If you have tasted the kindness of the Lord...

1 Peter 1:13-2:10 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, ¹⁵ but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; ¹⁶ because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

¹⁷ If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; ¹⁸ knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, ¹⁹ but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. ²⁰ For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you ²¹ who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

²² Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, ²³ for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. ²⁴ For,

“All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers,
And the flower falls off, ²⁵ But the word of the Lord endures forever.”

And this is the word which was preached to you.

2 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, ² like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, ³ if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

⁴ And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, ⁵ you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For this is contained in Scripture:

“Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

⁷ This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,” ⁸ and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.

⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; ¹⁰ for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Chapter 2, in today’s text begins:  Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,  like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.   If we reverse the order of these verses it would say:  If you have tasted the kindness of the Lord, put aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,  like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation. Salvation happens when we believe in Christ and the finished work of the cross, when we like Peter, when he walked on the water and began to sink, cry out “Lord save Me.” Immediately Jesus reaches out and we are saved. So, what does it mean that we should grow in respect to salvation? Romans 2:4 says: The kindness of God leads you to repentance.  If the kindness of God leads us to repentance, then if we have tasted the kindness of the Lord we should repent. 1 John 1:9 says:   If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Confession of and repentance from sin are two separate things, both are necessary for salvation and to grow in respect to salvation. Confession is the acknowledgement that we have sinned, that we are opposed to God’s will and His word. The word says when we confess our sins He is faithful to forgive our sins. Romans 10:9, speaks of another confession which is critical to our salvation.     If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.    John 3:16 says:  God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.   So, confession of sin leads to forgiveness from sin and confession of Christ, believing in Him, leads to salvation, eternal life. It is repentance though, that causes us to grow in respect to salvation. The dictionary defines the word repent saying:   to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life  2 a : to feel regret or contrition b : to change one's mind     So, repentance is a tuning from sin, amending one’s life because of regret. It is though not only changing, turning from sin, but also changing the mind; changing the way we think. We are saved through confession. We grow through repentance. Although Jesus died once for all sin, we continue to change our minds as truth is revealed to us. We long for the pure milk of the word, so that by the word, Jesus will be more fully revealed to us.

There is a basic rule regarding understanding scripture in context. When we see the word therefore, we should see what it is therefore. We should look at what proceeds not only what follows.  The text begins saying:  Prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”  Part of changing our minds is to prepare our minds for action. It is not enough that we only change what we believe. We need to act on that change. We are called to be holy, in all of our behavior, because God is holy. We are not to be conformed to our former lusts, continuing in sin, simply perpetuating the cycle of confession and forgiveness. That was what the Old Covenant and the law did. The text says:  knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.   We are redeemed by the blood of Christ. We are not required to repeat the cycle of confession and forgiveness. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 says:   O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.     In Christ we have victory, both over death, with eternal life, believing in Jesus and we have victory over sin, through repentance, changing our mind to become holy as God is holy, no longer conformed to the world, but conformed to the image of Christ Himself.

Today’s text ends saying:  You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.     We have received mercy. Lamentations 3:22-23 says:  Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.      God’s faithfulness is indeed great and because His compassion and mercy is new every morning, if we have tasted the kindness of the Lord, we should live everyday in the newness of that day’s revelation of Christ. We should continue daily to grow in respect to our salvation.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for Your great faithfulness. You are faithful and just to forgive my sins as I confess them. Through the faithfulness of Christ I am saved from death, to eternal life. Thank You also that I not only have forgiveness through confession but also have victory over sin through repentance. Holy Spirit be my guide as I change my mind to be like Christ.   Amen.