1 Peter 2:1-3
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Intro
Intro
We are back in 1 Peter..
Chapter 1
We learned that the church was going through trials and persecution because of Nero.
We learned that we are kept safe by the Spirit of God… Not physically safe, but spiritually.
Then, Peter gave the church exhortations on how to live a true Christian life.
Prepare our minds for action.
Be sober-minded
Hope fully in Christ
Don’t be conformed to this world
Be Holy like Christ
Live in holy fear of God
Love one another for real
Then, the theme of chapter 1 ends in chapter 2:3, which is what we will be reading today.
We see 3 Believer’s responses in this theme..
The Believers response to God in 1:13-21 : Be Holy
The Believers response to other Christians: Love One Another
Today, our response to ourselves is: Grow Up.
The church has too many baby Christians.. People who don’t want to grow up and mature in their faith… They’re okay being a pew sitter.
Instead of having mighty men and women of God, like Ruth, Sarah, Gideon, Joshua, Nehemiah… We have people who think are weak in their knowledge and faith of Christ.
The church is full of “christians” who think its okay to continue living in their sin...
The church is full of people who think it’s the churches job to grow your faith… It’s the churches job to raise your kids in the word, that its the churches job to make sure they’re saved...
I could go on and on… Churches are filled with baby Christians, and it’s time for Christians to grow up in their faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ.
We are close to the end of everything, we are all a day closer to dying… If we truly want to live a holy life, if we truly want to be a light, we need to grow up.
V.1
Therefore, put away
Put aside, put down, put off...
In the Greek, it was referred to taking off and laying aside old, soiled, or dirty clothing.
H.B. Charles Jr, Said,
“We know by putting on those sweat-drenched clothes again would
totally nullify the cleansing bath. Yet this is exactly what many of us do when
it comes to our spiritual growth. We may read the Bible daily, attend the corporate
worship services regularly, and serve in ministry faithfully. But there is
little evident change in our lives because the sanctifying power of God’s word
is nullified by the sins we refuse to acknowledge, confess, and forsake. So if
you are going to grow to maturity in Christ you must change your clothes.”
If we want to grow in Christians have to stop letting their sin hinder that desired growth.
In these 3 verses, there are 5 sins that deal with attitude and speech, which could break fellowship if Christians choose to harbor these things.
Again, Peter is exhorting the church then, and the church today to put off ALL malice...
That word all in the Greek means “ALL”
What is malice?
Greek = Evil in general
In this context, it has the idea of harboring evil intentions or doing evil actions against others…
It is anger, bitterness, hatred, ill-will, or unforgiveness. These things has no place in the believers life, especially when they are toward against another brother or sister.
So the question is… Are you harboring anger toward a brother or sister? If so, that’s a sin…
But, Pastor… They did this… I guarantee you that whatever they did to you has no comparison to what our sin did to Jesus… Yet, Jesus still forgives us…
And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
We are called to forgive… Life is too short to hold anger toward someone.
Are you harboring bitterness? Do you hate your brother or sister in Christ? Do you wish ill-will on someone? Or, are you not forgiving someone?
I think I recall Jesus saying if you don’t forgive, your Father won’t forgive you?
Are you harboring malice? Malice is a sin of the heart… We need to put away that sin of malice, if we want to grow up.
Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.
Be ignorant of evil… Be wise in the way you think.. Take your thoughts captive and be sober-minded so that you don’t let malice fester in your heart.
All Deceit, All Hypocrisy, and All Envy
These 3 sins are committed when we are motivated by our own sinful fixation on self…
Deceit means: Treachery, slyness, trickery, deceit...
A deceitful person is like a two-faced person. They use trickery to gain advantage of someone else.
The idea in the greek is like baiting a hook to catch a fish…
For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
“Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;
If we want to live like Jesus, we need to take off all deceitful speech from our mouthes.
Hypocrisy comes from the Roman Theater… When an actor would play their parts under certain masks.
Jesus used this word for those religious people who acted a way to be someone they’re not, in front of people so they can look all religious and good.
H.B. Charles said,
A hypocrite is a person who deliberately pretends to be something he knows that he is not in the first place. And Jesus reserved his harshest rebukes for religious hypocrites, because you cannot grow up if you are more concerned about what people think about you than you are what God knows about you.
The third sin is “envy.”
Envy is much more than just wanting what someone has…
Envy is personal. More than just wanting what another person has, envy does not want you to have it because I don’t have it. And so, that fills my heart with malicious intentions against you because you have something I do not..
Envy is really evil…
If we want to grow up, we have to put off all selfishness, especially envy.
The last sin mentioned is Evil Speaking...
In the greek, this means.. Speaking about someone or to talk another person down.
Like backbiting...
When you grow to a place where you are living a holy life like Christ, your old friends will start back biting because you’re different..
However, it’s sad that many christians won’t know this feeling, because their growth is stunted, just because they enjoy gossip, backbiting, and criticizing others in church.
We can’t grow up if we continue putting down our brothers and sisters in Christ. Don’t do it… Don’t listen to it.
Our GOal is to be Holy… But we can’t do that if we can’t love our family in Christ.
Today, people think they can have a relationship with God without having a relationship with His people.
Our maturity is based on how well you love your brothers and sisters…
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
V.2
If we want to grow, we need to change our diet...
We need to desire more of God’s word, but we can’t do that if we are harboring malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and evil speaking.
There is an old saying that goes like this… “Either pray and the Bible will keep you from sin, or sin and it will keep you from prayer and the Bible.”
Peter isn’t calling this Christians “new born” or “baby Christians..”
He is using it as a metaphor...
Like newborns desire pure milk, let us have that same desire.
We long for the word of God, eagerly and frequently.
If, we as believer’s, don’t have a desire for God’s word, then there’s probably some sin that needs to be repented of. Sin will keep you from desiring God’s word.
The verb for “long for” suggests an intense personal desire… Its used in the same manner in
As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
Do you have that intense desire for the PURE word?
Notice, this verse doesn’t tell us to read, memorize, study, meditate on scripture...
This text commands us to have a certain attitude toward the Word.
The attitude is LONGING for the word… Have that habitual action of desiring the Word of God.
Our desire for the Word of God, needs to go beyond Sunday morning…
You can’t expect to grow by just coming and listening to a sermon for 40 minutes and then go home and do nothing. That is what the immature Christian’s do.. We want to grow up and mature in Christ…
I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;
I have treasured the words of His mouth
More than my necessary food.
More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Like newborns, crave the milk..
New borns don’t want that new house, car, xbox, whatever… They just want milk… If they don’t get it, they are going to wake up everyone in the house...
Same should be as the growing Christian… The growing Christian gets cranky when they haven’t spent time in the Word… The growing Christian can’t sleep without making sure to spend time in the Word.
Grow up into your salvation...
D. Edmond Herbert said, “The true aim of Bible study is never a mere mastery of its contents, but a transforming experience with the Lord who reveals Himself in His Word.”
Growing Christians desire the word so they may grow in Christ.
Joni Tada wrote about standstill christians.. She wrote, “The standstill Christian,; like these other make-believe beings, does not exist, There is no such thing.. She says, “Christians are either growing in the Lord or going backward. That doesn’t leave much room in between. It’s like true love: it either grows or it begins to die. Love simply can’t stand still, and neither can our walk with Christ. To put it another way, the Christian’s transmission is equipped with two gears: Drive and Reverse. THere’s no such thing as Neutral - let alone Park.”
You are going in the wrong direction if you do not desire the Word.
We live in a day where many Christian profess their confidence in God’s Word, but they turn to everything but God’s word for instruction...
Churches depend on marketing strategies, entertainment, psychology, signs and wonders, instead of depending on the Word of God fully.
God’s word is sufficient to provide real growth in Christians..
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.
V.3
Peter closes out this section with an incentive.
If you are a Believer… You have tasted that the Lord is good.
This speaks about the salvation that God has given us.
Since we’ve tasted that the Lord is good, we should not be satisfied with just a taste.
If we tasted the goodness of God, are we satisfied with just a taste? No, we should desire more of it.
Conclusion:
Let us grow up.. Let’s take off the sins that stunts our growth and desire God’s Word more… Let’s study the Word so that we can know more of our savior, so that we can live a life like that of Jesus. So, that one day, He can tell us “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Communion:
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
