1 Peter 2:1-5 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, 5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Southern Baptist Theologian and the very first editor of Christianity Today, Carl F. H. Henry stated:

“The Christian experience is always personal, but never private”.

Though salvation is a free gift of Grace from God,
free does not mean cheap.

In order to receive this gift, you lay your life down to Him Who laid His life down to you. Some believe that you can be saved, and yet live any way that you want, regardless of what God has said. This is Biblically unsound.

When you become a Christian you enter into a lifelong partnership with God. You come to God …

Hebrews 11:6 … believing that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

There is a REWARD in DILIGENTLY SEEKING God, in living to please Him Who gave Himself for you. The Scripture says, “God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). You are forgiven all your sins because you believe and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The Scripture says,

John 1:12-13 .. as many as received Him, to them He gave the POWER {exousia, authority, right, strength to, power} to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Peter spends a lot of time discussing the New Birth with the Church for a reason. When Jesus called Peter or Cephas, Peter initially followed Christ in his own power.

The Holy Spirit had not yet been given to the Church when Jesus walked on this earth (John 7:39), because Christ had not yet died on the Cross.

Jesus told Peter,

Luke 22:31-32 … Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

“Sinners must be CONVERTED to God” (Psalm 51:13). Jesus said “Unless you be CONVERTED, and become as little children, you SHALL NOT ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN” (Matthew 18:3). Peter did not understand this until the Day of Pentecost. But God’s CONVERSION of the believer is what changes us from sons of Adam to sons of God.

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; 20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

Wherefore …

1 Peter 2:1 Wherefore…

Today’s text begins with the word “Wherefore”, the Greek Conjunction oun. This conjunction indicates that something naturally follows from another necessity. You could translate it as “these things being so”. There were things in front of this “Wherefore” that bring us to this conclusion. What came before?

1 Peter 1:22-23 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.

You have “PURIFIED YOUR SOULS IN OBEYING THE TRUTH THROUGH THE SPIRIT”. You have heard the Word of the Gospel. Because you both heard and responded to the Gospel, God the Holy Spirit came to you and caused you to be “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God”.

You were radically changed on the day you came to Christ, changed from the inside out. Whereas before you considered the things of this world to be worthy of your time, and whereas before you chased those things as a dog will chase a car, you have been changed …

from wolf to sheep
from death to life
from son of Adam to Child of God
from idolater to worshiper of the One True God
from darkness to light

You are no longer a cog on Satan’s machine called “the world”, you are a child of God, a priest in the Household of Melchizedek, and Jesus Christ is your Lamb, your High Priest, and your Lord!

Wherefore.

Illustrate: I passed a broke down car on the side of the road one day that had a “for sale” sign on it. The car’s front and rear fenders were smashed. A window was broken. It had two flat tires, all on the driver’s side. I thought to myself “who in their right mind would buy such a car?” Then I realized – this is what God did for me. When I was broken down, useless, unable to go or do any good, my God and Father purchased me with the perfect life of His Son. Jesus Christ bled and died for sinners. He saves those who cannot save themselves. Have you been purchased by Jesus? Have you been born again?

The Born Again Produce A Different Fruit

1 Peter 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

Word Study: That which is translated “laying aside” is the Greek

apotithēmi (pronounced ap-ot-eeth’-ay-mee). The word is translated as “laying aside, ridding yourselves, putting away, putting aside”. You were saved by the Word of the Gospel. Now God demands that the fruit of your life reflect that salvation. You are to be on the lookout for certain behaviors, things which characterize the sons of Adam. If you are saved, you are NOT to be this way. We are to rid ourselves of …

Word Study: all malice: The Greek kakia, it means “that which is wicked, evil, naughty, depraved. A desire to do harm to another”. We who are Christ’s are not to “fight fire with fire”, nor to take “An eye for an eye”. The Christian is told:

Romans 12:19-21 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

We are to speak the truth in love, and are never to compromise with the ways of this world. But we are, inasmuch as we can, continue to be LIGHT in the midst of DARKNESS. Jesus tells us to carefully judge ourselves:

Luke 11:35-36 Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 36 If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

Illustrate: Your behavior reflects on your Heavenly Father. If you belong to God, if God is your Father, you will love Christ (John 8:42), and do the things He commands of you. If God is your Father, you will do the works of Abraham (John 8:39). Who you follow proves whose you are!

Christians ought not to be mean. They ought to be kind and loving. When you are mean to one another then you are not a good advertisement for salvation in Jesus Christ.

Illustrate: A little girl had been naughty, so her mamma told her “go upstairs to your room – I’ll be up in a minute so we can talk”. When the mamma got upstairs she found her child – not in her room – but in her mother’s closet. She said, “Why are you in my closet?” The little girl said, “I’ve spit on your clothes, I’ve spit on your shoes, I’ve spit on your floor, and I’m standing here waiting for more spit”.

That child should have gotten a paddling. Regardless as to what that parent did, I guarantee you that the Heavenly Father will punish His children when we are mean and malicious. Mean and malicious people hinder the work of Christ in this world. Their tongues poison the atmosphere of the Church. God is not honored by malicious people. God’s people are called to unity and love for one another.

1 Peter 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

Word Study: The word “all” in this text shows you how the text should be read. We put away all malice. We also put away “all guile, hypocrisies, and envyings”. These three words are all tied together. The word “envyings” is the Greek phthonos (pronounced fthon’-os), and can be translated “envy, ill will because you covet what another person has”.

When you begin to covet what another person has it won’t be long before you engage in guile and hypocrisies.

These two words are closely related. Guile, the Greek dolos (pronounced dol’-os) means “to be crafty or tricky. To be like a sneak thief”. The word HYPOCRISIES, the Greek hypokrisis (pronounced hoop-ok’-ree-sis) means “to play a part, to be an actor, to be of two faces”. Envious people tend to sneak about and have two faces. We don’t need to be envious of one another. If you are born again by faith in Christ, know that God loves you. You have a place in the Body of Christ. The Scripture says:

1 Corinthians 12:18 … God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.

If you are born again by faith in Christ you are part of His Body, part of His Church, and your gift is important. Find that which God wants you to do – and DO IT. Do not be distracted from your calling in Christ. The Lord called Judas Iscariot to be both a disciple and an apostle along with the other eleven. Judas served alongside Jesus for three and a half years. He heard Jesus preach. He was used by Jesus. He slept with Jesus, and ate with Jesus, and was there – first hand – when Jesus did miraculous things. And yet Judas ended up dying a terrible death by his own hand after betraying his Lord. I would call Judas,

“Almost Saved, the Almost Christian”

It was Judas who watched as a woman with an alabaster box of precious ointment approached Jesus. As he and the other Apostles watched, this woman anointed Jesus with the oil. Judas speaks up:

John 12:5-6 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

Judas was filled with what Peter calls “evil speakings” the Greek katalalia, meaning “backbiting, defamation, evil speaking”. As this woman anoints our Lord just before His crucifixion, Judas speaks out, criticizing, mocking, minimizing. What you will not know unless you study the Scripture, that once Judas started the mocking, the other Apostles fell into place and joined him. The Scripture says:

Mark 14:4-5 there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? 5 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.

Matthew 26:8-9 But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? 9 For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.

Word Study: Judas Iscariot started the ball rolling with katalalia, but once it started the other disciples chimed in. Darkness grew, rather than light. Jesus told them:

Mark 26:10-13 {Jesus said} Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. 11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. 12 For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. 13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

Rather than mock her, Jesus commended her. Her actions honored Him as Savior and Lord. Judas Iscariot, an unsaved man in proximity to Christ, infected the others with the evil that was in his heart. And sadly, they followed along.

Many a Church has been destroyed by those
who will not put off the evil!

If you are born again by faith in Christ you are part of His Body, part of His Church, and your gift is important. Do not become distracted as Judas Iscariot did by other things. Put away from yourselves the dark clothes of Satan, and be clothed in the armor of God’s Light! The Apostle told the Church at Corinth that evil speaking is just as bad as sexual immorality:

2 Corinthians 12:20-21 For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. 21 I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.

The Born Again Desire The Good Word Of God

1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

You cannot grow in your faith unless you feed on the pure milk of the Word.

It is the Word of God that saved you
It is the Word of God that sanctifies you
It is the Word of God that gave you life
It is the Word of God that will empower you in life

Your faith in the preaching of the Word of God brought you from darkness and into light. Your continual feeding on His Word will keep you walking in the light. Jesus said:

John 15:3-4 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me.

It is the Word of Christ that saves, secures, and grows. It is this Bible IN YOUR HEART that cleanses you, and makes you more and more like Jesus. We are told:

Ephesians 5:25-27 (ESV) … Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

As water washes the body, the Word of God washes the soul. We as Christians become more like Christ as we do more of His Word.

The reason we have sickly and useless Christians in every age of every Church is because they will not seek God’s Word. You must long for the pure milk of the Word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation. The Apostle told us:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (AP) All Scripture is God breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be mature in the faith, completely furnished to do all good works.

We Are Born Again As Lively Stones.
We Are Born Again As A Spiritual House.
We Are Born Again As A Holy Priesthood.

1 Peter 2:4-5 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, 5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

The Christian is infatuated with Christ. He keeps on coming to Jesus. As Christ is a Living Stone rejected by men we who believe are Living Stones. We work together as a spiritual house, offering spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Dr. Adrian Rogers said before he died:

“The curse of [our age] is that we have many Churches filled with baptized pagans. We have a full Church of empty people. They have culture but not Calvary, ritual but not reality, form but not force, religion but not righteousness.”

Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Righteous Lot went to Sodom and stayed for fourteen years. If he had just won six people to the Lord over that fourteen year period then Sodom would not have been destroyed. Dear friends, America is falling. God needs His people to bind to Christ. He needs us to imitate the Lord, to tell others about the Lord, to be lively stones, a holy priesthood, offering up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.

May God touch your hearts with His Word. Amen and Amen.