Crave the Word (Pt.1)

INTRODUCTION

We now have the privilege of studying God’s Word

Please take your Bible and turn to 1 Peter chapter two

Having already completed chapter 1, we are now looking at chapter 2, verses 1-3

Peter says in 1 Peter 2:1-3 “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.”

Those three verses are one sentence in Greek (Hiebert)

They all center on the one imperative verb in verse 2 that’s translated “long” or “crave”

We are to crave the word like a new born baby craves his mother’s milk

That’s how we “grow in respect to salvation” (v.2)

But there are things in verse 1 that hinders that craving

Some call it “junk food” but the Bible calls it sin and gives us 5 of them in verse 1 that we are to put aside

J.C. Ryal said, “Sin will not come to you, saying, ‘I am sin’; it would do little harm if it did. Sin always seems ‘good, and pleasant, and desirable’” (Thoughts for Young Men).

Before he launches into his list in verse 1, he begins with the conjunction “therefore”

As we have said on many occasions, when you come to the word “therefore” you need to understand what it is there for

“Therefore” (oun) always takes you back to something that was previous said and ties it in with the present

In 1:23-25 Peter talked about being “born again…through the living and enduring word”

This word “which was preached” to them (1:25) was “the truth” they obeyed and brought about the purification of their souls

So Peter says, “Since we have been begotten by means of the eternal Word we should long for the milk of the Word as our true and proper nourishment.” (R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistles of St. Peter, St. John and St. Jude, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1966), 76).

The second word that Peter gives in verse 1 is translated “putting aside” (apotithemi)

This is an aorist middle participle

It’s referring to a once for all action of putting aside sin

Though it is not an imperative, “it has imperative force” (Fritz Rienecker, The Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament)

It referred to any kind of rejection, and sometimes referred especially to stripping off soiled garments, which is the analogy Paul had in mind when he admonished the Colossians to “put … aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices” (Col. 3:8–9; cf. Eph. 4:22, 25; Heb. 12:1; James 1:21).

In ancient Christian baptism ceremonies, those being baptized customarily took off and discarded the clothes they wore to the ceremony.

Following their baptisms, they put on new robes they received from the church.

Exchanging clothes symbolized the salvation reality of laying aside the old life and taking up the new (Rom. 6:3–7; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 4:24). (John F. MacArthur Jr., 1 Peter, MacArthur New Testament Commentary, (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2004), 97).

Peter gives 5 vices they were to put off before they could crave the word

Plato calls the love of sin magnus daemon, “a great devil”

This “great devil” has to be killed anytime it shows its ugly head

This is a constant activity in the believer’s life

We have to “be killing sin or it will be killing you” (Jonathan Edwards)

Peter gives the first sin or vice in verse 1...

LESSON

I. Put Aside All Malice (v.1a)

Malice refers to any kind of wickedness

“Malice” is the Greek word kakia

It is all inclusive term (Rienecker) and refers to “vice of any kind” (AT Robinson)

Peter also uses the adjective πᾶσα translated “all” connoting “every form of” (Grosvenor, Zerwick, A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek NT).

Kakia occurs 11 times in the NT to “indicate that wickedness which comes from within a person” (MacArthur)

It is translated “evil” (Mat.6:24), “maliciousness” (Rom.1:29) and “naughtiness” (Jas.1:1)

Peter uses this same word in Acts 8:22 when describing the “wickedness” of Simon who tried to buy the Holy Spirit

Peter said in Acts 8:22, “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.”

Paul uses this word in Romans 1:29 to describe those whom “God gave over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness...”

This was part of the old life

It’s included in Paul’s list in Titus 3:3, “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.”

This is something we are never to grow up in - 1 Corinthians 14:20, “Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.”

The Christian’s new life can’t grow unless sins are renounced. When that purging takes place, then the Word does its work (John MacArthur, MacArthur Study Bible).

Not only were they to put aside all malice but also...

II. Put Aside All Deceit (v.1b)

“Deceit” (dolos), is also translated “guile”, and comes from a verb meaning “to catch with bait” (Rienecker).

It is “any cunning contrivance for deceiving or catching” (Liddell-Scott).

Friberg calls it “fraud or treachery”.

It means “to deceive by using trickery and falsehood” (Louw-Nida)

Warren Wiersbe says, “This is a word that…[uses] devious words and actions to get what you want” (Bible Exposition Commentary).

Peter encompasses again “every form of” deceit with the word pasa “all”

This can refer to the tongue

Peter used this term to describe those who desires life, to love and see good days

1 Peter 3:10, “For, “The one who desires life, to love and see good days, Must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.”

Our tongues are to speak “what is good” not what is corrupt

Ephesians 4:29, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.”

Our speech is to always be with grace

Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”

“grace” (charis) refers “to that which is spiritual, wholesome, fitting, kind, sensitive, purposeful, complementary, gentle, truthful, loving, and thoughtful”

This can also refers to our deeds

John 1:47, “Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”

Just as Nathaniel had “no deceit” that should be true of us

People should be able to look at our life as Jesus looked at Nathaniels and say the same thing

“Deceit” like the other vices comes from the heart

Mark 7:21-23 “21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. 23 All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”

A.W. Tozer said, “You cannot study the Bible diligently and earnestly without being struck by an obvious fact — the whole matter of personal holiness is highly important to God” (The Quotable Tozer 1, p.110).

All malice, all deceit…we are also to put aside…

III. Put Aside Hypocrisy (v.1c)

Warren Wiersbe says, “If we are guilty of malice, we will try to hide it; and this produces ‘hypocrisies’” (The Bible Exposition Commentary).

The word for “Hyprocrisy” (hupokrisis) “was generally used for flattery and deception” (Zodhiates). It is “pretense, to pretend” (Lou-Nida), “insincerity” (UBS Lexicon), “outward show” (BAG). This word also “was used of an actor on the Greek stage” (Rienecker) referring “to acts of impersonation” (Wuest).

It occurs 7 times in the New Testament (Quickverse).

Jesus said this is what characterized the Scribes and Pharisees

Matthew 23:28-29, “28 So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,”

John MacArthur says, “The Pharisees’ focus on external issues lay at the heart of their error. Who would want to drink from a cup that had been washed on the outside but was still filthy inside? Yet the Pharisees lived their lives as if external appearance were more important than internal reality. That was the very essence of their hypocrisy, and Jesus rebuke them for it repeatedly” (The MacArthur Study Bible).

“We are so accustomed to wearing a disguise before others that we are unable to recognize ourselves” (Francois, Duc De La Rochefoucauld).

Jesus told His disciples to beware of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees

Luke 12:1, “Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”

Even Peter and Barnabas played the hypocrite with the Gentiles

Galatians 2:11-13, “11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. 13 The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.”

Hypocrisy will be prevalent during the last days

1 Timothy 4:1-3, “1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3 men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.”

“A bad man is worse when he pretends to be a saint” (Francis Bacon).

We need to constantly examine our lives for this deadly disease and forsake it

We need to examine our love - Romans 12:9, “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.”

We need to examine our motives - James 3:17, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.”

Calvin Miller said, “It is easier to wear a mask. An ugly face is sometimes better than a real one. Thus are we afraid to show each other who we really are” (Drapers).

Billy Sunday also said, “Hypocrites in the church? Yes, and in the lodge, and at home. Don’t hunt through the church for a hypocrite. Go home and look in the glass. Hypocrites? Yes. See that you make the number one less” (Drapers).

Malice, deceit, hypocrisy…Peter mentions next...

IV. Put Aside Envy (v.1d)

“Envy” (phthonos) is “the feeling of displeasure produced by witnessing or hearing of the advantage or prosperity of others” (W.E. Vine).

This is a “hatred of others on account of some excellency which they have, or something which they possess which we do not” (Albert Barnes, Barnes’ Notes on the Bible).

John Gill said this is envy “at each other's happiness and prosperity, riches, honours, gifts temporal or spiritual” (John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible).

“Envy is a sin that carries its own reward: It guarantees its own frustration and disappointment.

By definition, the envious person cannot be satisfied with what he has and will always crave for more.

His evil desires and pleasures are insatiable, and he cannot abide by any other person’s having something that he himself does not have or having more of something than he himself has” (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Titus).

Someone once said, “Don’t envy the man who has everything: he probably has an ulcer too” (Drapers).

This was also a feature of our life before salvation

Titus 3:3, For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.”

This is a work of the flesh

Galatians 5:19-21, “19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

This marks those whom God has given up to a debased mind. They are “full of envy” (Rom.1:29)

This was the attitude of those who delivered Jesus to Pilate

Mark 15:10, “For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.”

Last, we are to put aside...

V. Put Aside Evil Speaking (v.1e)

“Evil speaking” (katalalia) means to “speak against, often involving speaking evil of” (Lou-Nida). It is “hostile speech” (Friberg), “insult” (UBS), “evil speech, slander” (Kittel), “defamation - back-biting” (Strong)

It is “‘speaking down’ a person, referring to the act of defaming, slandering, speaking against another” (Wuest).

Many churches have been destroyed because of the tongue

Paul said that his fear was in leaving Ephesus was “that from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:30)

The church at Corinth experienced much division---all because of the tongue!

1 Corinthians 1:10-12, “10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.””

1 Corinthians 3:3-5, “3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men? 5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.”

2 Corinthians 12:20, “20 For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances;”

The church at Galatia also experienced the power of the tongue to the point of leading many astray

Galatians 1:6-9, “6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”

We must make sure that we do not slander or speak evil of others

Whether you’re an older person - Titus 2:3, “Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,”

Whether your husband officially serves in the church - 1 Timothy 3:11, “Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.”

Slander or evil speaking is not fitting for a believer. It is sin!

“A slip of the foot may be soon recovered; but that of the tongue, perhaps never” (Drapers).

Ephesians 4:31-32, “31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

James 4:11, “Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.”

“Close your ear against him who opens his mouth against another. If you receive not his words, they fly back and wound him. If you receive them, they fly forward and wound you” (Francis Quarles - Drapers).

Once these 5 sins are put aside then you will...

VI. CRAVE THE WORD (vv.2-3)

1 Peter 2:2-3, “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.”

“Peter wanted his readers to be as eager for the nourishment of the Word as babies are for milk. After believers cast out impure desires and motives (v. 1), they then need to feed on wholesome spiritual food that produces growth” (Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-c1985). The Bible knowledge commentary).

As a newborn baby (v.2)

Peter’s illustration is of a “just born” (Strong) or “recently born” (Rienecker) baby (blephos, lit. “infant”)

In Classical Greek it was used of a babe at the breasts” (Wuest)

Just as a newborn baby desires the milk from its mother’s breast, you are to intensely crave the pure milk of the Word

“Desire” is from epipotheo (aor.act.imp.), means, “intensely crave, earnestly desire, long after” (Strong)

This word is used in the LXX in Psalm 42:1, As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God.

Paul used this word to describe the desire he had to see the believers at Rome - Romans 1:11, “For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;”

He also used this word to describe the desire he had to see the believers in Philippi - Philippians 1:8, “For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.”

Paul also said Ephaphroditus had this same desire in Philippians 2:25-26, “25 But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need; 26 because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick.”

He used this word in 2 Corinthians to describe the longing believers have to be clothed with their glorified bodies, 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 “1 For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, 3 inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. 4 For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.”

Charles Spurgeon wrote, “When the apostle describes us under the character of “newborn babes,” he would have us lay aside all that is inconsistent with that character. Newborn children have no malice; they have no guile or craftiness; they have no hypocrisies, nor envies, nor evil speakings. They are clear from all these evils; would God we were as clear as they are! It would be better to be infants, not speaking at all, than to be among those who speak evil. It would be better to begin life over again than to live long enough to have gained a treasure of malice, and a hoard of cunning, and to have learned the tricks of hypocrisy. Let us be as simple as little children, as guileless, as harmless, as free from anything like unkindness as newborn babes are. And inasmuch as we are to follow them in what they have not, let us also imitate them in what they have. Let us desire ardently, as for our very life, the unadulterated milk of the Word. Let us cultivate that combination of hunger and thirst which is found in a little child, that we may hunger and thirst thus after God’s Word. We have done more than taste the Word; we have tasted that the Lord himself is gracious. Let us long to feast more and more upon this divine food, that we may grow thereby.” (1 Peter 2- Commentary )

In Moses’ last words to the children of Israel just before they crossed the Jordan River to possess their possessions, he said...

Deuteronomy 32:46-47 “46 he said to them, “Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law. 47 “For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.””

The “pure milk of the word” refers to the undeceitful, unadulterated milk of the word

The word is either milk or meat - Hebrews 5:12-14, “12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

“of the word” has 3 possible means: “of the word,” “reasonable or rational,” or “spiritual”

How are we to desire the Word?

As food - Matthew 4:4, “But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

As the greatest treasure - Job 23:12, “I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”

Kenneth Wuest said, “The prerequisite to the act of intensely yearning for the Word of God is the act of once for all putting sin out of our lives. Sin in the life destroys the appetite for the Word. The Christian who tries to find satisfaction in the husks of the world, has no appetite left for the things of God. His heart is filled with the former and has no room for the latter. A healthy infant is a hungry infant. A spiritually healthy Christian is a hungry Christian. This solves the problem of why so many children of God have so little love for the Word” (Word Studies from the Greek New Testament).

Puritan writer Thomas Watson tells us how to prepare for reading the Bible…

1. Remove hindrances. (a) remove the love of every sin (b) remove the distracting concerns of this world, especially covetousness [Matt. 13:22] (c) Don't make jokes with and out of Scripture. 2. Prepare your heart. [1 Sam. 7:3] Do this by: (a) collecting your thoughts (b) purging unclean affections and desires (c) not coming to it rashly or carelessly. 3. Read it with reverence, considering that each line is God speaking directly to you. 4. Read the books of the Bible in order. 5. Get a true understanding of Scripture. [Ps. 119:73] This is best achieved by comparing relevant parts of Scripture with each other. 6. Read with seriousness. [Deut. 32:47] The Christian life is to be taken seriously since it requires striving [Luke 13:24] and not falling short [Heb. 4:1]. 7. Persevere in remembering what you read. [Ps. 119:52] Don't let it be stolen from you [Matt. 13:4,19]. If it doesn't stay in your memory it is unlikely to be much benefit to you. 8. Meditate on what you read. [Ps. 119:15] The Hebrew word for meditate' means to be intense in the mind'. Meditation without reading is wrong and bound to err; reading without meditation is barren and fruitless. It means to stir the affections, to be warmed by the fire of meditation [Ps. 39:3]. 9. Read with a humble heart. Acknowledge that you are unworthy that God should reveal himself to you [James 4:6] 10. Believe it all to be God's Holy Word. [2 Tim 3:16] We know that no sinner could have written it because of the way it describes sin. No saint could blaspheme God by pretending his own Word was God's. No angel could have written it for the same reason. [Heb 4:2] 11. Prize the Bible highly. [Ps. 119:72] It is your lifeline; you were born by it [James 1:18] you need to grow by it [1 Pet 2:2] [cf. Job 23:12]. 12. Love the Bible ardently [Ps. 119:159]. 13. Come to read it with an honest heart. [Luke 8:15] (a) Willing to know the entire and complete will of God (b) reading in order to be changed and made better by it [John 17:17]. 14. Apply to yourself everything that you read, take every word as spoken to yourself. Its condemnation of sins as the condemnation of your own sin; the duty that it requires as the duty God would require from you [2 Kings 22:11]. 15. Pay close attention to the commands of the Word as much as the promises. Think of how you need direction just as much as you need comfort. 16. Don't get carried away with the minor details, rather make sure to pay closest attention to the great things [Hosea 8:12]. 17. Compare yourself with the Word. How do you compare? Is your heart something of a transcript of it, or not? 18. Pay special attention to those passages that speak to your individual, particular and present situation. e.g. (a) Affliction -- [Heb. 12:7, Isaiah 27:9, John 16:20, 2 Cor 4:17. (b) Sense of Christ's presence and smile withdrawn -- [Isaiah 54:8, Isaiah 57:16, Ps. 97:11] (c) Sin -- [Gal 5:24, James 1:15, 1 Peter 2:11, Prov 7:10&22-23, Prov 22:14] (d) Unbelief -- [Isaiah 26:3, 2 Sam 22:31, John 3:15, 1 John 5:10, John 3:36] 19. Pay special attention to the examples and lives of people in the Bible as living sermons. (a) Punishments [Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, Num 25:3-4&9, 1 Kings 14:9-10, Acts 5:5,10, 1 Cor 10:11, Jude 7] (b) mercies and deliverances [Daniel, Jeremiah, the 3 youths in the fiery furnace] 20. Don't stop reading the Bible until you find your heart warmed. [Ps 119:93] Let it not only inform you but also inflame you [Jer 23:29, Luke 24:32]. 21. Put into practice what you read [Ps 119:66, Ps 119:105, Deut 17:19]. 22. Christ is for us Prophet, Priest and King. Make use of His office as a Prophet [Rev 5:5, John 8:12, Ps 119:102-103]. Get Christ not only to open the Scriptures up to you, but to open up your mind and understanding [Luke 24:45] 23. Make sure to put yourself under a true ministry of the Word, faithfully and thoroughly expounding the Word [Pr 8:34] be earnest and eager in waiting on it. 24. Pray that you will profit from reading [Isaiah 48:17, Ps 119:18, Nehemiah 9:20]. Natural obstacles You may still be able to profit from reading even though: 1. You don't seem to profit as much as others do. Remember the different yields [Matt 13:8] though the yield isn't as much as others it is still a true and fruitful yield. 2. You may feel slow of understanding [Luke 9:45, Heb 5:11]. 3. Your memory is bad (a) remember you are still able to have a good heart despite this (b) you may still remember the most important things even if you cannot remember everything, be encouraged by John 14:26. (How to Get the Most from Reading your Bible)

John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

That you may grow in respect to salvation (v.2)

1 Peter 2:2-3, “2 so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.”

“Grow” Gr.auxauo (aor.pass.subj.), “to grow, increase” (Strong), “to cause to grow” (Rienecker)

“The words ‘that ye may grow thereby’ could also be rendered 'in order that ye might be nourished up’” (Wuest).

Paul desired the Colossians to grow in “the knowledge of God”

Colossians 1:9-10, “9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

Peter desired that his readers would “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18)

They had “tasted the kindness of the Lord” at salvation

(ei,“if”) does not imply doubt—it assumes the reality of the past experience of God’s amazing goodness and compassion in Christ.

“If” is a first-class conditional participle introducing the facts or conditions necessary for a proposition to be true. Since his readers had tasted or experienced the kindness—goodness and grace—of the Lord in their conversion, they already knew how blessed and wonderful it was. Therefore, they should have desired more of that goodness through feeding on His Word. (John F. MacArthur Jr., 1 Peter, MacArthur New Testament Commentary, (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2004), 101).

So it could be translated “since you have tasted the kindness of the Lord”

But the conditional construction is an implied invitation to the readers to self-examination on the matter.

The verb “tasted” (egeusasthe) continues the imagery of the milk.

The verb does not imply a cautious sip on the part of the readers, but denotes actual appropriation and enjoyment on their part.

The aorist tense looks back to the past experience begun at conversion.

Jeremiah 15:16, “Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.”

“A taste excites the appetite.”

Peter assumes that the enjoyableness of the past experience will incite them to further appropriation.

Their experience has assured them “that the Lord is good.”

The words are an adaptation of Psalm 34:8, “Oh taste and see that Jehovah is good” (ASV).

Peter used the Septuagint translation, omitting the words “and see” as unsuited to his purpose. (D. Edmond Hiebert, 1 Peter, (Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books, 1997), 126).

CONCLUSION

Are you “putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander”?

Are you craving “the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord”?

If you’re not killing sin in your life, don’t be surprised if you have no or little desire for the Word of God

Sin will weaken your desires for God and His Word

That’s why you must “take up your cross daily” (Luke 9:23)

Dying to self is key

Have you died to self and received Jesus as Lord?

Have you died to self to receive His Word?

James 1:21, “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”

Let’s pray