“Grow up in your salvation…”
1 Peter 2:2
“Act your age!” Who hasn’t said (or thought) that? “Oh, grow up,” is another retort we use when evaluating the maturity of an interaction. We naturally expect that, as the years pass, juvenile behavior will slowly but surely give way to adulthood.
Peter reminds us that our relationship to Christ is no different; Growth and eventual maturity is expected. It’s the norm. And he is not alone in promoting that idea. Consider Paul’s insight in Ephesians 4:
Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work (Ephesians 4:11-16).
What a vision! A mature body with Christ at the head, as every supporting ligament carries its weight. Well, just how do we get there?
We need to crave. Not just anything will do. We need to desire the pure spiritual milk of the word. Consider John Piper’s insight:
“…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.”
That “milk of the word” is not just nutrition, it has an expulsive power to eradicate “all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind” (1 Peter 2:1).
Be praying that the Lord will use Erik Thoennes powerfully as he preaches from this passage this Sunday. Pray that a desire for this milk will be awakened among us. Pray that we could witness the maturation of our congregation as a result. Pray that a deepening love will emerge, a “sincere love for each other,” when we “love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22).
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