Life.101 (Part 3)

A Life of Love
1 Peter 1:22-3:3

There are two commands in this passage:
(1) “Love one another deeply, from the heart” (v. 22).
(2) “Crave pure spiritual milk” (v. 2).

1. We should love one another because we are a family.

We tend to think of our new birth (being “born again,” v. 23) as an individual matter. But we should view it as something that places us in a new family with a new Father and new brothers and sisters.

a. We are to sincerely love our spiritual brothers and sisters.

“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers…” (v. 22a).

b. We should strive for a deeper kind of love.

“…love one another deeply, from the heart” (v. 22b).

c. We will be a family forever because our “birth” was produced by the “imperishable” Word of God.

“For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” (v. 23).

In the beginning, God generated life through His word (Genesis 1; John 1:3). Now He regenerates through His word.

Our earthly families are temporary because they are produced by “perishable seed.” But our spiritual family is eternal because it is produced by the “imperishable” word of God.

French writer and philosopher Voltaire once said, “Another century and there will be not a Bible on the earth.” The century is gone, and the Bible continues to be the world’s best-selling book. On December 24, 1933, the British government bought Codex Sinaiticus (an early manuscript of the Bible) from the Russians for half a million dollars. On that same day, a first edition of Voltaire’s work sold for eleven cents in Paris bookshops.

“For, ‘All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the stands forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you” (vv. 24-25).

2. Our love will grow when we crave the right kind of spiritual food.

a. We must get rid of junk food.

“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind” (v. 1).

(1) “Malice”
(2) “Deceit”
(3) “Hypocrisy”
(4) “Envy”
(5) “Slander”

These are sins that destroy Christian fellowship. They show us what love is not. They harm instead of help. Sadly, these sins are often tolerated by the modern church. (We are quick to condemn sexual sins but often willing to tolerate relational sins.)

b. We must crave good food.

“Like newborn babies crave pure spiritual milk…” (v. 2a).

(1) Our “spiritual milk” is the word of God.

Although elsewhere in the NT milk is used as a metaphor for teachings suitable for immature or worldly Christians (Hebrews 5:12; 1 Corinthians 3:1), such a negative connotation is not found here. Rather, Peter sees milk as that which all Christians need in order to nurture their spiritual life in Christ.

The translation “the sincere milk of the word” (KJV) does not seem to be supported by known uses of the Greek word logikos, and is apparently based on a mistaken assumption of similarity in sense to the related word logos, “word.” The only other use of this word in the NT is found in Romans 12:1—“spiritual” (NIV), “reasonable” (KJV).

As both seed and milk, God’s word initiates and sustains new life in Christ

(2) Our craving should be to know and obey it.

(3) Our craving for God’s Word should be like the craving of a newborn baby for milk.

(4) Our spiritual growth depends on our craving of God’s Word.

“…so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good” (v. 2b).

Good food promotes healthy growth. Spiritual growth is really increasing in love. “The fruit of the Spirit is love…” (Galatians 5:22).

Once a baby has tasted that the milk is good, he/she will continue to crave for it. In the pages of Scripture we “taste” or experience what the Lord is like. As we discover that the Lord is “good” (kind, gracious), we crave to know more of His will for our lives. And His will is basically: “Love Me with all of your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.” Knowing and obeying God’s Word will result in deep love for my brothers and sisters in Christ.

A few years ago, there was an advertising slogan for milk that said, “Milk: It does a body good.” We could say, “Milk (God’s Word) does the body (the church) good.”

OTHER SERMONS ON THIS TEXT

Cultivating a Hunger for God’s Word – John MacArthur
The New Nature – Charles Spurgeon
The Withering Work of the Spirit – Charles Spurgeon
Love One Another Deeply – Ray Pritchard
Got Milk? – Ray Pritchard
The Seed of the Word and the Fruit of Love – John Piper
Long for the Pure Milk of the Word – John Piper