LIKE NEW-BORN BABES

Passage: 1 Peter 1:22-2:3

Key verse: 2:3

NIV

22 Now that you have purified(A) yourselves by obeying(B) the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply,(C) from the heart.[a] 23 For you have been born again,(D) not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,(E) through the living and enduring word of God.(F) 24 For,

“All people are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25     but the word of the Lord endures forever.”[b](G)

And this is the word that was preached to you.

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

Footnotes
  1. 1 Peter 1:22 Some early manuscripts from a pure heart
  2. 1 Peter 1:25 Isaiah 40:6-8 (see Septuagint)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for (A)a sincere brotherly love, (B)love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 (C)since you have been born again, (D)not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through (E)the living and abiding word of God; 24 for

(F)“All flesh is like grass
    and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
    and the flower falls,
25 (G)but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word (H)is the good news that was preached to you.

A Living Stone and a Holy People

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

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

1. Born again through the word of God

God commands us in his word to love our brothers deeply from the heart. We can obey his command when we are born again through his living, enduring word. Man's advice is weak and powerless. Kings and rulers perish. The things of the world are transitory, but God's word--the Bible, the word of the gospel--stands forever.

2. Crave pure spiritual milk (2:1-3)

When we are born again into God's family, we are like infants who need to grow. Babies grow by eating and exercise. We grow in faith, in inner peace and in strength when we study God's word and obey it. So we must repent of feelings and actions that come from worldly desires; we must crave the pure spiritual milk of God's word. When we begin to grow spiritually, we can taste the goodness of the Lord.

Prayer: Lord, cleanse my heart and put your word in me so that I may grow up in my salvation. Help me to keep growing until I graduate into heaven.

One Word: Crave pure spiritual milk