AN APPETITE FOR GROWTH

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on October 31, 2018 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: October 31, 2018 from Peter 2:1-3

Theme: In Christ, we are to love each other by focusing on the “eternal” instead of the “external” qualities.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

Growth is a normal part of the life of a genuine follower of Jesus. There’s really no such thing as a genuinely redeemed man or woman—indwelt by the Holy Spirit—obedient to Jesus—who is not also conscious of the need for continued growth. Even the great apostle Paul sought to grow. In Philippians—in a letter that contains some of his most wonderful expressions of spiritual maturity—he said;

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you (Philippians 3:12-15).

In this morning’s portion of 1 Peter, the apostle Peter exhorts us to cultivate an appetite for spiritual growth in Christ. He writes;

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious (1 Peter 2:1-3).

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Take note of the word “therefore”. It points us back to what the apostle had just written. In the previous passage, he said,

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever … (1:22-23);

and shortly afterward, Peter adds, “Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you” (v. 25). He is making some important assumptions about his readers—that they truly have been born again, and that this rebirth happened by God’s gracious work through His holy word.

The things that Peter tells us in this morning’s passage, then, do not have to do with obtaining salvation, but rather with maturing in a salvation already obtained. And so, what are the essentials that we must build into our lives for there to be a true progress of maturity in our salvation? What are the things that make for a healthy spiritual appetite for growth?

First, we see that, in order to grow . . .

1. WE MUST LAY ASIDE WHAT HINDERS OUR GROWTH (v. 1).

In the previous passage, Peter spoke of loving one another ‘fervently’. And now, he lets us know that there are certain things that must be set aside in our lives in order for us to love one another as we should as a part of our growth.

First, we’re told that we must lay aside all “malice”—a word that describes an attitude of general ill-will toward someone else—an attitude of hatred toward anyone who gets in the way of our focus on self. It’s the opposite of love; and can be taken as the broad category into which the other things fall that must also go.

Second, we must lay aside all “deceit”—a word that speaks of more than simply fooling other people. The idea of fooling others is captured in the next word (“hypocrisy”). The actual meaning behind the Greek word that’s here translated “deceit” is that of setting a bait that traps something; and so this speaks of the idea of manipulating other people for our own selfish ends through ‘guilt trips’ or ‘head-games’—ensnaring people in order to make them do what we want them to do.

Third, we must lay aside all “hypocrisy”. In ancient times, this word spoke of an actor in a play who spoke or performed from behind a mask. In time, it came to be a metaphor for someone who pretended to be something that they’re not. This would speak of putting on an outer image that makes others think we have a spirituality or a moral purity or a wisdom that we don’t really possess.

Fourth, we must set aside all “envy”. This refers to the resentment we would have toward someone because they have something that we don’t have. It’s an attitude of jealousy toward the successes or blessings that God has seen fit to give to others.

And finally, we must lay aside all “evil speaking” or “slander”—the ways we talk badly about someone else, or tear them down in order to elevate ourselves. This would included gossip and tale-bearing. It would even include that terrible thing we do when we say, “I’m sharing this with you about so-and-so, but simply as a matter of prayer …”—when we know that we’re really not concerned about prayer at all.

In order to grow through God’s gracious provision of the word as we should, these things must be set aside in our lives. Their presence in our lives, and a continual practice of them, stunts spiritual growth through God’s word. This is very much like what Pastor James wrote to us;

Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls (James 1:21).

Next, Peter tells us that …

2. WE MUST VIEW OURSELVES AS THOSE TRULY IN NEED OF GROWTH (v. 2a).

Peter tells us that we must learn to see ourselves as “newborn babes …” It’s not something that people outside of a faith in Jesus see think of as much of a compliment. But it is how we must see ourselves; because it’s characteristic of new-born babies to be growing very fast and to be in need of nourishment.

Peter’s call to see ourselves ‘as newborn babes’ isn’t meant to communicate the idea that we are to be spiritual immature in a negative sense. The apostle Paul once spoke of the Corinthian believers in that way. He told them,

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I 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; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? (1 Corinthians 3:1-3).

Those Corinthian believers were behaving ‘childishly’ and were stuck in their immaturity. They were practicing many of the things that Peter spoke of in verse 1 of our passage. But Peter here isn’t speaking about becoming ‘children’ in that way. Rather, Peter is calling us to a humble recognition of our need for the true spiritual ‘solid food’ which will make us grow strong. Jesus once said;

“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).

We, then, need to humble ourselves like little children who need nourishment. We can’t grow if we believe we have already ‘arrived’ to maturity. But if we know that we are still not where we should be, we will—like a little child—crave that which will help us to grow.

But we must not just crave ‘anything’. We need true nourishment. Peter next tells us that …

3. WE MUST CRAVE THAT WHICH TRULY PROMOTES OUR GROWTH (v. 2b).

Babies cry for milk. And if they don’t have it, they’ll let you know that they crave it! God has built into newborn babes a craving for mother’s milk; because by His design, it is that milk which is most suited to meet their needs. We’re to be hungry in the same way. As Peter says, we’re to “desire the pure milk of the word.”

Some translations have rendered verse two in this way; that we’re to “crave pure spiritual milk”. And that’s because the word that is used can be translated a couple of different ways. One way is as ‘a logical or rational expression’. That, of course, would be the way we would ordinarily understand God’s word—as His logical or rational “word” to us. But another way it can be translated is as “spiritual milk”. This is the way that the New International Version translates it—as that necessary spiritual nourishment for our souls. But even if that was the correct translation, we should still understand it to be speaking of the “pure milk” of God’s “word”—which is, indeed, “spiritual” and empowered by the Holy Spirit; and that brings about spiritual transformation in our lives. It’s everything that the apostle Paul said it was in 2 Timothy 3:16-17;

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

But notice also that it is “pure”. There is nothing mixed in with it. It is that which is straight to us from God. We cannot expect to grow by the word if we mix God’s pure word with the wrong things—the ideas and values and thoughts of this world. We must make sure that what we take in and build our spiritual lives upon is the pure, uncontaminated milk of God’s word. Practically speaking, we can’t really do better than to just have a steady diet of daily reading of God’s word all by itself; to be like the ‘blessed’ man of Psalm 1—

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night (Psalm 1:2).

Now; doing this, Peter goes on to tell us that …

4. WE SHOULD EXPECT NOURISHMENT TO RESULT IN GROWTH (v. 2c).

He writes; “desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby …” This pure milk is not only necessary for our growth; but when we take it in as we should, we can expect to grow.

Now; again, we may notice a difference in our various translations. Some have it that we grow up “in our salvation”, or “to salvation” or “unto salvation”. Those words about ‘salvation’ are not present in some of the ancient texts; and so you will not find them in some English translations (such as the King James and New King James). But they’re present in the more reliable ancient copies of the text; and we should consider them to be legitimate. The nourishment we receive from God’s word does indeed help us to grow up ‘unto salvation’. James says something very similar in James 1:21 when he says that the “implanted word” is able to ‘save our souls’.

But we should be careful to understand this correctly. We don’t read the Bible in order to become saved; but rather in order to grow in that salvation that we already have by faith in Jesus. Even though it’s true that we are saved in the sense that our sins are completely washed away and that we are now destined for eternal glory, we still have not yet experienced the full effects of our salvation in daily living. God is still saving us in the sense that we are being sanctified unto Jesus in our daily lives. We are saved—and will be fully saved—but are still in the process of being saved. We are still, as Paul said, ‘pressing toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus’. It’s in that aspect of our salvation that the word helps us to “grow thereby”.

And that leads us, finally, to how …

5. WE MUST LOOK FORWARD JOYFULLY TO THE PROSPECT OF GROWTH (v. 3).

Peter encourages us with this challenge; “if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious”. This is a phrase that Peter is taking directly from the Old Testament—from Psalm 34:8, which says,

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! (Psalm 34:8).

When a little baby is given food that he or she doesn’t want; they fuss about it and push it away—until, of course, some gets in … and they find out that they like it. Then they want more; because they have tasted that it is good. The same is true with us in respect to what our Lord does to help us grow. We may not like the idea of growth—nor the pain that is sometimes required for it to happen. But if we have tasted that the Lord is good, and have found already that we can trust Him, then we are willing to accept what He gives us to help us grow. We willingly receive the good food because we know and love the One who is feeding us.

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Now; think back to five years ago. What were you doing back then that you are no longer doing? Have there been significant strides forward in your Christian life? Do you now do things, in obedience to the Lord, that you weren’t doing back then? Have sinful habits or negative attitudes been left behind and repented of? Do you know more about the truths of the Christian faith than you used to? Do you know the Bible better? Are you serving Jesus more devotedly? Are you more mature in your Christian life now than you were back then?

And then, go on to think ahead five years into the future. Assuming that—by God’s grace—you will still be walking on this earth, will there be other areas of sin that you will have left behind? Will your understanding of God’s word have improved and increased? Will you be serving our Lord more devotedly? Will you be loving people in a way that is more like Jesus? Will you be glad that—by God’s grace—you had invested your time in the way that you did? Will you be more mature in your Christian faith then than you are right now?

Well; now is the time to do something about it. As this passage shows us, there are things we can and must do in order to grow. May the Lord make us willing to receive and do these things so that—five years from now; and even beyond—we will be much more like Jesus than we are today.

EA