Trade Poison for Purity
Unfortunately, even if you know the Lord as Savior, you can still be swishing venomous poison around in your heart. The manifestation of the inner cocktail is ill-will toward others, deceit, play-acting, envying and backbiting.
You may wish it wasn’t so, but those qualities don’t just disappear on their own. Fortunately, all that’s required to get rid of them is trading that liquid for a better one, working on a new inner desire. Here’s the way Peter puts it in 1Pe 2:1-3 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speaking, (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.
Notice how Peter says to handle those qualities. He doesn’t say to pray that they will go away. He also doesn’t say that if you have those qualities, you aren’t really saved. He says to lay them aside. First you have to look at the print on your poison bottle and decide to dump it out. Perhaps you don’t like people, you are deceitful, hypocritical and such. You set those things aside. You don’t have to think and say bad things about others, all the while smiling at them and acting like they are your best friends.
Instead, like a newborn baby, you desire the sincere milk of the word, if you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. (The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Exodus 34:6b)
I really love the comparison. You have all this deceitfulness you think you are hiding from others, but it’s not hidden from you or God. You set it aside and you desire the sincere milk of the word. You replace the poison with purity.
And now I have something radical to propose. That sincere milk of the word is Christ. I know, you’ve been taught that the milk is the Bible. I can see that, especially when compared with Heb. 5:12-13. So perhaps our verse refers to both Christ and the Bible, because after all, they are used interchangeably in John 1:1,14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Jesus was physically manifested when he was on the earth. Then he died on the cross, and we have Him today in the Holy Spirit, and in the Bible. The Bible is our physical manifestation of Christ today. That’s just something to think on.
But back to our 1 Pet 2:1-3 verses. Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speaking, (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 have tasted the poison of deceit and hypocrisy, but as a saved person, you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. And now the chapter turns to just how awesome Christ is (and that’s why I think the sincere milk of the word is Christ, because Christ is the emphasis of this passage). (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. (6) Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. (7) Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, (8) And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
You want to trade poison for purity because Christ is worthy and because you are part of Christ as a piece in his building. He’s looking for you to offer up spiritual sacrifices. Give up the poison and desire Him. He is sincere and pure. You be sincere and pure.