1 Peter 2:1-3 - Put Off, Put On, Progress

Today we’re diving into 1 Peter 2:1–3 as we consider what it means to put off the old, put on the new, and truly progress in our salvation. Peter is not introducing a new idea here—he’s continuing his call to holiness and now getting very specific.

We look at five sins we are commanded to lay aside: malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. These are not small matters. They strike at the heart of the church and at the motivations behind our actions. If we are in Christ, these things should be falling away from our lives.

But Peter doesn’t just tell us what to put off—he tells us what to put on. Like newborn infants crave milk, we are to crave the pure spiritual milk of the Word. If we want to grow, if we want to look more like Jesus year by year, then we must give ourselves to Scripture. The Word of God is not optional for the believer; it is essential.

And then Peter gives us that searching word: “if.” If we have tasted that the Lord is good, there will be evidence. There will be growth. There will be progression.

Join me as we examine our hearts, consider whether we are progressing in this salvation, and look to Christ who not only saves us but sanctifies us. Let’s dig in and look to Jesus, our true hope.

Transcript

11 - 1 Peter 2:1-3 - Put Off, Put On, Progress

Intro

• Please take your Bibles and open with me to first Peter chapter 2 and find verse 1.
  • Today we continue forward in this book written by the Apostle Peter to the church that had been scattered.
  • Though we are stepping into a new chapter I would ask that you keep in mind with me that these chapter divisions that we know were not added until much later.
    • It is important to note that as we move between chapters because it is not as though we are starting a new idea or even a new topic.
    • Sometimes that is the case but often…
  • What we find is what is being written about has a direct correlation with what has been written in the prior chapter.
• That is very much the case with our text today, as it is really a continuation of what we have been examining over the last few weeks.
  • Our time together will be broken up into three parts as we talk about how we are to…
    • Put off the old…
    • Put on the new… AND
    • Progress in our salvation…
  • What we will really be talking about though is what we call sanctification or progressing in holiness and righteousness.
    • This is to be the mark of the follower of Christ…
      • We are never to be standing still but we are to be moving toward our lives looking more like Jesus.
    • Day by day, year by year, decade by decade, we should be able to identify a marked difference in our lives.
  • If you have been a believer for 20 years you should be able to look at the aim of your life and be able to confidently say…
    • “I am more like Jesus today than I was 20 years prior…”
    • Though my life has not been free from struggle, though my day is not free from sin, I am not the man I once was…
      • I have seen the work of God and can testify that my motives are not the same, my desires are not the same…
      • That the sins that once had a hold on me have been put to death…
    • This is the testimony of the life of the believer, that Christ has not only saved us for eternity but He is sanctifying us day by day.
      • That we are progressing in this salvation.  
  • Today we will examine this work of sanctification and ask ourselves, am I progressing in this glorious salvation?
• Let’s read the first three verses of 1 Peter 2 and open in a word of prayer…

1 Peter 2:1-3

• Before we step into these verses please consider with me how Peter is not pulling this command out of thin air.
  • Instead, he has been building to this point since verse 13 of the first chapter.
    • He has called the church to be holy, to be set apart, to prepare themselves and to live a certain way.
  • He previously wrote this command in a very broad sense, look back with me…
    • He wrote in verse 14 of chapter 1…
      • 1 Peter 1:14 - “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,”
    • So as we step into our text today we let us keep in mind that Peter has been building up to this point for some time.
  • It is true though that he does turn a corner as we step into chapter 2…
    • He begins to call people to specific obedience.
      • What I mean is that what we see is a narrowing of the focus and instead of Peter considering this in a broad sense…
        • “...do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance…”
      • He is now writing specifically…
  • Listing five different sins and calling the church to set that way of life aside. 
• So let’s step into it as we turn our attention to the first verse and how Peter is commanding the church to…

Put Off the Old

• Before we get into the specific sins Peter is calling the church to turn away from…
  • I have to point out two things in the opening part of verse 1…
• Look again with me…
  • The ESV renders it this way…
    •  Vs. 1a - “So put away…”
  • I personally like how the NASB translates it, it reads…
    • Vs. 1a - “Therefore, rid yourselves…”
  • However, the King James Version also is saying the same thing…
    • KJV - Vs 1a - “Wherefore laying aside…”
• All three of those translations do two things in these opening three words…
  • First, the first word connects us to what has been talked about previously.
    • So it is not just good practice to consider that these chapter divisions were added at a later time.
      • It is vital to our understanding of the text to take note that Peter is simply continuing his topic.
    • I know it has already been mentioned but it is worth pointing that it is something that we can see in the text itself.
    • So I want to encourage you…
      • As you read through the scripture please do so with a critical eye making note of even transition words like “so” and “therefore”.
    • They are crucial to a proper understanding of the text…
  • Now second, let’s talk about that two word phrase we see following Peter’s transition…
    • “...put away…” , “...rid yourselfes…”, “...lay aside…”
      • This is one word in the Greek and it is used a total of eight times across the New Testament.
        • Six of those times it used just like this, an apostle writing to the church and urging them to set aside their sin.
      • I want to share some of these verses with you so that you can note that Peter was not alone in this command…
    • Paul uses it…
      • Colossians 3:8 - “But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.”
    • James uses it…
      • James 1:21 - “Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”
    • The author of Hebrews uses it, perhaps this is the most well known use of this Greek word…
      • Hebrews 12:1 - “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”
    • I love seeing this consistency across the New Testament writers, it reminds us that the message that Peter proclaimed…
      • Is the same message the James and Paul proclaimed, there is a consistency here that is worth taking note of.
  • All of them proclaim that this Gospel that we have believed urges us to live a particular way.
    • In this specific instance it is to lay aside sin, to put off the old. 
• As we have already discussed, Peter has specifics in mind at this point…
  • He is not writing generally but uses specific words, specific sins that the church is to cast aside.
    • Let’s examine them together…
    • As we do, let us consider if any of these are present in our lives…
  • First, we find the word malice…
    • Malice means “a desire to inflict injury, harm, or suffering on another…”
      • It also points to “evil intent”.
    • It is found mentioned multiple times across the New Testament often in a list of sins similar to what we are seeing in this verse.
      • It is also translated as wickedness, evil, and trouble. 
    • Though it is a bit of a generic word, it is speaking of a general wickedness and so Peter is calling us to set aside this evil intent.
    • Let me say at this point that the church for which Jesus died should be free from malice.
      • There should not be a desire in us to inflict harm on another.
      • We should not have evil intent within our hearts toward others.
    • It should especially not be true between Christian brothers and sisters.
      • Yet, to our shame, we can perhaps think of moments where we have witnessed this within the body of Christ.
      • Where motives are not pure, and the root desires of our actions are bent toward wickedness.
    • Peter writes plain and clear, as followers of Christ we must set aside all malice.
      • Is it present in your life?
  • Second, we find the word deceit, and the King James Version uses the word guile…
    • Deceit means to “distort the truth for the purpose of misleading, it points to fraud and cheating.”
      • In a way this is downstream from malice, malice points to evil intent, and deceit points to intentional misleading.
      • Nothing short of manipulation for self centered purposes.  
    • Yet it is not out in the open but is a secretive sin…
      • Someone who is a good deceiver appears to have clean hands and a pure heart but is really full of treachery. 
      • As you consider this sin I want you to know how it is used in another place in the New Testament.
        • In Matthew 26 it is translated as “stealth” and refers to the work of the chief priests who plotted the death of Jesus.
        • It says that they…
      • Matthew 26:4b - “...plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.”
    • They did not want to work in the open, they wanted their hands to appear clean.
      • It is an overt evil, but an evil nonetheless, and a sin that should not be present within the church.
      • The church should be known as being open, honest, and not given over to manipulation.
        • However, again to our shame, we could perhaps consider times where we have witnessed the manipulation of the people within the church.
    • Peter writes to us and calls us to not give ourselves to this but to set it aside…
  • Third, we find another word that is similar to the last, hypocrisy.
    • A word that in the original language pointed to a person who was a play actor.
      • It is pointing to someone who is good at playing a part…
        • Perhaps someone who can be both the hero and the villain.
        • We all have our favorite actors that can often play multiple roles.
      • For an actor on a stage this is a good thing but for real life it is a sinful thing.
        • That is because the hypocrite changes their role depending on their audience.
      • It is the opposite of being genuine and real.
    • It is interesting how it goes very well with the prior sins listed…
      • Someone who has evil intent, and someone who makes a practice of deception, will certainly also be given to hypocrisy.
      • The most famous group that is associated with hypocrisy in the New Testament is the religious leaders that Jesus often interacted with…
        • He even cautioned His apostles in dealing with them, telling them…
        • Luke 12:1b - “...Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”
      • He was telling them that it is worked into the very fabric of their beings and that they should not be trusted.
    • In their case, and often in the case of hypocrisy, it is intended to paint a better picture than what is really present.
      • It is to give a false sense of holiness and righteousness.
        • Not actually being holy and righteous, not actually walking in obedience, but acting like it.
          • Playing the part…
      • The Pharisee’s were the examples in the day of Christ, yet they orchestrated the murder of the Son of God.
        • Blood was on their hands yet they presented themselves as the standard and as being pure. 
    • Again, much like the others, this is a sin that should not be present within the church.
      • Christ died for us and we should pursue holiness, that is what Peter has been covering.
      • It, however, must be a real holiness, a real pursuit.
        • We cannot simply play the part but we must walk according to the Word.
  • The fourth word in this verse is envy.
    • It can be defined as, “a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another's advantages, success, possessions”
      • This is really a two-fold sin, it is tied to coveting what someone else has…
        • While also looking at what you have without being content.
    • This sin has been perpetuated across our culture today…
      • The idea of “keeping up with the Joneses”...
        • Never having enough and always needing the next thing.
      • It also prevents us from being able to celebrate the success and good will of others.
    • Certainly, this is not present in the church…
      • We are never in competition with other churches…
      • We never look at the success of others and wish it was our own…
      • We never hope for the failed ministry of the man down the road…
    • Unfortunately, again to our shame, we can think of times where this is prevalent among us.
      • If it were not present, at least in part, in Peter’s day he would have no reason to list it here…
    • Let us strive for contentment, strive for the celebration of the success of others.
  • The fifth and final sin that Peter commands us to rid ourselves of is slander.
    • The King James Version translates this as “evil speakings”...
      • Where the Greek word does point to slander or defamation it does also carry the meaning of evil speech.
    • This word is only used twice in the scriptures and both times it is used in a list of sins just like this.
      • It points us to speaking evil against one another, it is also connected to the intent to cause harm.
      • Interestingly enough it is not necessarily tied to whether or not the speech is true but instead points to the intent behind what is said.
        • Is it for harm?
        • Is it to tear down?
        • Is it to elevate yourself above another?
      • Then it does not matter if it is true, it is considered evil talk and is not for the redeemed. 
    • If it is not intended to build up but to tear down it is sinful and needs to be set aside.
      • This moves past just the action and looks to the motivation behind it.
      • Church, we should be motivated by love for one another…
        • We should want the building up of each other and not the tearing down.
          • This not only toward a local body of believers but also in a broad sense.
        • Let us strive to lift one another up in prayer instead of tearing one another down in our speech.
    • Peter tells us that we are “put off” to “cast aside” to “rid ourselves” of these things.
  • That is what we are reminded of in this first point…
• We are to pursue holiness, we are to pursue Godliness and it means that these things should be falling away from our lives.
  • We are to put off the old, this not to be saved but because we are saved.
    • Again, Peter writes this letter to the church, to the called out ones, to the Redeemed, those who have already believed in the Gospel.
    • Which means this message is not for the unbeliever and not about how to be saved as much as it is about how we are to live as those who are saved.
    • I remind you again believer what it means if you are in Christ…
      • Consider the words written by Paul.
  • 2 Corinthians 5:17 - “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
• Therefore, let us strive to cast aside these sins, may they not be named among us…
  • Then, let us also…

Put on the New

• Look again with me at 1 Peter 2 and go to verse 2…
  • 1 Peter 2:2
• Here Peter gives us an illustration as he continues to build upon what he pointed out to us at the end of 1 Peter 1.
  • This illustration is one that is simple to understand.
    • He tells us to think about newborns…
      • Newborns require constant attention but they really only want a couple of things…
      • They want to eat and to sleep, sometimes the sleep is a little difficult for them so let’s just focus on the eating.
    • They crave one thing, they crave milk, it is what they need in order to grow.
  • You cannot give a newborn a carrot, you cannot give a newborn a steak, they need milk.
    • Did you know that a newborn will grow more in that first year than they will at any other point in their lives?
      • They will do it, primarily, on milk.
    • Peter says, this is how we are to be, we are to put off these sins and we are put on something else.
  • In this case it is connected to what Peter talked about at the end of chapter 1, the Word of God.
    • No surprise here, we are to fill ourselves with the Word of God.
      • You want to grow as a Christian?
        • Then give yourself to this book…
      • You want to grow as a Church?
        • Then we must base all that we do on this book…
    • It sounds simple, right?
      • To be fair, it is straightforward…
        • We believe this book…
        • We obey this book…
        • We proclaim this book…
      • Yet we are tempted at every turn to cast it aside and try something else, sometimes anything else.
  • Yet here we are reminded exactly what the believer needs…
    • It is the Word of God…
      • We are to read it, proclaim, build our ministries, our services upon it.
      • It is to be a part of everything that we do.
    • This is not a new thing, but is a truth that is present throughout the scriptures…
      • I think of…
        • Deuteronomy 6:6-9 - “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
      • The Lord wanted the life of His people to be saturated with the Word of God.
        • That everywhere they turned they would see it, be exposed to it, talk about…
    • Do you think that is any less true today?
      • Oh, I would expect it to be more true today than it was even then…
      • Then, they only had Genesis through Deuteronomy, now we have the full revelation of the Word of God.
        • We know that which they did not know…
          • Certainly Christ was prophesied but we know that He has been revealed.
        • Knowing the Glory of the coming of Christ, knowing of the life He lived, the death He died, and the Victory over the grave He showed…
      • How much more should our lives be infused with the Word of God…
        • That it would be on our lips…
        • That it would be on our minds…
        • That we would write it on our walls…
        • That our lives would be built around it…
  • Oh may God give us a supernatural hunger for the Word in the same way that a newborn cries out for milk.
    • May we see how much it is needed…
    • May we understand how vital it is…
    • Then we will be found crying out for it if it is not readily available to us.  
• As we put off the old and as we put on the new, what we will see is…

Progress in Salvation

• Look with me again at verse 3…
  • Vs. 3
    • There is one word that I want us to center upon and consider as we look at this final verse.
    • It is the first word of that final verse…
      • “If…”
  • What Peter does with the addition of this word is cast these three verses into an “if” statement.
    • Now an “if” statement gives us two options, it will either be true or it will be false.
      • There is not really any room in the middle.
  • So let’s consider what he means by adding this “if” statement…
    • If we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good…
      • Then what will we do?
        • We will put off these sins, we will cast them aside and strive to live lives that are free from these things.
        • We will then crave the Word of God, we will consume the Word of God, and our lives will reflect it.
        • To say it in one phrase, we will be found progressing in our salvation.
    • If, however, you consider these things and you realize that this sin is present and you care very little if at all about the Word of God…
      • Peter is saying, maybe it means you have not truly tasted and seen. 
      • That, friend, is a terrifying thought.
  • Yet it is one we must lean into, we must consider these things…

Closing

• So as we draw to a close over this passage let us consider a few questions over this passage…
  • Christian, are you progressing in this salvation?
    • If not, why not?
      • Is it because you have not cast aside some of these sins?
      • Is it because you have not turned to the Word of God?
      • Or is it because you have never truly trusted in this salvation?
  • Unbeliever, I want to reiterate what I said earlier…
    • You can not clean yourself up enough to be right before God.
    • You can try to set aside these things but if you have not by faith been born again then it is meaningless.
      • You must first confess Christ as Lord and repent of your sins.
    • If you have not done that today I urge you to do so.
• I urge you, as I do often, to reflect upon the scriptures and respond as the Lord leads.
  • Let us pray.