Long for Pure Spiritual Milk
📖 Passage
1 Peter 2:1–3
Read 1 Peter 2:1–3 (NKJV)
🧠 Context & Background
Peter has just emphasized the new birth through the imperishable Word of God (1:23–25). Flowing from that truth, he now urges believers to put away sins that destroy community—malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander—and instead crave the nourishment that brings growth. Using the image of newborns longing for milk, Peter highlights that just as infants instinctively desire what sustains life, so believers should eagerly desire God’s Word. This growth is not optional but necessary for salvation’s outworking, rooted in the experience of God’s goodness.
🌿 Key Themes
- Putting Away Sin — Believers must remove relational and heart sins.
- Spiritual Hunger — Christians should crave God’s Word like infants crave milk.
- Growth in Salvation — The Word nourishes and matures believers in holiness.
- Taste of Goodness — Growth is fueled by experiencing the kindness of the Lord.
📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary
1 Peter 2:1 — Putting Away Sin
“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking…”
Growth requires removing sin that corrupts relationships and stunts holiness. The language suggests taking off filthy garments.
1 Peter 2:2 — Long for Pure Milk
“As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby…”
Believers are to crave Scripture with the same intensity that newborns crave nourishment. The Word is pure, unadulterated, and essential for growth.
1 Peter 2:3 — Tasting God’s Goodness
“If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”
Growth flows from an experiential knowledge of God’s kindness. Peter echoes Psalm 34:8, reminding believers that true hunger for the Word comes from delighting in God Himself.
🔍 Trusted Insight
“The Word of God is the food of the soul. The appetite for it marks the life within; the absence of desire for it is the token of death.” — Charles Spurgeon
Spurgeon underscores that craving the Word is evidence of spiritual life. A lack of hunger reveals spiritual sickness or lifelessness.
Summary: Believers grow by craving God’s Word, putting away sin, and continually tasting the Lord’s goodness.
🌍 Worldview Connections & Common Objections
1. Craving God’s Word vs. Consuming Empty Substitutes
- Worldview clash: People often fill themselves with entertainment, self-help, or ideologies instead of truth.
- Peter’s teaching: Believers, like newborn infants, must crave the pure milk of the Word for growth.
- Common objection: “Isn’t the Bible outdated or irrelevant for modern life?”
- Gospel response: Only God’s Word gives true spiritual nourishment and growth; substitutes cannot sustain the soul.
2. Putting Off Sin vs. Redefining Sin
- Worldview clash: Culture minimizes or even celebrates malice, deceit, envy, and slander as acceptable or “authentic.”
- Peter’s teaching: Christians must strip these away like old garments in order to grow in holiness.
- Common objection: “Why call things like envy or slander sinful — aren’t they just part of human nature?”
- Gospel response: These behaviors destroy community and distort God’s image; new birth calls us to put them off and walk in love.
3. Tasting the Lord’s Goodness vs. Doubting His Goodness
- Worldview clash: Many question whether God is truly good, especially when life is hard.
- Peter’s teaching: Believers grow by tasting and experiencing the Lord’s kindness.
- Common objection: “If God is good, why doesn’t He stop suffering or injustice?”
- Gospel response: God’s goodness is revealed supremely in Christ; experiencing His grace transforms how we endure trials.
🧩 Review Questions
- Why does Peter list relational sins as obstacles to growth?
- What does the metaphor of newborns teach us about spiritual desire?
- How does tasting the Lord’s goodness fuel ongoing growth in salvation? ---
🔍 Definitions
- Malice — Ill will toward others, desiring harm.
- Hypocrisy — Pretending to be righteous while hiding sin.
- Spiritual Milk — The Word of God, pure nourishment for the believer’s soul.
- Grow into Salvation — The process of maturing in holiness until salvation is complete.
- Goodness of the Lord — God’s gracious character revealed in Christ and His Word.
🙋 Application Questions
- Which sins listed in verse 1 do you need to lay aside in your own life?
- How can you cultivate a deeper hunger for God’s Word?
- What practices help you “taste and see” the Lord’s goodness daily?
🔤 Greek Keywords
- ἀποτίθημι (apotithēmi) — to lay aside; remove, discard like a garment.
- δόλος (dolos) — deceit; craftiness or guile.
- γάλα (gala) — milk; metaphor for basic, life-giving nourishment.
- αὐξάνω (auxanō) — to grow, increase; the result of nourishment.
- χρηστός (chrēstos) — kind, gracious; describing God’s goodness.
📚 Cross References
- Psalm 34:8 — Taste and see that the Lord is good.
- Hebrews 5:12–14 — Milk and solid food as metaphors for growth.
- James 1:21 — Put away filthiness and receive the implanted Word.
- Ephesians 4:22 — Put off the old self with its corrupt practices.
- Matthew 5:6 — Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
📦 Next Study
Next Study → 1 Peter 2:4–10 – Christ the Living Stone and a Chosen People