The Lord’s Goodness

Peter presses the value of the Word of God as the source of the gospel message of salvation. It is only through the hearing of the Word that the Spirit grants faith to believe the message (Rom. 10:17). It is only through the living and abiding Word that the divine seed has produced the new birth in the spiritually dead (1 Peter 1:23). Because the Word is eternal, being the Word of the eternal God, it produces that which returns eternal fruit.

In light of this truth, Peter urges his readers to “put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander”—all motives and methods of carnal and worldly scheming for successful living in a sinful world (2:1). Instead, the new-born saint is to find his nourishment in the unmixed, unadulterated, pure Word that produces guileless people without dishonest intent (v. 2). It is only by this means that true believers will mature into the full and complete salvation Christ has prepared for them.

This operation of God’s Word, however, does not produce the same effect in everyone. Therefore, Peter adds, “If indeed you have tasted [experienced] that the Lord is good” (v. 3). This is taken from Psalm 34:8, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!” The writer of Hebrews applies the psalm in this way, “You . . . have tasted the goodness of the word of God” (6:5). One cannot taste and see that the Lord is good unless he has tasted Him through the revelation of Christ in the Word. The Puritan, Stephen Charnock, wrote:

“Prize and study the Scripture. We can have no delight in meditation on him unless we know him, and we cannot know him but by the means of his own revelation. When the revelation is despised, the revealer will be of little esteem. Men do not throw off God from being their rule till they throw off Scripture from being their guide; and God must needs be cast off from being an end when the Scripture is rejected from being a rule.”

Have you experienced the Lord’s goodness—His gentleness and usefulness? Jesus invites us, “Come to me . . . take my yoke . . . and learn from me . . . for I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Matt. 11:28–30). This invitation comes after Jesus declared, “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” He had just expressed wonder and delight in the fact the Lord of heaven and earth had willed to hide these truths of salvation from the “wise and understanding” but, instead, revealed them to “babes” (Matt. 11:25). No doubt Peter had this text in mind as he penned the exhortation to “new born infants” and that they should “long for pure spiritual milk” (2:2).

“As you come [are coming and keep on coming] to Him [having tasted of His goodness]. . . you yourselves are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (v. 4).