your bad behaviors!
I list three translations of 1 Peter 2:1 here, just to show that Peter really got his point across well — all three, even The Message (which I dislike because it sounds too much like an aging “Jesus freak” wrote it), have very similar meaning.
Peter starts his epistle with a heartfelt greeting to other Christians, then restates what it means to be saved and to live as one who has salvation. Living as one saved by the blood of Christ means to have your faith tested through trials and to live a godly life.
That’s where today’s verse starts in Chapter 2, with Peter exhorting the recipients of the letter to clean up their lives and to desire the “pure spiritual milk” of God’s Word as a newborn baby craves its mother’s milk. They are to (in the words of the various translations) “crave” and “long” for the pure milk of the Word, gaining nourishment to “grow up mature and whole in God” and “grow in respect to salvation”.
From the Enduring Word Commentary1:
If we have received from God and have tasted (personally experienced) that the Lord is gracious, then we have great reason and responsibility to receive the word in the enthusiastic way that babies receive their milk.
What’s your level of enthusiasm for God’s Word? When you’ve experienced God’s grace you’ll find yourself happy to eagerly explore Scripture every day!
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Lord, I thank You for Your Word, which is everything I need for living a godly life. Thank You for the lessons of Scripture, which purify me and give me spiritual nourishment. I desire the pure milk of the Word so I may grow in grace, become mature in faith, and conform to the likeness of Jesus. In His name I pray, AMEN.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org.
Enduring Word Commentary for 1 Peter 2. Used with permission of the author.