His Mighty Word Series

1 Peter 2:1-3 1So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, -- that by it you may grow up into salvation 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. (ESV)

A recent report from the Christian ministry Open Doors detailed that four Venezuelan Christians we attacked by masked men who used knives to cut crosses into their skin, beat them with stick, and foced them to eat pages of the Bible. The four Christian men were part of a drug rehabilitation program that is run by a pastor and his wife called Restoration House. It is believed the attackers opposed the work Pastor Dugarte is accomplishing through the program, leading them to lash out at the victims. According to Open Doors, Latin drug gangs are threatened by church programs like Dugarte’s Restoration House because of how people are delivered out of the criminal world. As an evangelical ministry, it has been their faith in Christ, through the word of God that has changed their lives and enabled their deliverance from drugs and growth in Christ. (https://churchleaders.com/news/391559-venezuelan-christians-forced-to-eat-pages-of-the-bible-and-branded-with-crosses.html?utm_source=cl-news-nl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text-link&utm_campaign=cl-news-nl&maropost_id=724877189&mpweb=256-9305449-724877189)

When the Apostle Peter wrote to those in Modern day Turkey he was concerned that their new birth though faith in Jesus Christ would result in growth. A God implanted desire to stretch in love needed to be grounded and empowered by Truth. As Peter would leave them, the people of Asia Minor needed to be rooted in truth in order to grow. Two of its most important aspects are the development of spiritual maturity in individual converts and the development of the whole fellowship into a loving family. These two aspects come together in this part of the letter. (Marshall, I. H. (1991). 1 Peter (1 Pe 2:1). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)

Healthy things grow but healthy growth only results from a healthy source. Without clean air, clean water and the proper amount of sunlight, a plan seed will not come to life nor grow. In a toxic atmosphere, without the light of the Son of God, people will remain in their sins. But when the light of truth shines, the goodness of God is tasted and found to be the only source of satisfaction, enabling life and healthy growth in Christ. The “Mighty Word of God” is the source of life and growth in Christ. The word of God, is both seed and milk, it initiates and sustains new life in Christ. (Jobes, K. H. (2005). 1 Peter (p. 134). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.)

In this, 1 Peter 2:1-3 shows us how believers should 1) Remember our Life Source (1 Peter 2:1a), 2) Eliminate our Sins (1 Peter 2:1b), 3) Admit our Need (1 Peter 2:2a), 4) Pursue Spiritual Growth (1 Peter 2:2b), and 5) Survey our Blessings (1 Peter 2:3).

As God changes believers, we are desiring “His Mighty Word” because in it we are:

1) Remembering our Life Source (1 Peter 2:1a)

1 Peter 2:1a So (put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander). (ESV)

So/Therefore refers back to 1 Peter 1:23–25 “since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; …. the word of the Lord remains forever." And this word is the good news that was preached to you”. (ESV). This is the same thought as Paul taught Timothy in 2 Tim. 3:15 “and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. (ESV) (James 1:18; cf. John 20:31; Rom. 10:17). The Word, operating not as a perishable natural seed (cf. 1 Cor. 15:36–37) but as an imperishable divine seed (cf. Luke 8:11; 1 John 3:9), becomes the source of believers’ continued spiritual transformation and growth (Ps 119:105; John 15:3; 17:17; Rom. 15:4; Eph. 5:26; 2 Tim. 3:16–17; cf. Deut. 17:19–20; Josh. 1:8). This is a concise reminder to Peter’s readers to remember that saving power of God’s Word in their lives as a basis for ongoing commitment to Scripture as the only power to live the Christian life (cf. Matt. 4:4; Acts 20:32; Rom. 15:4; Gal. 3:3; 4:9; 2 Tim. 3:16–17).

Please turn to Isaiah 55

Scripture contains many other reminders and exhortations about its indispensability as the fountain of spiritual life and power (Pss. 19:10; 119:50, 93, 140; Prov. 6:23; 30:5; Matt. 7:24; Luke 11:28; Col. 3:16).

God declared through the prophet Isaiah:

Isaiah. 55:6-11. 6 “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (ESV) (cf. Heb. 4:12)