“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
The logic of the gospel is that we’ve been born again and in this new life we should long for the pure truth, which is the nourishment of our mind and heart, that is the Word of God. The chapter break between the first and second here in 1 Peter is most unfortunate because it has a tendency to blur the argument put forth by the Holy Spirit, via Peter. The last thing we read before this verse:
“As the Scriptures say, “People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades. But the word of the Lord remains forever.” And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.”
1 Peter 1:24-25 NLT
You see, the idea is that our outer life is like the grass of the fields. Our life is but a season (Ecclesiastes 3) and we have before us, all else being equal, a spring, summer, autumn and at last a winter of decline. But the word of God, Peter tells us, is the Good News of Jesus Christ preached and written to us. It is that which informs, inspires, and compels us…if we let it. The word of the Lord is sharp. It’s the foundation of and source of wisdom. This is the “pure” spiritual food we’re encouraged to seek. Many speak of being spiritual but never quite get around to defining their terms. Thus, many play-act at it; they treat life like a show. They dress, speak, and act like a “spiritual person” insofar as that’s defined as, we suppose, not a banker or accountant. One wonders if a greasy mechanic or a bookish financial planner can be spiritual at all!
The truth is plain, thankfully, that spiritual people, made right with God via faith in Christ and repentance of sin, yearn for and are sustained by the pure milk of Scripture. We do pause to note that this isn’t to be confused with Hebrews 5:12 in which the author says many of the readers of his letter are stuck in elemental things and ought to be teachers themselves by now. This isn’t a contradiction when in Hebrews the author refers to milk as baby food and here as pure spiritual food. The analogy is different but the presumption is the same: Christian living is living in and through the word of Christ. Christians are to be people of the book!
And this metamorphosis from the fleshly mind to the spiritual one brings with it a new tide of behavior. It’s the first time in Peter’s letter that he mentions personal behavior, so it’s telling that our speech draws his attention. Consider:
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.”
Proverbs 4:23-24 ESV
This is no small affair. Consider further:
“A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.”
Proverbs 6:12-15 ESV
Now, let’s be clear about something serious. A good many professing Christians are going to perish in hell because they have ignored the heart and soul of these clear commands and instead dared to reinvent God’s command after their own liking. Crooked speech…devious talk…winks, signals, furtive finger pointing…it’s all about malice and true hatred. The Lord hates those who sow discord and the easiest way to do that is through devious speech. Many call themselves righteous because they don’t utter “prohibited” words. But to call a man evil because he cussed in traffic and then gossip about him, slandering him to others, is exactly the sin condemned here. Yes, one ought not to lose one’s temper when angry. And a man or woman in Christ will, if given to so-called foul language, use less of it as his/her anger issues recede via their continual growth and renewal of their mind (Romans 12:1-2). But Scripture never presents a list of forbidden words. Why? Because on the one hand cultural interpretation of profanity is a fickle thing anyway and man’s inherent sin, left unresolved outside of Christ, will simply manipulate that.
Indeed, there are many a verbal Pharisees today. They routinely speak of others roughly, without love, bashing and tearing them down before others, thereby “murdering” them via assassination of character. Oh, but doing this without profanity. They use acceptable language to attack. Slander, malice, and gossip are what the tongue does to others that the hands would like to do but circumstances prevent.
Give me the truck driver who cusses at traffic every now and then, then repents of his/her behavior, any day over the unrepentant, self-righteous, stealthy and horribly destructive master of malice.
Again, we must repeat: this is a serious matter before the Lord.
“There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”
Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV
The emphasis in this verse of Proverbs is on the last thing, the one who sows discord. What manner of hell and fury awaits the one who slanders Christians from within the foxhole of the church! To speak ill of a brother or sister in Christ is a wicked thing! If they have sinned, we must follow the Lord’s instruction in settling the issue. Call them to repentance. If they won’t hear you, go to the church. If they still won’t repent (considering that it’s a true sin, after all) then the church must discipline them. That’s the biblical mandate and there is simply no other. This is why slander and deviousness is a treasonous assault upon the Lord and His church by a wolf. If a brother/sister hasn’t sinned, we ignore quirks and the like. Love keeps no record of wrongs because God’s love has first been poured into our hearts. How can a man forgiven of a debt of billions begrudge a friend who owes them a penny?
The issue is that the judgment we use will be measured back to us because it displays the truth of whether we have truly repented of our many, many sins against God in the first place. To truly see our sins before the thrice holy God is to more and more empty the trash of that filthy treasure trove of grudges we’ve stored up against others. The clearest sign that we aren’t in Christ is how we speak of and evaluate others. For slander and malice to flow from our lips we must first engage in the prideful task of reinterpreting the facts of reality according to our own standard. God’s men and women should and must be reasonable, logical, and plain spoken. Sophistry is not Christian. Our yes and no are yes and no.
“A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape. A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish.”
Proverbs 19:5, 9 ESV
The philosophical truth of the matter is that it’s both pride and envy that fuels the tongue of the wicked. They wish to advance themselves, not in faith to the Lord, patiently working at the tasks He gives, respecting God-given authority, and trusting Him with one’s life and income, but through tearing others down and down. If diarrhea is a clear sign of a stomach ailment, slander and gossip are clear evidence of the cruel sin of envy in one’s heart. It’s to this that Peter calls us to repentance and to learn of Christ in the pure milk of Scripture. A heart that rests totally upon the One who saves us will have no opportunity to envy because it trusts the Lord. Envy is a clear sign that we don’t truly trust Him! Indeed, envy and malice are inseparable spiritually and psychologically because they want what they want and what they want isn’t submission in faith, but something in the world. At any cost.
Also, we must note that deceit is more than simply saying you didn’t go to the store when you actually went to the store. What Scripture teaches us is that lies are deep, putrid wells of self-deceit flowing out of heart, to the lips, and into the world in order to reorder that world. Only in Christ, by following the infallible principles of Scripture, do we find honesty and peace. Sin is a deceiver and this is why we must prayerfully and humbly study His word or else our hearts will be captured by some lie or another. Christ is true and every man a liar (Romans 3:4). Just as an alcoholic stays away from bars, so must Christians stay away from their own prejudices and philosophy. Christ is not only the way and life, He’s the truth incarnate and His word is truth.
Thus, deceit is anti-Christ and the grave sins of envy, malice and gossip wrap themselves in its vile softness.
“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
Luke 6:45 ESV
The bad news is that this should and will smack all of us upside the melon. The good news is the Good News, though! Christ will restore us when we faithfully open our hearts to Him who searches hearts. There is no condemnation for us in Christ! The knowledge of God’s love toward us and of His faithfulness will overflow in our hearts and wash away the vile and creeping sins of envy and slander, born of self-deceit.
Recent Comments