Charles Spurgeon Commentary 1 Peter 2

Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

This is what we are to lay aside, to put away from us, to banish altogether. These are the old garments of the flesh which we are to give up to the moths so that they may devour them, and leave no fragment of the old rags for us to wear. Laying aside all malice.

Has anybody injured you? Are you angry with that person because of what they have done to you? Freely forgive the injury, and wholly forget it.

And all guile. That is, everything that is of the nature of craftiness and deception. Be honest, simple, straightforward, transparent; this is a trait of character that is especially fitting for all Christians.

And hypocrisies of all sorts. Let us not profess to be what we are not, nor pretend to know what we do not know, or talk of experiences which we have never felt; in fact, let us never be hypocrites in any respect whatsoever. The God of truth loves His children to be the embodiments of truth. Hypocrisy He hates with a perfect hatred.

And envies. We must lay them all aside, all envy of others because they are richer, or more gifted, or more highly esteemed than we are. Let us not envy anybody, for envy eats a person's own heart out and slays them, as Eliphaz said to Job, Envy slayeth the silly one.

And all evil speakings. We are not to be the repeaters of stories to the discredit of others, or to make up or to exaggerate any evil reports concerning anything in their lives. Let us have nothing to do with evil speakings of any kind. Lay all these rags aside. Is any one of them still clinging to you? Let it be laid aside this very hour.

Wherefore laying aside all malice,

This is one of the old corruptible things, so put it away from you.

And all guile,

All crafty tricks, all falsehood, exaggeration, double meanings to your words, and the like.

And hypocrisies, and envies,

All hatred of those who are either better or better off than you are.

And all evil speaking,

Thus the tongue expresses what the heart feels. Laying all these evil things aside, you will prove that you have been born again, born of the incorruptible seed which lives and abides forever.

Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: Have we not constantly declared that our faith, if true, is always practical?

Here, again, we have the precepts of God's Word. Here we are told that there is much for us to lay aside, as if it were natural to us in every case, and must, therefore, be carefully laid aside. "Malice" — we are all inclined to return evil for evil: the Christian must not do so. "All guile" — everything like craft and cunning — this is unbecoming in a Christian. "Hypocrisy" — seeming to be what we are not; all sorts of mere seeming we must lay aside. "And envy" — how easy it is for us to envy one man his wealth, or another his health, or another his talents; but "all envy" the Christian must have done with. "And evil speaking" — it is painful to reflect how much evil speaking there is among people who we still hope are good people.

They are very fond of repeating stories to the disadvantage of their fellow Christians. Now, whether you are the author of it or not, do not be the retailer of it, for we are told here to lay aside all evil speaking.

But then the religion of Jesus Christ does not consist in negatives: it is not merely what we are to lay aside; there is something to be taken up. We are told that as we are born again, we are to consider ourselves as newborn babes and are to desire the unadulterated milk of God's Word, that we may grow by it. It is not enough to be alive: we should desire to grow. To be saved is a great blessing; we ought not, however, to be content with being barely saved: we should seek after the graces of the Spirit and the excellent work of God within us.

Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

When the apostle describes us under the character of "newborn babes," he would have us lay aside all that is inconsistent with that character. Newborn children have no malice; they have no guile or craftiness; they have no hypocrisies, nor envies, nor evil speakings.

They are clear from all these evils; if only we were as clear as they are! It would be better to be infants, not speaking at all, than to be among those who speak evil. It would be better to begin life over again than to live long enough to have gained a treasure of malice, and a hoard of cunning, and to have learned the tricks of hypocrisy.

Let us be as simple as little children, as guileless, as harmless, as free from anything like unkindness as newborn babes are. And since we are to follow them in what they do not have, let us also imitate them in what they do have.

Let us desire ardently, as for our very life, the unadulterated milk of the Word. Let us cultivate that combination of hunger and thirst which is found in a little child, so that we may hunger and thirst in this way after God's Word.

We have done more than taste the Word; we have tasted that the Lord himself is gracious. Let us long to feast more and more upon this divine food, so that we may grow by it.

Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

If you have once had that sweet taste in your mouths, you will wish to have it always there, and you may do so if you continue to drink the unadulterated milk of the Word, and do not sour that good milk through tempests of malice, and envy, and evil speaking.