Spiritual Milk: Food for the Spiritual Baby

We have said that the new birth through God’s Word produces within the soul a completely new nature – a new kind of life. This leads us to consider the next main effect which God’s Word produces.

In every realm of life there is one unchanging law: As soon as a new life is born, the first and greatest need of that new life is nourishment to sustain it. For example, when a human baby is born, that baby may be sound and healthy in every respect; but unless it quickly receives nourishment, it will pine away and die.

The same is true in the spiritual realm. When a person is born again, the new spiritual nature produced within that person immediately requires spiritual nourishment, both to maintain life and to promote growth. The spiritual nourishment which God has provided for all His born-again children is found in His own Word. God’s Word is so rich and varied that it contains nourishment adapted to every stage of spiritual development.

God’s provision for the first stages of spiritual growth is described in the first epistle of Peter. Immediately after Peter has spoken in chapter 1 about being born again of the incorruptible seed of God’s Word, he goes on to say in chapter 2:

“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all guile, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as new-born babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” (1 Pet. 2:1-2)

For new-born spiritual babes in Christ, God’s appointed nourishment is the pure milk of His own Word. This milk is a necessary condition of continued life and growth.

However, there is a warning attached. In the natural order, no matter how pure and fresh milk may be, it easily becomes contaminated and spoiled if it is brought into contact with anything that is sour or rancid. The same is true spiritually. For new-born Christians to receive proper nourishment from the pure milk of God’s Word, their hearts must first be thoroughly cleansed from all that is sour or rancid.

For this reason Peter warns us that we must lay aside all malice, all guile, all hypocrisy, all envy and all evil speaking. These are the sour and rancid elements of the old life which, if not purged from our hearts, will frustrate the beneficial effects of God’s Word within us and hinder our spiritual health and growth.