Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi was once asked what it took to make a winning team. This was Lombardi’s answer: “First, teach the fundamentals; a player’s got to know the basics of the game. Next, you’ve got to keep him in line; that’s discipline. The men have to play as a team. And third, they’ve got to care for—to love—each other. Each guy says to himself: ‘If I don’t block that man, Paul’s going to get his legs broken. I have to do my job well do he can do his.’ The difference between mediocrity and greatness is the feeling these guys have for each other. When you’ve got that sort of team spirit, you’ve got a winning team.” That’s the kind of attitude we need in our church. That’s what it takes to make a “winning” church.
There are two commands in this passage:
(1) “Love one another deeply, from the heart” (v. 22).
(2) “Crave pure spiritual milk” (v. 2).
Is there a connection between these two commands? I believe there is.
1. We should love one another because we are a FAMILY.
We tend to think of our new birth (being “born again,” v. 23) as an individual matter. But we should view it as something that places us in a new family with a new Father and new brothers and sisters.
a. We are to SINCERELY love our spiritual brothers and sisters.
“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers…” (v. 22a).
“Sincere” = real, genuine, unfeigned (KJV), without hypocrisy.
Love is not necessarily a warm, fuzzy feeling (usually it’s not). Love is treating others as you would like to be treated. To love someone often requires self-denial and self-sacrifice.
ILLUSTRATION: Generally, people care about their brothers and sisters. “Blood is thicker than water.” Peter is assuming that we also will care about our spiritual brothers and sisters. But…
b. We should strive for a DEEPER kind of love.
“…love one another deeply, from the heart” (v. 22b).
“Deeply” = fervently (KJV), intensely, earnestly; the Greek word is frequently associated with the characteristics of prayer: fervency, constancy, and effort (Luke 22:44; Acts 12:5).
“From the heart” = with a pure heart (KJV); without ulterior motives.
Someone has said, “The church today is suffering from a fellowship crisis. In a world of big, impersonal institutions, the church often looks like just another big, impersonal institution.”
c. We will be a family FOREVER because our “birth” was produced by the “imperishable” Word of God.
“For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” (v. 23).
In the beginning, God generated life through His word (Genesis 1; John 1:3). Now He regenerates through His word.
Our earthly families are temporary because they are produced by “perishable seed.” But our spiritual family is eternal because it is produced by the “imperishable” word of God.
(1) The word is “living”: it produces life (eternal life).
(2) The word is “enduring”: it will last forever.
ILLUSTRATION: French writer and philosopher Voltaire once said, “Another century and there will be not a Bible on the earth.” The century is gone, and the Bible continues to be the world’s best-selling book. On December 24, 1933, the British government bought Codex Sinaiticus (an early manuscript of the Bible) from the Russians for half a million dollars. On that same day, a first edition of Voltaire’s work sold for eleven cents in Paris bookshops.
“For, ‘All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the stands forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you” (vv. 24-25).
The quotation is from Isaiah 40:6-8 (from the Greek version: the Septuagint).
2. Our love will grow when we CRAVE the right kind of SPIRITUAL FOOD.
a. We must get rid of JUNK FOOD.
“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind” (v. 1).
ILLUSTRATION: When trying to eat healthy, you need to get rid of all the junk food in your house.
(1) “Malice” = ill-will, desire to hurt.
(2) “Deceit” = speaking or acting with ulterior motives; anything less than speaking the full and honest truth; speaking nicely to a person’s face then criticizing that person behind his back.
(3) “Hypocrisy” = insincerity; for example, claiming to love a fellow believer and gossiping about her.
(4) “Envy” = resenting the good fortune another and wanting the same thing.
(5) “Slander” = any speech that is intended to harm another person’s reputation.
ILLUSTRATION: The sins are often disguised by stating a “concern” or a “prayer request.”
These are sins that DESTROY Christian fellowship. They show us what love is not. They harm instead of help.
These sins are often tolerated by the modern church. (We are quick to condemn sexual sins but often willing to tolerate relational sins.)
b. We must crave GOOD FOOD.
“Like newborn babies crave pure spiritual milk…” (v. 2a).
(1) Our “spiritual milk” is the WORD OF GOD.
Although elsewhere in the NT milk is used as a metaphor for teachings suitable for immature or worldly Christians (Hebrews 5:12; 1 Corinthians 3:1), such a negative connotation is not found here. Rather, Peter sees milk as that which all Christians need in order to nurture their spiritual life in Christ.
The translation “the sincere milk of the word” (KJV) does not seem to be supported by known uses of the Greek word logikos, and is apparently based on a mistaken assumption of similarity in sense to the related word logos, “word.” The only other use of this word in the NT is found in Romans 12:1—“spiritual” (NIV), “reasonable” (KJV).
As both seed and milk, God’s word initiates and sustains new life in Christ
“Pure” = without deceit (the Bible can be trusted).
(2) Our craving should be to KNOW and OBEY it.
(3) Our craving for God’s Word should be like the craving of a newborn baby for milk.
• Intense
Job: “I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread” (Job 23:12).
• Continual
Psalmist: “My soul is consumed with longing for your laws [word] at all times” (Psalm 119:20).
(4) Our SPIRITUAL GROWTH depends on our craving of God’s Word.
“…so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good” (v. 2b).
Spiritual growth is really increasing in love. “The fruit of the Spirit is love…” (Galatians 5:22).
Good food promotes healthy growth.
“Taste” = experience the quality of something.
ILLUSTRATION: Once a baby has tasted that the milk is good, he/she will continue to crave for it.
In the pages of Scripture we “taste” or experience what the Lord is like. As we discover that the Lord is “good” (kind, gracious), we crave to know more of His will for our lives. And His will is basically: “Love Me with all of your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.”
Knowing and obeying God’s Word will result in DEEP LOVE for my brothers and sisters in Christ.
ILLUSTRATION: A few years ago, there was an advertising slogan for milk that said, “Milk: It does a body good.” We could say, “Milk (God’s Word) does the body (the church) good.”
Ask yourself the following questions:
• Am I guilty of anything that hurts Christian fellowship: malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, or slander?
• Do I crave to know and obey God’s Word?
• Am I seeking spiritual growth?
• What can I do to show my love to others in this church?
(Time of silent meditation and confession)
A LIFE OF LOVE
Part 3 of LIFE.101
1 Peter 1:22-2:3
1. We should love one another because we are a ______________.
a. We are to _________________ love our spiritual brothers and sisters.
“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers…” (v. 22a).
b. We should strive for a ______________ kind of love.
“…love one another deeply, from the heart” (v. 22b).
c. We will be a family _____________ because our “birth” was produced by the “imperishable” Word of God.
“For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” (v. 23).
2. Our love will grow when we __________ the right kind of __________________________.
a. We must get rid of ____________________.
“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind” (v. 1).
These are sins that _________________ Christian fellowship. They show us what love is not.
b. We must crave ___________________.
“Like newborn babies crave pure spiritual milk…” (v. 2a).
(1) Our “spiritual milk” is the _____________________.
(2) Our craving should be to _____________ and _____________ it.
(3) Our craving for God’s Word should be like the craving of a newborn baby for milk.
(4) Our ________________________ depends on our craving of God’s Word.
“…so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good” (v. 2b).
Knowing and obeying God’s Word will result in ___________________ for my brothers and sisters in Christ.
BOOKS USED
Peter H. Davids
“1 Peter” in Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, vol. 4
Peter H. Davids
The First Epistle of Peter
The New International Commentary on the New Testament
Wayne Grudem
1 Peter
Tyndale New Testament Commentaries
Karen H. Jobes
1 Peter
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament
Scot McKnight
1 Peter
The NIV Application Commentary
