God's Design for Me to Grow by the Milk of the Word
1 Peter 1:22-2:3
(Children's Sheet for Sermon Interaction is at bottom. Notes are throughout sermon)
Please turn to 1 Peter 1:22. We are going to be learning from 1:22 through 2:3. As you are turning there, I want us to be thinking about the fact that everyone has a standard for conduct. They live by it. Even if people don't want to admit it, they live by some kind of ethical code. This is why you may hear people in the world say things like,
"Live and let live."
It is the philosophy of leaving people alone. As a code, it means let them do whatever they want. Sometimes you will hear immature, impotent, Christians expressing this same ministry killing philosophy. But, usually in the lost world culture, codes of ethics tend to contrast each other, and so people will usually be okay with living and letting live as long as the others who are living aren't getting in their way. Have you ever noticed that? Live and let live suddenly disappears as soon as someone decides they are getting irritated by what others are doing. For the most part, people kind of blend various codes for living together. They invent some of their own ethical standards while adopting others. What happens is that people come into the world, and as they grow, their code of conduct grows too. What I mean, is that in the same way that we get nourishment from food, we get ideologies, ethics, values, and mindsets from the nourishment of the world system that we live in. We assimilate all kinds of thinking processes that are around us. It is like drinking homogenized milk. Homogenized milk comes from hundreds of different cows, but it is hard to recognize this when you pour the milk into a glass and drink. Even when people think they have originated some of their own ethical standards, their glass is full of homogenization that influences their minds. The consequence of partaking in this great mix of ideas, ironically, is that everyone contributes a little bit of their own ideas into the great vat. Everybody has an opinion about what is right or wrong. Everyone thinks they know what is "the right way." Think about this:
Even if you claim that you do not have an opinion, your claim is your opinion. You are also showing that your opinion, (where you claim that you do not have an opinion) must be right.
Your opinion is just like everyone else's in one particular way. It is another chat in the chatter of voices that fill the world. It is another drop of milk in the great homogenizing vat. The question that we need to ask in the midst of the chatter is:
"Who's word am I going to follow?"
Relentlessly claiming that you only follow your own word is somewhat disingenuous. But it gets weirder. Some voices even claim that everybody's opinion is equally true. They say,
"What is true for you may not be true for me, and what is true for me may not be true for you."
But when we analyze that drop of milk under a microscope, we find that the person making the claim expects us to believe that the claim is true for both us and them, as if it is not really possible that the claim may not be true for you too. The point is that you can not make a statement to someone that asserts that they must believe you, without you thinking that you are right; regardless of what glass of milk you are drinking. It is the same kind of failure we find in the world as it tries to suggest an ethic that has no basis in an established, foundational, truth. But there is an irony here too: Any time anyone suggests an ethical standard, what they are doing is suggesting that there must be an established foundational truth. The philosopher, Immanuel Kant, sought to come up with an ethical standard for everyone--a type of glass of milk that everybody could live by. He attempted it without appealing to God and God's standard of right and wrong. Kant proposed what he called the "Categorical Imperative." Here was his advice,
"Act as if the maxim of thy action were to become by thy will a Universal Law of Nature."--Kant
Kant's ethic has been explained this way to make it clearer:
"Always do the act that is motivated by the sincere belief that what you are doing is the right thing to do, right not merely for you but for anybody seeking to act properly in any similar situation." (Grenz, re. Kant)
There are problems with this kind of categorical imperative. Who is to say that people know what the right thing to do really is? When Eve ate from the tree, she was motivated by a sincere belief that what she was doing is the right thing to do, right not merely for her, but also for Adam. God said otherwise. So, the question is:
"How can the world define what 'acting properly' is in any similar situation?"
What Kant was really saying is, to do whatever you want to do as long as you think it is right for you, and then, your decision, if it were the law of the universe, should be right for everyone else. Kant's huge mistake was that he derived, developed, and directed his categorical imperative through sinful creatures. Mere humans do not agree on what right and wrong really is. This is the very reason why Satanists, Aleister Crowley, and Anton LeVey (the High Priest of the church of Satan, and author of the Satanic Bible) summed up what they said was the greatest Satanic Law as,
"Do What Thou Wilt"
This anarchist's creed finds its roots in the garden at the temptation and fall of Adam and Eve. Since then, the homogenization of ethics aside from God's revelation has evolved through the generations; and always falls short of the truth. On the other hand, the categorical imperatives that come from the true God of the universe are the truth. They are found in the pure, right, strengthening, milk that He has provided for our life. God knows that we need instructions that are sure, and we need boundaries that are sure. The instruction and boundary is found in the categorical imperative of the Bible. For Christians, this is found in the New Covenant imperatives. This is the enduring glass of milk that God has given us to drink from freely. By it, we grow. We mature, where our minds, and actions, become more and more conformed to the will of God. This is what our text deals with this morning. Please read it along with me, starting in 1:22,
"22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere affection of the brothers, fervently love one another from the heart, 23 because you have been regenerated not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 Because, 'All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, 25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.' And this is the word which was preached to you. 1 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord." 1 Peter 1:22-2:3
Please prepare your heart to learn, along with me, from the preaching of God's word in this sermon titled,
"God's Design for Me to Grow by the Milk of the Word"
[prayer]
The Spirit has inspired Peter to teach New Covenant truth to the dispersed Christians. As we seek to learn from that truth, there are some primary principles I want to bring out for our edification.
/1/
The first principle has to do with obedience to the truth that God has revealed. It has to do with obeying the truth for salvation. And it has to do with obedience for expressing the love of Christ to others in all our actions. All of our obedience comes from the power of the Holy Spirit in His work.
"22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere affection of the brothers, fervently love one another from the heart," 1 Peter 1:22
@1 In obedience to God's Gospel truth in receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, our souls have been _________________________ for affection for the family of God. 1 Peter 1:22
Obedience to the truth conveyed in God's word as the good news (the gospel) is the initial life giving milk that God provides for us in the process of saving us from sin. It is produced from the Holy Spirit. It is used by Him to rescue us, and transform us into God's children. This is initial obedience that Peter is talking about. As we look at this, I think it is important to bring out that this should not be confused as something that has to do with following lists to make God accept us. It is not obedience to earn favor from God. It is the obedience of faith by the work of God's grace. It is the obedience that occurs as a miracle work of God, where we become obedient to Christ in receiving Him as the Lord and Savior that He is. This obedience occurs by the Spirit before we can have a sincere love for other Christians in the first place. Now that we have been enabled to do so in regeneration, we must go another step further. We must fervently love one another from the heart. This is the foundational substance of God's categorical imperative for Christians. The Holy Spirit does this by working in conjunction with His word which is also part of the foundation. This is important to understand. The Spirit always works with His imperative word--even when we fervently love from our changed heart. Peter makes this clear coming into this section. Peter points out how the elect became what they are by the Spirit in respect to obedience,
"1 ... who are elect 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the setting apart work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: ..." 1 Peter 1:1-2
Then Peter points out how the Spirit of Christ operated in the ancient past in respect to the word,
"10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow." 1 Peter 1:10-11
Then Peter explains the preaching of the good news word of God by the Spirit,
"12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven ..." 1 Peter 1:12
This is how the Spirit has determined to operate in the world. He purifies us in salvation, according to the word of the good news. Through this process, He regenerates us into a virginal form that is undefiled, pure, and cleansed from all of our sins. Then the Spirit continues His work. In purifying our souls, He regenerates us to have a family affection for the other Christians as our brothers and sisters. This is what this word translated as "affection of the brothers" actually means. The word is philadelphia in the Greek. Sometimes it is translated as "brotherly love." All of us Christians have been re-concieved spiritually to a sincere affection kind of love for each other as our new family. This brother and sister in Christ affection kind of love, is the reason why we must fervently, strongly, ambitiously, express our love for one another from our heart. That second word for love that Peter uses that we are to fervently do, is agape' in the Greek. This love is also the holy Spirit's work and will for all of God's people. It is important for us to recognize that part of the reason that God saved us is so that we would love the other people He saves. Think about how your salvation is usually so much more than simple definitions. It is more than being given everlasting life, (though everlasting life is part of it). It also involves all the aspects that God designed to be part of the everlasting life. Here Peter is saying that you and I, and all Christians have been purified spiritually for the purpose of loving other people who have been purified spiritually. It is a sincere love. It is not an act like what non-Christians can do. Non-Christians can treat God's children in a friendly manner. Often, they put up with us out of some sense of social decorum. Any non-Christian may have some kind of affection for Christians--even friendship, but what we must understand is that it is fundamentally different than the sincere love that we Christians have for one another. Our love is wrought by the Spirit. The world's various kinds of affection for anyone find their roots in selfish motives. Someone may say,
"That sound harsh. What do you mean that the affections of the lost find their roots in selfish motives?"
Let's take sympathy as an example. Lost people can sympathize because they have an emotional feeling that can't stand to see people hurting, or animals hurting, or plants so-called, "being hurt." Their sympathy may also be an exercise in rational deductions that come from the homogenized milk of the world. In other words, they may think,
"Well, I need to sympathize with that person, because, right now, I think it is the right thing to do."
They may be trying to live according to some humanistic categorical imperative like Kant proposed. They may be living according to some self satisfying sympathetic notion where they think they should accept everyone. Or it could be erotic affection, which is a self oriented, self satisfying, kind of sexual affection. It may be because they respect some talent or personality quirk that a Christian has. This is admiration for the human, and it finds its fiber woven into the fabric of humanism and the quality of humans. All these various affections are manifested out of unsaved people, but they do not love the person that you are now as someone who has a purified soul in Christ. The reason is because you are a vessel of the Spirit, and you are this kind of vessel because you are in Christ. You have been made this way by the true Christ. The world does not truly love the real Christ. If they say they love Christ, then they are saying that they love an ideal that they have invented, which is not the real Christ. People who are lost, do not love Christ as the Son of God, Who is the Messiah, Who is the sacrificial Lamb Who rose from the dead, Who sits at the right hand of the Father reigning as King of kings, and Lord of lords. The world does not love "the way, the truth, and the life." If they do, then they are no longer of the world. To truly love the true Christ is to be saved. Why? Because you can not love Him unless the Spirit enables you too; and in this love, you will obey His imperative by receiving Him by grace through faith. You will have the love of God shed abroad in your heart. Your soul will have been purified for a sincere love of the brothers and sisters. From there, you will be able to fervently love one another from the heart in further obedience as more manifestation of the Spirit. This is the kind of love that is always out of reach to the lost world culture. Even when lost people make rules for themselves, like acting as if the maxim of your action were to become by your will a Universal Law of Nature; it is an attempt to live according to a false religion. The world's categorical imperative for love is not born out by the imperishable word of God through the Spirit. It is not emitting from a heart that is regenerated. It is emitting from a heart that is enslaved to sin, and dead in sin, according to Romans 5-8. And so, all attempts to love, spring from sinful self. What Peter is expressing here for us Christians to do, is what the apostle Paul calls "upward call" actions, and "excel still more," love.
What do I mean?
What I mean is that we already love Christians with a sincere love that comes from the indicative indwelling Spirit; but God wants us to imperatively fervently, zealously, intensely, love them with our actions that go above and beyond having the love sleep there in our hearts. God wants it to awaken and come out--but come out in a big way. In Philippians 3, Paul talks about the pressing forward for expressing this love even more and more. He explains how his desire is to live like a heavenly being right here, right now, while on earth. He presses on for living as he reaches for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. What Paul is saying is that He wants to manifest being more like a heavenly being, (of his citizenship), than like a mere human in the world. Part of this is to fervently love in deed and not just in words. It means to keep on giving, and giving, of ourselves to others in love. It means fervently forgiving others in love when they hurt us. It means staying with others no matter what, in fervent love that is committed. It is not being satisfied with merely not hating Christians anymore now that we are saved. It means fervently reaching upward, and outward, like a resurrected citizen of heaven, and doing something about it. Paul also speaks of the "excel still more" love in 1 Thessalonians 4. He says,
"9 Now as to the love of the brothers, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; 10 for indeed you do practice it toward all the brothers who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to excel still more," 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10
@2 In Salvation we are _______________________ by God to love one another, and yet we are urged to excel still ____________________ in manifesting our love for each other in our actions. 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10
In other words, we have no need for anyone to write to us about having the sincere love that God puts in our hearts. Why? Because we are taught by God to love one another. But here is the point: Even if you practice out that love, the urging is for you to excel still more.
What is this excel still more love that the Spirit urges from His word?
It is the same fervency that the Spirit has Peter urging. John presses the point too. We have the love, now let's do it. Let's express it, even if it means self Sacrifice,
"whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother [Christian] in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth." 1 John 3:17-18
Loving in deed and in truth is love backed by actions. Anyone can love with words which is the idle deed of tongues. What God wants us to do is fervently love one another from the heart with actions that speak louder than mere words. This is the fervency that Peter is talking about too and we do this, because we are children of God, as a work of the Spirit in connection to the word.
/2/
This brings me to the second principle. It is the endurance of the word of God in changing us into eternal beings that love eternally. Peter says,
"23 <because> you have been regenerated not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 Because, 'All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, 25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.' And this is the word which was preached to you." 1 Peter 1:23-25
@3 All who are saved have been regenerated through the ________________ _____ ___________ that has been preached. 1 Peter 1:23-25
Just as the Holy Spirit never changes, the Word of God does not change either. God is distinct, and real. God is not a fuzzy concept. Truth is not a fuzzy concept either. Truth is truth, and it is important to always be recognizing that God defines truth for us. We can look at what Peter says this way:
You have been regenerated not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring <truth> of God.
When Jesus prayed for His students shortly before establishing the New Covenant in His blood, He said,
"Set them apart in the truth; Your word is truth." John 17:17
@4 God's word is _________________________. John 17:17
In the New Covenant, Peter is reminding the Christians, across the Roman Empire, that the Holy Spirit implanted the seed of truth into their hearts. It is the same for you and me. God, through His word that is truth, has set us apart as those who are elect. He has caused us to embrace it, and in this miracle cause, we willfully, and joyfully, obey the Way, the Truth and the Life, as the living Word of God. The Living Word, speaks His enduring Word into our hearts, and the good news becomes good in every sense of the word for us who are elect. Now I want us to think about this, because just as the Spirit works with His word in His operation, the faith that we have is intimately tied into the Spirit, and His word. In other words, we know that faith is a gift. But faith does not come unless there is the word as part of the process.
"You say, what do you mean?--God can give me faith, and that is enough."
God does give us faith, but, "faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ," Romans 10:17. Remember, the Spirit, and the word, operate together. The hearing part is the miracle of faith. To see what I mean, let me ask you;
Does the word of Christ give everyone everywhere faith when they hear it?
No.
People hear the word of Christ all the time and reject it in unbelief. Hearing, by the word of Christ that faith comes from, is something that is part of the miracle work of God. In fact, the Holy Spirit enables us to receive Himself through His own word. This is exactly what Paul was saying in Galatians 3, when he asks,
"2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain--if indeed it was in vain? 5 So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?" Galatians 3:2-5
So, we must keep this in mind when we think about what has happened to all who are saved. We must understand that this is what Peter means when he says,
"23 because you have been regenerated not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. ... this is the word which was preached to you." 1 Peter 1:23, 25
To be regenerated, is more accurately translated as having been "begotten anew." You have been created all over again; but this time, with the seed of truth that is enduring, where your enduring spiritual life in the enduring Savior, will go on forever. To be conceived anew happens way before coming out of the womb. It is the moment where you came into existence in spiritual life. This is a miracle action that God does to the elect through the process of Spirit, word, and faith. The Spirit works the miracle and while He does, He uses the word of truth in the process. All of this is because of the love of God, and because of the love of God, we love, and it all endures. Unlike words of empty religion that come from men which are words that fade away like the men who invented the false religions in the first place, God's word is an everlasting seed that remains forever, and it grows in us as we drink from it, study it, and learn it. At this point, Peter is quoting loosely from Isaiah in a prophecy for Israel that will be fulfilled forever. Peter recognizes, by the Spirit, that this prophecy applies to the nations in the New Covenant where there is neither Jew or Gentile, in the one new man of Galatians 3:28, & Ephesians 2:15 as a Holy Nation from the Holy seed. Instead of the primary sense, where Israel would be restored from bondage to Babylon, Peter's allusion is to all (whom are elect) being regenerated, thus freed from the Old life of sin and death out of the lost world culture which is, in a sense, Babylon. You and I were delivered out of Babylon. The lost nations of the world are in the domain of darkness. We were there once too; babbling in babylon according to the homogenized confusion. Peter is saying that they will fade; their message will fade; their bondage will fade. But, God, His word, His people, and His glorious future plan, will last forever. This means that it is existing now as we await the future perfection. Right here Peter is quoting Isaiah 40:7-8. When we look back there and over one chapter to Isaiah 40:9, we see the prophecy of the good news (gospel) proclamation that came forth out of Israel,
"9 Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of the gospel. Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of the gospel; Lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, 'Here is your God!'" Isaiah 40:9
Then when we look over another couple chapters in Isaiah 42, we find the prophecy of the coming of the promised Messiah to Israel, but not just for Israel, but also as God's covenant-light to the Gentiles,
"6 I am Yahweh, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations," Isaiah 42:6
@5 In the ancient prophecy of Isaiah, God said that He would send Christ as a ___________________________ to the people. Isaiah 42:6
What this means for you and me, is that we will always love one another forever. In fact, our miraculous love is as enduring as the Spirit, the good news, and our faith. So we love each other now, yet we will love each other more perfectly in our actions in the future glory when we are changed. There, jealousy will be gone. Irritation will be gone. We won't have to deal with pride anymore. There will be no more malice, or deceit, or hypocrisy, or envy, or slander. Won't that be wonderful? Just as the word of the Lord endures forever, so does our salvation, and so our love will be manifested the way it should be. This is the miracle of the life producing seed-word that Peter is talking about. So, because of this, we must love the milk of the word, learn the milk of the word, and live according to the imperatives of the word each, and every, day.
/3/
This leads to the third principle. The enduring word of truth produces salvation, but it also produces much more. It produces spiritual growth in respect to salvation,
"1 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord." 1 Peter 1:1-3
We remember that the Holy Spirit has given us a sincere love for the brothers and sisters that we have in Christ. When we are saved, we have it. We also know that we must fervently love one another from the heart. Here is the point: To fervently love is to manifest the sincere love to real people in real practical ways. It is to "do" your love, but more than that. Fervently, means we are to do the things of love, like forgiveness, and good deeds, intensely, and enthusiastically. The way we manifest the outworking of the love that the Spirit has put into our hearts is to live by the milk of God's word in thirst that never quites get quenched fully. What we are studying this morning, is actually a drink of this same milk. The dispersed Christians of Peter's day, when they read these same Scriptures, were reading God's word and getting the nourishment for growth. In God's word, then, we see that the love for other Christians is supernaturally in us, but we also see that we do not always manifest the purity of that same love outwardly in all our actions to one another. In other words, there is always room for more, and more growth. The reason is because we are still earthbound; even though we are pilgrims passing through. Unlike God's enduring word, the current aspect of our existence is temporarily in a world of sin. We still have our old bodies, though regenerated spiritually; so what happens? We still sin. We sin by not living out the love that lives in us by doing so with passionate ambition. This is what Peter is getting at. We must put aside those love blocking, growth stunting, sins. We must make them fade in the same way that this current state of existence will fade away some day. When we turn from them, we are repenting from them. That is what the word, "repentance" actually means. It means "to turn." So, we turn from that which is cursed, sinful, temporal, and immature--all that lack of love manifestation stuff. Then what do we do? We go forward in living by the word by fervently living out the word to the other members of the body of Christ. Let's think about those temporal stumbling blocks a moment:
-a-
What is malice? It is when we have ill will toward someone else. Malice is to want to hurt someone in some way, whether it be emotionally, financially, or whatever. It is an attacking attitude. It can be open, or it can be subtle. It is a love destroyer, and it is sin. We must put this stumbling block away, and move forward in real spiritual growth in real fervent love.
-b-
Deceit is another one. Deceit is clear. God does not want us to be deceptive with one another. It is the opposite of the enduring truth that saves. It is the enemy of the Spirit of truth. It is the derailer of true faith, because deception moves others to believe a lie. Deception is the craft of the serpent from the beginning. It is the way of the world. It hurts others. It does not love others.
-c-
Hypocrisy is another one. Hypocrisy is not that you are a Christian and you can not quit sinning. This is not hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is closely tied to deceit, because hypocrisy is the mark of someone who is not being genuine. In other words, it is God's will to love others by exhorting them toward good deeds, holiness, and love, but it is hypocrisy when we are not being genuine with people. Fakes are hypocrites. People who sin are not fakes. We are all people who succomb to sin. The fake is the one who acts like they don't sin anymore after being saved. They are deceptive. They are hypocrites, and in their hypocrisy, they become judgmental list keepers who condemn others in a Pharisaic malice.
-d-
Peter also says to put away envy. Envy is when you want what someone else has because you want to bolster your pride. The way this stops love coming out of you is that you do not rejoice in what others have. Envy clouds the blessings of others in your own mind. Envy will make people look at others who are blessed, and begin to think of them as an enemy. It is jealousy, and it is a lack of love for others. It is a self absorbed manifestation of love for self. It takes our eyes off of faith in our God who supplies all our needs according to His riches in glory.
-c-
Slander is another love killer. It is where people degrade others in the things they say. Gossip is slander. Back biting is slander. It is hatred made manifest, rather than fervent love made manifest; and that is the point of this whole grouping of love eclipsing things that Peter has provided. It is all the manifestation of how the world hates. It is not how Christ loves fervently. This is why it is important to understand that this love is unconditional doing love that is committed. The world sets conditions on its own kind of love. Christ's grace-committed-love for those He has regenerated into His brothers and sisters in His family is not based upon our performance as a contingency. Conditions are tough. To love unconditionally, you and I must not give into setting up standards for who is going to get our love actions. This is all part of the growth process. We know we are growing, in respect to the word, when we love unconditionally--fervently. Whenever you find someone that is an immature Christian, you will notice that they have a problem loving unconditionally. Let me repeat that:
Whenever you find someone that is an immature Christian, you will notice that they have a problem loving unconditionally.
I want us to think about the growth aspect of this for a moment. We all know that there are people that come into our lives who are really easy to get along with. They may be your co-workers. They may be some of your relatives. They could be neighbors; or even some people here in our fellowship. I am talking about the kind of people where it is difficult to find anything in them that irritates us. So instantly, and naturally, we don't mind doing loving things for them. You like to be around them. You like being their friend. You find that it is almost effortless to express love to them. Now let's consider that when we are forced to manifest commitment in the midst of uncomfortable conditions that involve certain brothers and sisters, then we are forcing ourselves to bring out the love of Christ no matter what. In other words,
The harsher the conditions, the more your patience is tested, right?
The more you are tested by a Christian's irritating personality, or in being wronged by them, or anything, then the more you are forced to express God's love in spite of those conditions. This is where our love grows. The condition may be that the person has threatened you. The condition may be that the person has slandered you. The condition may be that the person has let you down over and over again. Conditions are harsh things aren't they? This is what magnifies this doing-love like a bright light that shines out of you to pierce through the darkness. What happens is that the Holy Spirit's Christ like love is forced to shine brighter and brighter through any conditions we raise up in the flesh. What I mean, is that in direct proportion to the unlovliness of the person being loved, the condition is blown out of the way to make the love of Christ bring Him glory. This is grace. And, this grace-love that you and I are supposed to do, is commanded directly from the pure milk of the imperative of God's word. A lot of people ask what it means to grow spiritually. Or they ask how to grow in respect to salvation. What does this mean? The answer is here in Peter's explanation. This is spiritual growth: As we are putting aside those things that extinguish the manifestation of the love that Christ put in us, such as malice, deceit, and hypocrisy, envy and slander each day in repenting from it, God wants us to long for the pure, unadulterated, life sustaining, life directing, food of growth which is the same word of God that saved us. Then what happens? We will look like love because we will reflect what is in the milk.
The Greek word that Peter uses here for "long," when he says to "long for the pure milk," is epipothesate. It means to "intensely crave." That is what a baby does. They crave milk, and when they want it, they cry for it. If they don't get it, they cry louder. I know this, because our baby daughter reminds Laura and I of this fact every single day. Why do babies crave milk? Because God put it into them to crave it. They crave it because it gives life. It tastes good. They thirst for it like it is the most important thing in life to them. Why did God make babies this way? Because they need milk to grow, and they need lots of milk to grow. This is the spiritual word of God to us. The Spirit is saying that you and I are to be longing for the pure milk of the word like babies that have just been born. We are to crave it. We should cry for it like we will die without it. What God is telling us here, is that you need to be craving the pure milk of God's word to such a point that you almost seem fanatic. The Spirit is indicating to us, that like newborn babies, there is a reason for this enthusiasm. It is because we need God's truthful word to grow in respect to the salvation that we have been blessed with. We must study it; learn from it; live it; and teach it. It will make you grow, and get strong. It will help you, by equipping you to live godly in Christlike service to Him. It will help you to love properly. It is the only way you will move forward in the progressive growth that God desires.
Let's recap all we have gleaned: The first principle is that we need to obey the truth that God has revealed. The truth must be obeyed for our salvation. But it does not stop there. We must also obey the truth for fervently expressing the love of Christ to others in all our actions. Don't forget, You must express love fervently from your saved heart; but all of your obedience comes from the power of the Holy Spirit in His work. This second principle is that God uses His word to change us. The enduring word of God changes us into eternal beings that love eternally. The last principle is that the enduring word of truth produces salvation, but it also produces much more in you. It produces spiritual growth in respect to salvation where we manifest the attributes of Christ out of us. This is the way we should all be treating one another, as we live out God's catagorical imperative.
@1 In obedience to God's Gospel truth in receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, our souls have been _________________________ for affection for the family of God. 1 Peter 1:22
@2 In Salvation we are _______________________by God to love one another, and yet we are urged to excel still ____________________ in manifesting our love for each other in our actions. 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10
@3 All who are saved have been regenerated through the ________________ _____ ___________ that has been preached. 1 Peter 1:23-25
@ 4 God's word is _________________________. John 17:17
@5 In the ancient prophecy of Isaiah, God said that He would send Christ as a ___________________________ to the people. Isaiah 42:6
