Monthly Archive for May, 1997

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1 Peter 2:3

Published on May 21, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

 

Peter alludes to Psalm 34:8 in this verse. When David wrote Psalm 34 he was lonely and without friends. Saul hunted him down like a deer in the forest. He ran to the territory of the Philistines. There he faked madness to avoid punishment by the king. Alone in the cave of Adulam he wrote “O, taste and see that the Lord is good.” 

if indeed

This phrase “if indeed” continues the analogy of the milk of the Word in verse 2. His argument assumes that a Christian has come to experience God’s grace in salvation at some point in life. The “if” does not express doubt. We can translate “if” as “since.” This is an argument from their actual personal experience. 

Since they have actually come into personal experience with God’s goodness, they should lay aside the five sins of verse one. 

you have tasted

The word “tasted” means to cause to taste. God is the cause of our personal experience with the Lord. We did not seek him. He sought us. 

The word “taste” continues the analogy of milk and indicates personal experience of salvation. This is the point of our salvation. They have personally experienced the new birth. Christians can taste the goodness of Christ’s salvation. We can taste the flavor of God’s grace.

We experience God by the Word. This is where we find God’s goodness and grace. Those who feed on this pure milk will experience God’s provisions. 

PRINCIPLE: Personal experience of God’s grace motivates us to be free from the soul-kinks of verse one. 

APPLICATION: We must personally experience God to know his goodness. Once we come into that experience, living in the flesh will not satisfy us (v.1). The relationship sins of verse one spoil our appetites for the Word and for fellowship with God. 

We discover grace best by personal experience. When we experience God’s goodness, provision and providence in our daily encounter with him, we worship him. We cannot fellowship with the Lord afar off. We must know him personally to know him truly.  

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1 Peter 2:2d

Published on May 20, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.”
 
 
that you may grow thereby
 
“Grow” means to increase in size, enlarge, foster, strengthen, to cause something to increase. This is a growth of that which lives, naturally or spiritually (Eph 4:15; Col. 1:6,10; II Pet 3:18). “Grow” here means to be nourished up. God wants us to grow up. Growth occurs only in proportion to our growth in the Word. 
 
God wants us to grow in our knowledge of God (Col 1.10). We may render this phrase as “you will know God more and more.”
 
The Greek has a prepositional phrase at the end of this phrase translated by one word here — “thereby.” The Greek of the word “thereby” means “on account of salvation.” That is, because God saved our soul we should have a hunger for God’s Word. 
 
Once we pass into spiritual life, we need to grow.  Many Christians do not know what they are missing in the Christian life. Only Christians can grow because only Christians have eternal, spiritual life. 
 
I Cor. 3: 1 “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not carnal?”
 
Heb 5: 12 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”
 
PRINCIPLE: The Word of God causes a Christian to mature in his Christian life. 
 
APPLICATION: Many Christians never develop in the Christian life. They suffer from malnutrition. Their new life in Christ becomes a drag because of lack of nourishment. It is the Word of God that nourishes the Christian life.  
 
When a person first becomes a Christian everything looks rosy. Little knowledge makes us dangerous. New Christians are vulnerable to all sorts of distortions within the Christian community. If they get into some of these mutilations they will deform their new life in Christ. They will become a spiritual pygmy for the rest of their spiritual lives. There are many spiritual dwarfs in evangelicalism. 
 
The Bible exposes us to our sin. It reveals our motives. It keeps us aware of the presence of God. 
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1 Peter 2:2c

Published on May 19, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.”
 
 
desire  the pure milk of the word
 
The word “desire” means to desire earnestly, to fix the desire upon. This word stresses the inward impulse rather than the object desired. It comes from two words: upon (used intensively) and passion. The New Testament uses “desire” for things good or bad. Desire carries two ideas: to long for, lust after (Acts 20:33; Rom. 7:7; 13:9).
 
Longing for the Word is a sure manifestation of spiritual life. The Word strengthens the believer so that he can improve and grow strong in the Christian life. The condition for growth is desire. This is an intense and recurring desire (Ps. 42:1; Ps 119:174). 
 
It is not enough to desire the Word. We need to desire the unadulterated Word of God. God does not want us to desire just anything about the Word. He wants us to desire the unadulterated Word of God. Make sure it is the pure Word of God, not some convoluted distortion by a wild-eyed Christian. 
 
Desire is to long, yearn. This is a strong word for intense yearning. God wants us to intensely long for God’s Word. The Christian’s thirst for life in God should be as strong and instinctive and health-giving as the baby’s appetite for the mother’s breast. This is a sure sign you have fallen in love with the Lord. Loss of appetite for the Word is a sign of spiritual sickness. 
 
PRINCIPLE: The condition for growth is desire.
 
APPLICATION: An evidence that a person has been born again is that they have a hunger for the Word of God. We live in a day when people put little priority on the Word of God. They do not long for it; they do not hunger for it. Little knowledge of the Word goes a long way for many. One of the characteristics of a child of God is that they have not only fallen in love with the Son of God but the Word of God as well. Has the Word become your soul food? 
 
A new Christian must begin on the milk of the Word because they cannot digest the solid food of the Word. All they can understand at the beginning of their Christian life is the simple things of the Bible. As they grow, they understand things that will move them into maturity. 
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1 Peter 2:2b

Published on May 18, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.”
 
 
desire the pure milk of the word
 
Spiritual life requires suitable food to that life. The milk of the Word suits the new spiritual life. Physical babies desire milk often and intensely. Spiritual babies should have an avid sense of hunger for the Word. 
 
The word “pure” is in contrast to “deceit” of verse one. God’s Word does not deceive. It is unadulterated and guileless. The Word is unmixed, without dishonest intent, without fraud. The Word is genuine, the real thing. 
 
“Pure” means entirely free from dust or corrupt matter. There is no contamination by alien matter. There is no mixture of anything useless or harmful. Pure milk of the Word will not do harm to new Christians. It will never impose legalism or distortions. Unless a new believer has the basic truth of the milk of the Bible he will never grow up. 
 
Many Christians are weak and emaciated because they are deficient in vitamin B – the Bible. They neglect the Word because the toxic impurities of malice, guile, hypocrisies, envies and evil-speakings steal their appetite for the Word. 
 
The word “word” means spiritual, rational. Romans’ 12:1 renders this word “spiritual service.” God wants true worship. The idea is genuine. It is true to the real and essential nature of something. God wants an intelligent, rational service (worship). The nourishment here is of a spiritually rational nature. When this nature acts through the regenerate mind, spiritual growth results. 
 
In our verse, “milk of the word” means rudimentary spiritual teaching (cf. I Cor. 3:2; Heb. 5:12,13). God did not give his Word so that it is impossible to understand it, or that it requires a special class of men to interpret it. Its character is such that the Holy Spirit who gave it can unfold its truths even to the young convert. Cp. I John 2:27
 
PRINCIPLE: God wants us to absorb the unadulterated Bible, not some substitute.
 
APPLICATION: We need to read the unadulterated Bible itself. We live in a day where Christians substitute many things for the unadulterated Word of God. We read commentaries, devotional books, magazines, etc. How much time do we spend in the Bible itself? 
 
If we do not start with milk we will never eat steak. Babies are born without teeth because they do not need to eat steak. They need milk. 
 
Food is the life-giving material that builds our bodies. Food gives us energy. The Word of God gives us energy for daily living. It is the fuel of spiritual living. 
 
If the Christian does not cultivate his new life in Christ, he will never grow. If we turn to New Age philosophy or positive thinking, these things are not “pure.” They carry impurities. The Word of God carries no impurity. The Bible is pure and unadulterated.
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1 Peter 2:2

Published on May 17, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.”
 
 
As newborn babes
 
“As” brings up an analogy between physical and spiritual growth. Physical growth begins with physical birth. Spiritual growth should begin with spiritual birth. This does not necessarily follow in the spiritual realm. It depends on our attitude toward the Word of God. 
 
“Newborn” means just born recently. Peter refers to new spiritual babies who have just begun to live. New babies are totally helpless. This is the condition of a new Christian. He is totally helpless to live the Christian life. 
 
Peter puts the Asia Minor Christians in mind of their new spiritual life. These are Christians at the most basic level of the Christian life. They are on mother’s breast spiritually. 
 
In 1:23, Peter writes that Christians are “born again.”   From conception to birth is nine months. The great concern of the parents is that the baby will be born healthy. Their hope is that the child will be normal without defects, physical or mental. 
 
This verse takes for granted this new birth. The main thing after the baby is born is growth. The spiritual babe has come into existence. Now the order of business is spiritual development. God builds spiritual growth upon the same lines as physical growth. From conception to birth is but nine months but from birth to maturity is approximately twenty-one years. Once God soundly saves someone, the main concern is spiritual development. 
 
PRINCIPLE: New Christians need nourishment from God’s Word in order to develop spiritually. 
 
APPLICATION: Mothers know their babies need feeding from mother’s breast 8 times a day! New Christians need to feed regularly on God’s Word to gain stability in the Christian life.
 
Are you passing from spiritual infancy with a minimum of spiritual illness. Every Christian is in danger of exposure to infant diseases. Spiritual babies need exposure to the milk of God’s Word for protection from the scars of these diseases. There are many dangers that lurk along the way of spiritual growth. 
 
A baby is naive of dangers that hide along the way. A person who does not recognize danger has no fear. A tot may wonder why her parents are so concerned about her crossing the street by herself. She wonders why her parents are so worked up about her playing with matches. A tot has not experienced life like her parents have. The parent knows the dangers of drinking poison. The same is true in the spiritual realm. New converts are not aware of the spiritual dangers that lurk on every side.   Many things can happen to ruin their Christian lives. 
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1 Peter 2:1h

Published on May 16, 1997 in 1 Peter. 1 Comment
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"Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.”

 

and all evil speaking
The third and last category of sin is “evil speaking.” The fifth and final sin of this verse is “all evil speaking.” “Evil speaking” comes from two words: “to speak” and “against.” This means to speak against and often involves slander. It is evil speech, slander, defamation, detraction in lists of vices of a backbiter.
“Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge” (James 4:11).
This is slander, gossip, an undisciplined tongue. This is a person who hurts the reputation of others by words. This is a person who loves to run down other people. He defames someone else. He runs them down to other people. This person is resentful and discontent.
The evil speaker detracts from others. This involves speaking against another, or defaming him. It is rendered backbiting in 2 Corinthians 12:20 and Romans 1:30.
This word is in the plural again. There are many different kinds of slander and gossip. Evil speaking may take the form of blasphemy, profanity, slander or gossip.
Principle:
God does not want us to defame other people.
Application:
Speaking against others may also consist in passing on something that is untrue or would be better left unsaid. Are you able to keep to yourself something miserable you heard about another Christian? Can you cover for another Christian (1 Peter 4:8).
God calls upon us to make a clean-cut break with these sins of disposition. Just because your parents were malicious or evil-speaking, does not mean it is proper for you to be the same way. When we bring this over into the Christian life we dislocate ourselves from the will of God. Prejudice and bigotry should drop like a shirt on the floor from the Christian.
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1 Peter 2:1g

Published on May 15, 1997 in 1 Peter. 1 Comment
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“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.”

 

Envy
The fourth virus afflicting spiritual health is envy. Envy means to be resentful or discontent. Jealousy simply seeks what others have. Envy goes beyond that. This person seeks to deprive others of what they have.
There is therefore a distinction between jealousy and envy in the Bible. Jealousy simply desires to have the same sort of thing for itself. Envy desires to deprive another of what he has. He carries a state of ill will toward someone because of some real or presumed advantage experienced by such a person.
So these two words are not synonymous. Jealousy makes us fear to lose what we possess; envy creates sorrow that others have what we have not. An evil sense always attaches to envy but not jealousy.
“Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from good will” (Philippians 1:15).
Envy is also in the plural dealing with many types of envy. There are envies directed toward people, toward status symbols, about material things, etc.
Envy is the feeling of displeasure produced by witnessing or hearing of the advantage or prosperity of others (Matthew 27:18; Mark 15:10; Romans 1:29; Galatians 5:21; Philippians 1:15; 1 Timothy 6:4; Titus 3:3; 1 Peter 2:1; James 4:5).
Envy grieves over the good welfare of another, at their abilities, prosperity, fame or successful labors. An envious person has feelings of ill-will at hearing of the good fortune of others.
There are always those who, after a man has made his mark on the world, come with erasers. Envy is the enemy of happiness. Time spent in worry about the superior status or accomplishments of others is time wasted and encourages dissatisfaction. But you may say, “He gets all the breaks. Why do I not have what he has?” The Bible proclaims that God is faithful. If he is, why worry about what others have?
Principle:
A mature Christian can rejoice at the success of others.
Application:
We think we need to elbow our way past our peers to get ahead. Do you turn green when someone else is praised? Does it give you a sick feeling in your stomach? It does not seem right to you that they should be praised. “Why were they elected and not me?” “Why should they receive that honor and not me?” “Why should people make such a fuss over them?”
Song of Solomon 8:6 says, “Jealousy as cruel as the grave.” We all know how cruel the grave can be. It does not care whether you are a baby or a mother. Envy grows to a point where cruelty is the name of the game.
Lawyers rarely envy doctors. Doctors rarely envy politicians. A preacher rarely envies an engineer. We envy those within our brotherhood or fraternity. Businessmen envy businessmen. Doctors envy doctors. Preachers envy preachers.
It is difficult to admit that we envy others. A dimension of spirituality is the ability to identify subjective sins that are more difficult to recognize. We need to say to the Lord, “I confess this envy. It is wrong. I have violated you, Lord. I have no right to feel like this. I confess it violates your person.” We will hardly find a day without these sins attempting to stick their ugly heads into our lives. We need to recognize and root them out quickly.
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1 Peter 2:1f

Published on May 14, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.”

 

hypocrisy
We come to the third ugly word – “hypocrisy.” The word “hypocrisy” comes from two words: “to answer” and “under.” The Greek and Roman world used this word for answering from under a mask. This is a person who makes judgment from behind a cover. He hides his true identity. This word came to mean the acting of a stage-actor; hence the meaning dissembling or pretence. This person acts behind a mask.
It was a custom for Greek and Roman actors to speak in large masks with mechanical devices for augmenting the force of the voice; hence the word became used metaphorically of a dissembler, a hypocrite. A hypocrite is one who plays a part on the stage. He is a player, actor, pretender, dissembler, hypocrite, one who pretends to be other than he really is. He plays a part of someone he is not.
“Hypocrisy” is translated “dissimulation” in Galatians 2:13. The author of this book played the hypocrite himself. Peter played the part of a legalist. He did not have the courage to put the principle of grace in practice. He betrayed the principle of freedom so Paul called him a hypocrite.
Hypocrites pretend piety. They are two-faced carrying a sweet front. This is an outward show, a phony front, a facade. This person is more interested in the public practices of a church than the heart of Christianity. His interest is to present a front to everyone else in the congregation. This person simply complies with overt standards and totally disregards character. He is more interested in taboos set up by an organization, a system of morality or a series of mores.
“Hypocrisies” is plural and comprehends all sorts of hypocrisies. In matters of religion, hypocrisy is counterfeit piety. In regular conversation, hypocrisy can counterfeit true friendship. Often those who are free with compliments that they do not mean fit this category. They pretend friendship when a scheme lies in their hearts.
The hypocrite is afraid of himself. He does not dare show himself as he is. His fear of criticism compels him to wear a mask. He is the opposite of a courageous person. He is afraid to reveal who he is. He is a double person, natural and artificial. The Lord Jesus was the opposite. He was open and above-board. God wants us to be ourselves and not hide behind the mask of another personality.
One of the outstanding examples of hypocrisy in the Bible is the story of Ananias and Sapphria in Acts 5. They pretended to be generous but they were putting on an act; their last one! They held out on God. They pretended generosity. This was not real and God killed them for it. They sinned unto physical death (1 John 5:16). Some of us are good actors. We can put on a mask and no one knows who is behind the mask. “Did he really mean that?” “Are they for real?”
Principle:
God wants us to be an open book.
Application:
Do you pretend to have a devotion you do not possess? Hypocrisy will put a crimp in your work for the Lord.
Sooner or later our pretence will be exposed. God will unmask the hypocrite and what a sight it will be!
Are you genuine? Are you confident enough to show yourself for who you are? Christianity requires that we are open and aboveboard with others. God wants us to be ourselves and not hide behind a mask of another personality.
Are you an open book? Are you open and above board? Are you for real?
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1 Peter 2:1e

Published on May 13, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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"Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.”

 

all deceit
 
The second category of sins has three sins: deceit, hypocrisy, envy.”Deceit” means bait, snare; hence, craft, deceit, guile. It is used of deceptive actions: deceit, cunning, treachery. It means to deceive by using trickery and falsehood – to deceive, to trick into, treachery, any cunning contrivance for deceiving or catching.
 
The Greek uses this word for a bait for fish. This individual will lure others into a trap. He damages others with maliciousness. He is two-faced and conscious of his deception to achieve his own goals. He adulterates his motives, which are rarely pure. He misleads others to his own advantage. He does not tell the whole truth. He is like a spiritual Trojan horse.
Genesis uses this word for Jacob’s deceit. Jacob engaged in trickery to get his brother’s birthright, “But he said, ‘Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing,’” (Genesis 27:35). This drove a wedge between Jacob and his brother for 20 years.
The new reality of life in Christ means that we be guileless as to what is evil (Romans 16:19). In love we may now overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21) for love neither thinks evil (1 Corinthians 13:5) nor does evil (Romans 13:10). If evil is a force that disrupts fellowship, the love that derives from Christ makes true fellowship possible again.
Guile has to do with what you say as well as what you do. This person uses deceit in words so he uses flattery, falsehood, and delusion. He craftily preys upon the ignorance or weakness of other people to their damage. He intends to deceive and mislead others to their hurt and to his own advantage. The speech of Christians should be guileless. See Matthew 26:4; Mark 7:22; 14:1.
John 1:47 uses “guile” negatively of Nathaniel. This means that Nathaniel was not two-faced. What you saw was what you got. He was honest.
This is not the dishonesty of stealing something from work. This is honesty in our estimation of ourselves and others. We do not acknowledge that we just do not like someone. Why do we not face this problem? Why do we pretend? If we get right with that person, we will get right with God and then personal revival will come. We love to use guile. We use it on ourselves. We use it on others. There are times when we even try using it on God!
I Thessalonians 2:3 uses this word negatively of the teaching of Paul and his fellow-missionaries, “For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit.”
It is significant that this word is used in this chapter in reference to the guileless speech of Christ,
“Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth,” (2:22).
Jesus Christ would have no part of guile.
Deceit is the opposite of sincerity.
Principle:
God wants us to be true blue.
Application:
A person who operates in deceit is like the used car salesman who plays up many features of the car. He tries to give the impression that the car has everything a person needs. He points that the car has a radio, power-locks, power-brakes and power-seats. However, he does not mention the car does not have a heater. He steers the customer away from what might jeopardize the sale.
Are you two-faced? Do you consciously try to deceive to attain your own ends? Do you adulterate your motives in your relationship with others?
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1 Peter 2:1d

Published on May 12, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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"Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.”

 

malice
 
We come to spiritual virus number one and the first category of sin – “malice.”
“Malice” is an evil disposition, a malignant spirit, a desire to injure another. This person desires to injure, to hurt. He gets a certain pleasure from the misfortune of others. In the Roadrunner cartoon, when the coyote takes a beating. We, as viewers, derive a certain amount of pleasure at the his misfortune. This is a example of feeling ill-will toward someone.
“Malice” represents whatever is evil in character. This is in distinction from another Greek word which means evil in influence and effect, malignant. The word in our verse has a wider meaning which encompasses the meaning of the other word.
This word stands for anger resting in the bosom of a resentful person. It is overgrown anger that has settled in the soul. A person with malice retains anger till it inflames him to design mischief against someone else and do them harm. Malice delights in any hurt that befalls someone we do not like. Malice further propels our relationships into deeper trouble.
Malice is the opposite to that which is fair, advisable, kind, gracious or good in character. It is that which is destructive or injurious. Malice is the outworking of the principle of evil mostly in an ethical sphere. Malice destroys fellowship.
In Acts 8, Simon saw the apostles giving the gift of the Holy Spirit by laying on of hands. He offered Peter money so that he would possess this gift. Peter rebuked him in 8:22 – “Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.” Simon loved fame. He wanted to be a celebrity in the kingdom. He thought he could buy this celebrityship.
Ephesians 4:31, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.”
Colossians 3:8, “But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.”
Titus 3:3, “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.”
Malice is ill-will. Malice and maliciousness are the same thing. It is the desire to harm someone else, to someone you do not care about. You might not harm them yourself but you rejoice when someone else does us. This is a malicious spirit.
James 1:21 “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” God calls upon us to lay aside malice in any form.
Principle:
Malice is the desire to hurt someone you do not like.
Application:
Malice is a sin of the character that hurts and injures other people. This sin is full of malignity which is the opposite of excellence.
Do you recognize ill-will in your soul? Do you wish to do someone else harm? Do you have a malicious spirit? Do you rejoice when someone you do not like fails? Or, do you desire excellence in your soul?
We do not have to like the way someone fixes their hair, wear their clothes or gestures with their hands but we need to be sure that we do not allow malice in our hearts.
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