I Peter 2:2 - “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.”

Have you found that the Lord is gracious (v. 3)? If you are a Christian, isn’t the grace of God what led you to become a Christian (Titus 2:11-14)? And you were born again by the word of God which lives forever (1:23-25). For this reason remove from your life hatred, hypocrisy, envy and evil speaking (2:1), and replace it with desire for the word of God. Most so-called “personality disputes” in the church actually reside right here, don’t they? Some among us are envious, some are deceivers and some are just plain hypocrites. And out of these come “evil speakings” against the brethren of the Lord. When we - all of us - desire the word of God like the newborn baby desires milk, we will find the word sincere, and we will grow by our application of it. Until then some of us will be just “playing church” - and not very well at that. There is not a soul on earth who does not need to grow spiritually more mature. The only way to do that is to read, learn and obey “the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” Our brethren of an earlier generation - and not so very long ago - were called “a people of the Book.” Some today have never read it. Don’t be one of those.

I Peter 3:21 - “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

This verse teaches more about baptism than many want to believe. [1] Baptism saves us; it does not come after one is saved! [2] Baptism a matter of conscience; it is not a matter of “an outward demonstration of an inward grace.” [3] We do not teach “water salvation,” but “the answer of a good conscience toward God.” [4] Baptism saves by the resurrection of Jesus; it is not the first act in the new life, but the rising to the new life (Romans 6:4), as Jesus did (John 10:18). [5] Baptism’s relation to salvation is illustrated by Noah’s ark: those in the ark were saved by the water (v. 20) that separated them from the sin they had known.

I Peter 4:11 - “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God...”

Does that mean speak like the word of God speaks? Does it mean say what God says? Wouldn’t that include saying Bible things in Bible words and do Bible things in Bible ways? All the world - and more every day - will incorrectly identify us and the doctrine Christ gave us to preach; we don’t need to help them mis-characterize the Lord of Heaven or His body on earth. What’s all this talk about a “church of Christ church” or a “church of Christ congregation”? It’s a church of Christ, or it isn’t. Paul traveled among many of them in various cities. He said that they are all “churches of Christ” (Romans 16:16). That’s good enough for me. What about you?

I Peter 5:12 - “By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.”

All those who had obeyed the teaching of the Holy Spirit (1:2) during the lifetime of Peter were standing in “the true grace of God.” We hear today strange and conflicting doctrines about God’s grace. Some say that the love of God cannot bear to see any soul lost, and grace is that expression of love by which God will overlook all imperfections in the judgment day. Others qualify that to only the “good” people. There are those who trust “grace” to make their decisions every day, guiding them always in the way that God has supposedly chosen for their walk. Men have a nearly universal tendency to define God’s terms in their own way, and always in a way that justifies and benefits the one defining the term. What did the people do who followed Peter’s preaching? How did they live? What did they receive from God? Saying that this is “the true (whatever)” implies that there is at least one false (whatever). “The” means one. Peter said that those people were standing in “the true grace of God.” All other ideas, doctrines, faiths and stands are false. Read the preaching of Peter in Acts 2-5, 9-12 and 15, and in his two written epistles. “The grace of God ... brings salvation” (Titus 2:11). Be sure that you are standing firmly in the true grace of God. It’s eternally important.

I Peter 5:12 - “By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.”

All those who had obeyed the teaching of the Holy Spirit (1:2) during the lifetime of Peter were standing in “the true grace of God.” We hear today strange and conflicting doctrines about God’s grace. Some say that the love of God cannot bear to see any soul lost, and grace is that expression of love by which God will overlook all imperfections in the judgment day. Others qualify that to only the “good” people. There are those who trust “grace” to make their decisions every day, guiding them always in the way that God has supposedly chosen for their walk. Men have a nearly universal tendency to define God’s terms in their own way, and always in a way that justifies and benefits the one defining the term. What did the people do who followed Peter’s preaching? How did they live? What did they receive from God? Saying that this is “the true (whatever)” implies that there is at least one false (whatever). “The” means one. Peter said that those people were standing in “the true grace of God.” All other ideas, doctrines, faiths and stands are false. Read the preaching of Peter in Acts 2-5, 9-12 and 15, and in his two written epistles. “The grace of God ... brings salvation” (Titus 2:11). Be sure that you are standing firmly in the true grace of God. It’s eternally important.