CRAVE. LONG. DESIRE.

GUZZLE

Therefore, putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
1 Peter 2:1-3

"*LIKE* newborn babes [crying every 3 hours], long for the pure milk of the word, that by it *you MAY grow* in RESPECT to SALVATION."

Say What?
I see here that DAILY Bible reading is imperative to salvation!

The word for "long" here is very simply the word "desire"—it's a command to desire. This is not to newly born believers but to all believers. It is a constant. A command for LIFE!

What this means is that if you feel stuck because you don't have the kind of spiritual desires that you should, this text says, You do not need to be stuck!
It says, "GET THEM!" -Get the desires you don't have." If you don't desire the milk of the Word, START desiring it!

Notice that verse 1 begins with the word "therefore." So what he is about to say is based on what just went before.
What was that? What just went before was the tremendous statement (v. 23) that we are born again (by God) through the Word of God. The point was that this Word is •imperishable (v. 23) and that it is •living and •active (v. 23) and that it is NOT like grass and flowers that DIE but that it endures forever. So IF you have been born again through THIS Word, then you will last forever. You are secure forever in the family of God, who caused you to be born again into that family.

THEREFORE—since you have new life by God's working and since you have confidence about the future—therefore (2:1), "putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word."

Since you have been born again BY the Word of God, now *LONG* for the Word of God. Do you see the connection between the Word of God in verses 23–25? Born again by the Word . . . therefore long for the milk of the Word. If you began your life with the Word, sustain your life with the Word.

What Exactly Is the "Spiritual Milk"?

But your version may not say "milk of the word" in verse 2. It may just have, "long for the spiritual milk." Well that's accurate. The NASB has an explanation, not just a translation. But the explanation is a good one, I think. Except, it's too limiting.
Is "the spiritual milk" merely the Word of God? Or is it something more specific in the Word? I think it is.

Verses 2–3 say,

Like newborn babes [who were born by the Word of God], long [the way babies do] for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if [that is, since!] you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

Do you see the connection between the intense longing or craving for the "spiritual milk" in verse 2 and the tasting of the kindness of the Lord in verse 3?

Put them together: "Long for the spiritual milk, since you've tasted the kindness of the Lord." So it seems to me that the milk is the milk of God's kindness. That is what we are commanded to long for. So which is it: the milk of the Word (NASB)? Or the milk of God's kindness?

There doesn't have to be a contradiction. Look! Where did the readers taste the kindness of the Lord? The answer is: in the gospel, the Word of God (v. 25). They were born again by that kindness through the Word of God. So the spiritual milk is the kindness of the Lord experienced through the Word of God. Or you could say, the spiritual milk is the Word of God *revealing* or transmitting the kindness of the Lord.

You were born again by that Word—namely, by the powerful kindness of God in that Word, and now go on longing for that Word and for the day-by-day experience—tasting—of the kindness of the Lord through his Word.

Now What Is The Result

The result will be (v. 2b) "you will grow in respect to salvation." Literally: "you will grow into salvation." Salvation *is reached* by growth. To be sure, God gives the growth (1:5; 1 Corinthians 3:6). But growth *is necessary*.

Do not fall into the *spiritual fatalism* that says, "I can't grow; I can't change; I don't know how; I'll never be..., I'm just me; and that's just that; and I don't need to, I still love God. Throw that stinkin' thinkin' away like an old smelly shirt, and seek God with all your heart for help in "desiring" His Word, and let us grow up together...... to salvation.  

A Latte Love awaits you!

Robbs