Long For Pure Spiritual Milk
In I Peter 2:2 we read the following exhortation:
"Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation."
I want to bring to your attention three basic truths which the Apostle Peter affirms in this single verse:
The Word of God is, in Peter's view, "pure". That is to say, the Word of God is untainted by human ignorance, human opinion, or human error. There are many sources from which we can learn information, even true information; let no Christian deny such a fact. But there is no other source which can be rightly called “pure” in the sense in which the Apostle uses the term here. The Bible, unlike all other books, is the one and only Word of God’s holy and timeless wisdom; it is the perfect and complete Word; it is uniquely the "God-breathed" Word, (II Tim. 3:16).
The soul-nourishing instruction of the Word of God is something which every true Christian will “long for”. Consider Peter’s metaphor. Newborn infants instinctively cry out for the nourishment of their mother’s milk. Without ever being taught, there is an inborn desire for nourishment embedded in their nature. Peter is saying that the same is true for the newborn Christian. A baby Christian may not yet have a very clear understanding of the Bible, or even of the uniqueness of the Bible. That understanding may not come until much later. But “like newborn infants” every true child of God has been given a Spirit-wrought longing for the kind of soul-food that can only be provided by the Word of Truth, (Jn. 17:17).
The Word of God, properly taught and properly received, is God's appointed means by which Christians will "grow up into salvation". Just as a suckling baby grows little by little, day by day, so the Christian who nurses often at the breast of holy Scripture will surely find their soul strengthened in the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord.
Sadly, however, the opposite of this final observation is also true. What becomes of professing Christians who, for various reasons, willfully starve themselves of the "pure spiritual milk" of God's holy Word?
At best, such persons remain malformed, undernourished, and stunted in their spiritual growth. As a result of this, they are easy prey to every wind of doctrine and ever allure of worldly temptation. They do themselves (and sometimes others) much harm by their neglect of the precious means of grace.
At worst, such persons sadly prove, in the end, to have never truly come to saving faith at all, (Jn. 8:47).
Beloved, never before in the history of the world have we had greater access to the Word of God—the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Jesus Christ calls his people to build their lives on his Word, (Matt. 7:24-27). Our Savior tells us that “heaven and earth may pass away, but my words will not pass away,” (Matt. 24:35). Therefore, let us heed Peter’s exhortation to us and learn to say with our brother Jeremiah,
"Thy words were found, and I did eat them,
and they became unto me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
for I am called by your name,
O LORD, God of hosts."
Jeremiah 15:16