God is with you - Part 10
1 Peter 2v2-3
Pure spiritual milk
19th May 2017
1 Peter 2v2-3
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
The Greek word translated as "spiritual" here in the NIV is logikon. This can be translated either as "spiritual" or as "of the word", so some English translations say, "the pure milk of the word" but the NIV says "pure spiritual milk".
Both these translations are valid, so let's accept both. Let us crave pure spiritual milk - eagerly desire whatever comes from the Holy Spirit. Milk is food, sustenance. Whatever sustains us from the Holy Spirit, crave that. And, in particular, crave the milk of the word - the Bible.
The Greek word translated "pure" here is adolos, the opposite of the word dolos, which is translated as "deceit" in verse 1. Peter is making a deliberate point. Have nothing to do with deceit, but instead crave purity.
The pure milk of the word is unadulterated. Don't mix the word of God with other stuff. And don't water the word of God down.
This is so relevant for God's church in our generation in our country. The Bible is a wonderful gift from God to us. We should crave the word, the whole word, and nothing but the word.
All of us who have been saved out of sin and death, transferred into the Kingdom of Light and adopted as God's children have tasted that the Lord is good and because God is good, we can be assured that His word is good. God is faithful, and His word is faithful. God is trustworthy, and His word is trustworthy. God is holy, and His word is holy. God is full of grace towards us, and His word is full of grace towards us.
If God's going to bring revival to our nation in our generation, He'll do it through a church that takes all of the Bible seriously, and waters down none of it. So preachers must teach the challenging parts of the Bible as well as the easy parts, because it does us good.
The Psalmist says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path" (Psalm 109v105).
Paul tells us "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3v16-17).
Peter says, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1v20-21).
Babies need breast milk. Christians need the Bible, pure and unadulterated.