Author: Dr. George M. Bassaly, M.D.
Language: English
Price: $13.99
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Please enjoy an excerpt from the book:
Questions and Answers – First Peter
Answer Q1: (1 Peter 2:2) We are expected to desire the pure milk of the word, that we may grow.
They are called newborn because they are far from maturity in Christ.
“I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able.” (1 Corinthians 3:2)
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.” (Hebrews 5:12)
The word for “desire” means to get an appetite. The main food necessary for “newborn babes” is milk — and their desire for it is intense and instinctive.
Desire: Greek: ἐπιποθέω (epipotheó) — to long for, to strain after, to yearn affectionately, to crave deeply.
Pure: Greek: ἄδολος (adolos) — guileless, genuine, unadulterated. This adjective comes from "a-" (without) and "dolos" (bait, deceit), meaning “not caught in a trap,” without trickery or mixed motives. It is often used to describe unmixed liquids — clean, undefiled, and honest.
“Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1)
The Greek term translated as “reasonable” is *logikēn*, implying worship that is performed with the reasoning mind. The same idea is added to “pure milk” — the Greek phrase *logikon gala* means “rational milk” or “spiritual milk.”
St. Irenaeus (2nd–3rd Century A.D.) said: “The heretics mix chalk...” (cf. Matthew 18:3) “...unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
This is best applied to the gospel, which is the milk of the word — that we may grow in our salvation.
Christians, born into a glorious inheritance by the word of God (1 Peter 1:23), though journeying through this world toward their heavenly homeland, still need — for sustenance, guidance, and strength — to constantly feed on God's words.
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