"Wherefore laying aside all
malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as
newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that you may grow
thereby" (1 Pet. 2:1,2).

In one sense, as here taught us by
the Spirit of God through the apostle, the healthful position of the saint is
ever that of the "newborn babe." However, in another sense we are to
be making progress so as to become young men and fathers in Christ. As to
practical position of soul in receiving truth from God, it is that of the
newborn babe. But if we are to grow by the sincere milk of the Word, it is not
by the exercise of our minds upon the Word, nor yet even by the greatest study
of it. We need the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and in order to this, there must
be the exercising of ourselves unto godliness—the "laying aside all
malice, etc." so that the Holy Spirit may not be grieved. There can be no
growth in the true knowledge of the things of God if these things are working
in the Christian’s heart. Therefore he is called upon to be ever a
"newborn babe" in the consciousness of his own weakness, littleness,
and ignorance, and in simplicity of heart coming to receive food from the Word
of God.

Having "tasted that the Lord
is gracious" (2:3), we come to His Word and receive from Him that which we
need to comfort, nourish, and refresh our souls. I may study the Word again and
again, but unless I get into communion with Him by it, it will profit me
nothing—at least at the time.

God does not reveal His things to
"the wise and prudent" but unto "babes" (Matt. 11:25). It
is not the strength of man’s mind judging about "the things of God"
that gets the blessing from Him; rather it is the spirit of the babe desiring
"the sincere milk of the Word."

This applies as well to the
speaking of God’s truth. Whenever we cannot "speak as the oracles of
God" through the power of communion, it is our business to be silent. We
should be cautious not to trifle with truth that we have not made our own and
acted upon in our own lives. We then act as masters and not as learners, and
our spiritual growth is greatly hindered. Our position as regards speaking the
truth of God must be ever that of "newborn babes."

"If so be you have tasted
that the Lord is gracious." How difficult it is for us to believe this!
the natural feeling of our hearts is, "Thou art an austere man" (Luke
19:21). Consider the poor prodigal in Luke 15; the thought of his father’s
grace never once entered into his mind when he set out on his return, and therefore
he only reckoned on being received as a "hired servant." But what
does the father say? "Bring forth the best robe, etc." This is grace,
free grace.

Our natural heart has gotten so
far away from God that it will look to anything in the world—to the devil
even—to get happiness; anywhere but to the grace of God. Our consciences, when
at all awakened to a sense of sin and of its hatefulness in the sight of God,
think that He cannot be gracious. Adam, had he known the grace of God, when he
found himself naked, would at once have gone to God to cover him. Rather, he
sought to hide himself from God among the trees of the garden. So it is with
us. The consciousness of being naked before God, apart from the understanding
of His grace, makes us flee from Him.

On the other hand, there is
sometimes the thought that grace implies God’s passing by sin. But no, quite
the contrary; grace supposes sin to be so horribly bad a thing that God cannot
tolerate it. Were it in the power of man to patch up his ways and mend himself
so as to stand before God, there would then be no need of grace. The very fact
of the Lord’s being gracious shows sin to be so evil a thing that man’s state
is utterly ruined and hopeless, and nothing but free grace will be able to meet
his need.

The Lord that I have known as
laying down His life for me is the same Lord that I have to do with every day
of my life; and all His dealings with me are on this same principle of grace. I
must continue to learn this as a "newborn babe desir[ing] the sincere milk
of the Word that I may grow thereby."

The great secret of growth is the
looking up to the Lord as gracious. How precious, how strengthening it is to
know that Jesus is at this moment feeling and exercising the same love towards
me as when He died upon the cross for me! This is a truth that should be used
by us in the most common everyday circumstances in life. Suppose, for example,
I find an evil temper in myself which I feel it difficult to overcome. Let me
bring it to Jesus as my Friend and virtue goes out of Him for my need. Faith
should be ever thus in exercise against temptation, and not simply my own
effort; my own effort against it will never be sufficient. The source of real
strength is in the sense of the Lord’s being gracious.

May the Lord give us thus to be
learners of the fullness of grace which is in Jesus so that we may be
"changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of
the Lord." May we, beloved, in searching into the truth of God,
"having tasted that the Lord is gracious," ever be found "as
newborn babes, desir[ing] the sincere milk of the Word, that [we] may grow
thereby."

(From "Growth through the
Truth" in Collected Writings, Vol. 12.)