Throw Up. Grow Up.

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation — if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. – 1 Peter 2:1-3 ESV So. Therefore. As a result. Consequently. With that in mind.

That little word, “so” is a transitional word. It links everything in chapter one with what is about to follow. In chapter one, Peter has provided us with some indicative statements. As the word suggests, they indicate something. The statements Peter makes in chapter one point out or show us something that is a truth or fact. For instance, he says that according to God’s great mercy, “he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:3 ESV). He tells us that, as a result, we have “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven” for us (1 Peter 1:4 ESV). We are being guarded through faith by God’s power for salvation (1 Peter 1:5 ESV). During this lifetime, our faith will be tested, but in the end it will only prove that our faith was genuine, bringing praise and glory to God (1 Peter 1:7 ESV). We have been called by God and have been set apart by Him to live holy lives (1 Peter 1:15 ESV). And our souls have been purified because we obeyed the truth of the gospel (1 Peter 1:22 ESV).

So, as a result…

This is where the imperatives come in. Indicatives are always followed by imperatives, which are simply commands. According to Dictionary.com, an imperative is “something that demands attention or action; an unavoidable obligation or requirement; a necessity.” So chapter two begins a long series of imperative statements that provide us with clear insight into how our behavior should reflect our new standing in Christ. He begins by saying, “put away all malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander” (1 Peter 2:1 ESV). To understand this verse, we have to go back to verse 22 of chapter one. Peter wrote, “love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again.” The five nouns found in verse one of chapter two are all antithetical to the kind of love to which Peter is calling us. Malice is a kind of evil that desires to harm others. Deceit describes a subtle, hidden intent to trick or bait someone in order to harm them or get something from them. Hypocrisy is another form of deceit, where one tries to dishonestly portray himself as something other than what he is. Envy is a form of jealousy mingled with spite. It not only longs for what the other person has, but hates them for having it. Slander is a form of backbiting or gossip with an intent to harm the reputation of another individual. 

You can see how these five attitudes or actions stand in direct opposition to the kind of brotherly love that Peter has called us to. So he tells us to put them away. The Greek word he used is ἀποτίθημι (apotithēmi) and it means “to cast off, to renounce” (Greek Lexicon :: G659 (KJV). Blue Letter Bible. http://www.blueletterbible.org). There is a certain forcefulness to the word. It was a favorite word of Paul. He told the believers in Rome to “cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12 ESV). He wrote to the Ephesian believers, “having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor” (Ephesians 4:25 ESV). To the Colossian church he wrote, “you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth” (Colossians 3:8 ESV). Even the apostle, James, got in the act, using the very same word when he wrote, “put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21 ESV).

Because of who we are in Christ, we are to live differently. We are to love one another. But it is impossible to pull that off if we are constantly backbiting, deceiving, envying and attempting to take advantage of or harm one another. So we have to take an aggressive attitude toward these things in our lives – casting them off like filthy clothes. They should repulse us and be repugnant to us. And it is important that we keep in mind that, like most of the letters in the New Testament, this letter has a corporate message to it. These imperatives are written to the church, not just the individual believer. Together, we are to put aside these things. We are to make sure that they are not present in our fellowship. Any one of these things can become a cancer, spreading disease and ultimately spiritual death to a congregation if it is allowed to linger. So we are to put them away.

And in their place we are to long for the “pure spiritual milk” of God’s Word. As we rid ourselves of these things, we are to fill ourselves with Scripture. We are to long for it. In fact, the Greek word Peter uses is ἐπιποθέω (epipotheō) and it is a word that is often used in a negative sense to refer to lust. It means “to earnestly desire or long for” (Greek Lexicon :: G1971 (KJV). Blue Letter Bible. http://www.blueletterbible.org). We are to crave God’s Word like an infant craves milk. And the Word of God plays a formative role in the life of every believer, strengthening and nourishing them, providing them with all that they need to grow up in their faith. It’s interesting to note that Peter says the Word of God helps us “grow up into salvation.” For many of us, salvation was a one-time event that took place some time in the past. We prayed a prayer. We walked the aisle. We gave our life to Christ. But Peter seems to indicate that, while our salvation had a beginning, it is to be ongoing. To grow up into salvation is to mature in our faith and our understanding of just what God has done for us through Christ. Our understanding of and appreciation for God’s mercy, grace, love and forgiveness should grow day by day. Our dependence upon God should increase over time. Our realization of our own weakness and His power should grow exponentially as we spend more time on this planet.

Maintaining his imagery of a nursing infant, Peter tells us that if we tasted the goodness of the Lord at our conversion, we should long for it more and more as we grow older. We should want more of that goodness with each passing day. And we should be willing to get rid of anything that would stand in the way of us receiving it. We will never fill up on God’s goodness if we are filled with malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy or slander. So we need to purge these things from our system. And in reality, these things are less like dirty garments we wear than they are like destructive elements we have ingested into our system. Jesus said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” (Matthew 15:19 ESV). So, in a sense, we need to regurgitate what is inside us so it can be replaced with the nourishing, nurturing Word of God, and grow up into salvation.

No God. No righteousness.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. – Romans 1:28-32 ESV This is the third time Paul uses the phrase, “God gave them up.” By this time, we should be able to see the seriousness of Paul's point. If God releases men to live as they wish to live, separated from Him by rejecting His very existence or re-imagining their own version of Him, the outcome is less-than-ideal. Without God, the one true God, man is left to his own devices, and their foolish hearts become increasingly darkened. Despite their self-proclaimed wisdom, they become fools, incapable of discerning right from wrong, righteousness from unrighteousness. The prophet Isaiah wrote about these kinds of people in his day.

What sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them with ropes made of lies, who drag wickedness behind them like a cart! (Isaiah 5:18 NLT).

What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever. (Isaiah 5:20-21 NLT).

When a man decides he has no need of God, he loses far more than his awareness of the Creator. The rejection or reinvention of God is a dangerous game to play. The NIV translates verse 28 this way: “since they did not think it worth while to retain the knowledge of God.” They basically said, “We don't need God.” So God allowed them to experience life without Him. He “gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” Without God in their lives, they lose the capacity to think wisely. As Isaiah said, they end up calling evil good and good evil. Their minds become twisted and their logic becomes skewed. And Paul states that they become “filled” with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, and malice. They become, literally, “filled to the brim.” Unrighteousness describes anything that is contrary to what God has deemed right or just. Evil has to do with man living out his godless purposes and desires in depraved ways. Covetousness is simply greed or the insatiable need for more. It is the opposite of contentment. Malice is a shameless desire to do harm to others. These characteristics fill those who reject God, and they end up manifesting themselves in a variety of ways. Paul provides us with a fairly sobering list: “envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, gossiping, slander, hate for God, insolence, haughtiness or pride, boasting, invention of evil, disobedience to parents, foolishness, faithlessness, heartlessness, and ruthlessness.”

And here's the worst part. Not only do they do these things. They give their full consent and approval to anyone else who does them too. Even though they know “that those who practice such things deserve to die,” they do them anyway. They become driven by unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, and malice. It ends up filling them and overflowing out of them. It was Chrystostom who said, “the one who praises the sin of others if far worse than the one who sins himself” (Chrystostom, Homilies on Romans). Paul warned Timothy that a day was coming when people would not want to hear the truth anymore. They would look for teachers who would approve or their actions and tell them that their lifestyles were perfectly acceptable. “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4 ESV). The Greek word Paul used for myths is mythos and it refers to something that is invented, a fiction or falsehood. Without God, men will invent their own form of righteousness. They will determine their own ethical and moral standards. And then they will seek out those who will tell them their unrighteous actions are acceptable. That is the world in which we live today. Sadly, there are pastors all across the country who are more than willing to tickle the ears of their congregations, telling them what they want to hear, approving of their lifestyle choices and, as a result, denying the truth of God.

We live in a day when the cry for tolerance has drowned out God's call for righteousness. We have become accepting and accommodating of all kinds of attitudes and actions that God has deemed unrighteous and unacceptable. It is not loving to allow someone to live according to a lie. It is not merciful to hide the truth from someone who is deceived. It was Jesus who said, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:21-32 NLT). The gospel of God is about the righteousness of God made available to men through the gift of His Son. Left to his own devices, man will never achieve or accomplish the degree of righteousness that God demands. Even those who claim to believe in God, the religious, will fail in their efforts to live up to God's righteous standards. That is why Paul says that all men are without excuse. All stand before God as guilty. But the good news is that Jesus came to die for sinners. He came to pay the price for our guilt and to free us from condemnation. But for a man to be free, he must accept the truth of his own sin and the gift of God's Son. He must understand the reality of his guilt and the just outcome of his sin: death. Then he must accept the free gift of God's grace and believe that Jesus Christ has paid his debt and replaced his unrighteousness with righteousness. That is the good news. That is the gospel of God.