Tasting Goodness

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

TASTING GOODNESS

1 Peter 2:1-6

2:1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

4 As you come to him, the living Stone — rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."  

NIV

It is difficult to stop at any one place in this discourse of the living stone and our role as living stones. Nevertheless, we first must deal with the “Therefore”. Because we have been born again and the moment we were, we began a new life, just as a newborn baby, knowing nothing about its life to come. However, we did have a former life, a life not centered on Christ, but one centered on self, much like a newborn baby. All any infant knows is what it needs. A newborn has no thoughts about anything other than itself. That is how our former way of life was, but then it, or rather we died, in a manner of speaking, as we were already dead in our sins. Now, here we are, born again, a new creature in Christ and we are still being told about some areas of our former life, we are to rid ourselves of.  Were those believers Peter was writing to, engaged in those attitudes? Were they still hanging on to areas of their old life? If they were, it might also be possible that we could still be allowing those old life attitudes to sneak into our new life. Let’s examine these words and see if in the Greek we might gain further understanding. The word malice means the exact same thing as the Greek word. To have ill-will, to desire to injure. This does not mean by striking someone or causing physical harm, but this is more hideous, it is striking at the character of someone. How could we be deceitful, or exhibit deceit? This means being a decoy or a trick. This goes with the idea of building a façade or looking good on the outside, while not being so good on the inside. Being a decoy, just looking like a Christian, but not actually being one. A duck decoy looks exactly like a real duck, but it is missing the breath of life within. Is it possible some believers are like that, that we could be like that? We must rid ourselves of any such attitude. Then we have to look at hypocrisy. It is much the same as being a decoy, yet more like a stage player, actually voicing the right words, but only as an act to appear as someone we are really not. Jesus told the Pharisees they were much like both the decoy, the clean cup on the outside, yet dirty on the inside, saying all the right words, acting out righteousness, all while not actually being righteous. Envy, in many cases, goes hand in glove with slander. When we are envious of someone, it is also easy to defame their character, to make up something about them so to defray our envy. All these attitudes have no place in us if we are born again and so if any still linger, we are to rid ourselves of them. This is an action we are responsible for. We cannot say, “Well, if God does what me to think like this, he will change me”. No, this is a requirement He has put on us. We are to rid ourselves and not some of these attitudes, but all of them. The Greek word translated as rid means to lay aside, put off, as we would put off dirty clothing, to put on clean fresh clothing. When we do that then we, like a newborn baby, crave that pure spiritual milk. Who would choose old stinky spoiled milk sitting in the refrigerator, when that is a brand new fresh pure milk waiting to be opened and drank? That is the analogy Peter is making here. Let’s throw out that stinky spoiled milk, and drink only from that new pure milk which helps builds, not the strong bones actual milk does, but spiritual bones, our life within. Then we will grow up in our salvation, becoming strong in our faith, really tasting the goodness of the Lord.