Peter calls God’s children to crave the pure milk of the word so that they may grow up in Christ. Healthy children want to grow, and spiritual health carries that same desire. God’s electing grace enables his people to thrive even in a hostile world, like a plant blooming through a crack in a parking lot. These chosen exiles are homeward bound, redeemed by Christ’s precious blood and born again through God’s living and enduring word.
That new life does not remove every obstacle to growth. Remaining sin opposes the desires God has planted in his children. Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander poison relationships and rob believers of the nourishment Scripture supplies. “Savored sins stunt spiritual growth.” Not every weak appetite comes from cherished sin; grief, illness, and exhaustion can also suppress it. But no amount of deliberately savored sin is safe. Peter calls believers to fling it off like contaminated clothing, seeking the Spirit’s help to love from a pure heart.
The great enabler of growth is God’s pure word. Taking it in means more than hearing it. Believers receive, believe, meditate on, and obey its truth as the Spirit changes their character. Feelings, inner peace, claimed revelations, and Christian labels cannot replace Scripture’s authority. Even counsel that sounds Christian must be tested against God’s truth rather than accepted because it promises happiness.
Growth in salvation means increasing freedom from sin’s power while awaiting freedom from its presence. The sweetness of Christ’s kindness supplies the motive. Those who have taken refuge in the Savior already know his goodness: Christ bore God’s wrath in their place and brought them into his family. That kindness has not changed. Its familiar sweetness draws believers back to Scripture, with prayer for a stronger appetite, fresh repentance, and continued growth in Christ.
Key Takeaways
- 1. Grace Creates The Desire To Grow. Peter’s command to crave the word rests on the new life God has already given. Spiritual growth does not earn redemption; it expresses the desires that belong to those redeemed by Christ’s blood. Even in an alien environment, God’s grace enables his children to grow and bloom. [50:27]
- 2. Savored Sins Starve Spiritual Growth. Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander can remain comfortable companions even where Scripture receives regular attention. The word has not lost its power, but a heart poisoned toward others does not receive its nourishment as it ought. Repentance means refusing to protect even trace amounts of the sins that damage love. [1:07:23]
- 3. Taking In Scripture Requires Obedience. A baby’s hunger is not satisfied by being near milk; the nourishment must actually be taken in. Likewise, hearing Scripture is necessary, but receiving, believing, meditating on, and obeying it belong together. The Spirit uses that deeply absorbed truth to change a believer’s character. [1:10:54]
- 4. Christian Labels Cannot Guarantee Pure Counsel. A book or piece of counsel can sound Christian while mixing God’s word with human ideas that distort it. Discernment tests whether the actual counsel leads toward truth, needed repentance, wise love, and responsibilities God has given. God’s purpose reaches beyond temporary happiness to holiness and the joy found there. [1:17:32]
- 5. Christ’s Kindness Keeps Spiritual Hunger Alive. Those who have taken refuge in Christ already know the sweetness of safety from God’s wrath and belonging to his family. That kindness is not merely a memory from the beginning of faith, but a goodness to keep tasting through his word. When appetite wanes, believers can ask for renewed hunger because the Savior’s kindness has not changed. [1:22:32]
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