The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Peter — Section 112

llim-iis _on the walls of_ the catacombs. Christ not only 11iticd the lost sheep, he nct1w•ly rnterposo<l. on their behalf, to save them from <l.cstruction. ln .:arrying out his purp0Se of mercy he suffered on their behalf and in their stead; he laid down his lifo f,,r his sheep. 2. He is represented as the Overseer of those whom he has recovered. As s~ch, he controls an,! go••~rns th~m; he guides them into green pastures nnd paths of ri~hteousness; he supplies their wants from the abundance of his bounty· he dc1i,·ers an<l protects them from all their foes.---J. R. 'l'. ' Yers. 1-3.-The possession of Ohri.~tian life su.mmoning to spiritual growtl1. The argument so far is as follows: Redemption; this issuing ou holiness; that leading to the fear that t~ey should prove to be without redemption; that fear being excited, the test of love 1s suggested. They a.re regarded a.s bearin" that test aud provino-0 their possession of iife. 'l'he next idea is obviously that of gro;th. ' I. ·wi:;: HAVE HERE THE IDEA OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH. 1. That implies life. Only living things can grow. Peter can speak of growth because he calls them "new-born b_ahes." ~piritual life is i:iot a m~re c_ha~ge or reformation, but an entirely new prin- ciple of bemg. Not only 1s that implied m such words as, "Ye must be born ac•ain • ' 1 "If any man be in Christ Jesus, it is a. new creation;" "You hath he quicken;d who were dead;" but entire arguments a.re based on the use of those words in this sense. It is as impossible for the natural heart, which is enmity against God, to bear fruit to God as for grapes to grow on thorns; for Divine fruit there must he a Divine nature. 'l'hi; is implanted by the Holy Spirit through the Divine Word. Tbe cry, "Father, Father!" is the birth-cry of a. new life; from that moment we are of God's family. 2. .Also tliae this life is immature. That truth is helpful to those who have followed the apostle so far, to their discouragement, and are inclined to say, "If holiness is the proof of salvation, and holiness is measured by Christian love. and I have so little of this, is it possible that I am a. Christian at all ? " These words, however, assume that there may be life without perfection. We are all born babes, and have to reach a full-grown manhood ~tage by stage. Only Adam came from God's hand perfect. "A babe" is equivalent to weakness, he!1)lessness, ignorance, rudimentariness. \Vho could guess what a babe could become, or see in the new-born child of God the perfected spirit bowing in the eternal glory before his throne? 3. .Also that it is natural for the life to pi·ogress. It never occurs to us to wonder if a child will grow; we know it will unless it dies. Disea._~e may retard growth, only death can permanently stop it till maturity is reached. Growth iB part of life; naturally, silently, steadily, the babe increases in stature and strength. Then, since spirituality is a life, it only needs that we fulfil tbe ordinary conditions of life to ensure that it advances from strength to strength. Growth i11 spontaneous; no man by anxious thought can add to his stature one cubit; give it- but the right conditions, and life cannot help growing. Moreover, growth should naturally affect all parts of our spiritual nature, a.s of our physical; it is only by disuse that some faculties advance alone--faith, or hope, or patience, etc. There is provision in what we are for growth up to him who is the Head "in all things." IL 'l'IIE MEANS BY WHICH SPIRITUAL GROWTH 18 SECURED. Is not this simpler- not easier, but simpler-more reasonable and possible than many suppose? How do we treat a babe that it may grow? let us treat the spiritual babe-life in the same way. I. Tltere must be the avoidance of what is antagonistic to life. "Laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil-speakings." These are but a selection of the evils that arc hurtful to the Divine nature; they are probably mentioned !,ere rather than others, because, judging from the frequent exhortations in the Epistle to love, to subjection to one another, etc., they represent a class of sins to which these Christians were specially prone; these were the sins which most easily beset them. As in homes where there are children, there are many devices to keep them from harm, so the spiritual life of the young believer must be jealously guarded from what would check its progress.,- 2. .And there must be the partaking of mitablefood, "Desire the sincere [pure, unadulterated] milk of the \Vord." It is the invariable teaching of Scripture thiit Christian ,rrowth depends on the proper use of the Wor<l of God (Pd, i. 2, 3; xxxvii. 31; J0bu vi. 63; xvii. 17; .Acts xx. 32; 1 'fim. iv. G; 2 'l'im. iii. 17). Christ is the food of the soul, but he is imparted through his Word. 'l'he Word of God hne for its sub-- 1tance God the Word. Spiritual focblencss is probably spiritual starvation, (l!I, II, 1-25.) 'l'Im FIHS'l' EPISTLE Gl•:NEnAL OF PETER 107