Grow Unto Salvation

      Normally, we talk about getting saved like it was accomplished in a moment. We say, “I got saved on such and such date” almost interchangeably with “I got baptized...” No doubt, in one sense, we went from being lost to being saved in the moment of baptism. As Peter preached on Pentecost, the people were to be saved (Acts 2:40).

      However, the Bible teaches another perspective as well—a long-term process perspective. I Peter 2:2, says “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (ESV).

      First, Peter is talking to Christians. He is writing the “elect exiles” (I Peter 1:1) who have already been “born again to a living hope” (I Peter 1:3). Thus, Peter is not talking about how these folks will become Christians. Yet, he still says salvation is something they are to grow into.

      Further, the word translated “into” is the same word translated “for” in Acts 2:38. In Acts 2:38, that word means we are baptized unto the remission of sins, not because we already have the remission of sins. Rather, baptism in the name of Jesus causes the remission of sins. Thus, in our present verse, I Peter 2:2, longing for the pure milk of the word causes or leads us toward salvation.

      Thus, salvation is not fully a moment in time issue. We didn’t get saved and now we don’t have to think about it. Rather, we left the world and entered Christ through baptism and now we must grow unto salvation. If we do not grow, we will not be saved.

      How do we accomplish growth? By longing for the pure milk of the word. This passage is not contrasting the milk with the meat as other passages do. Rather, the image is merely that of an infant sustained by a mother’s milk. We, as God’s children, are sustained by the Word and only the Word. If we wish to be saved, we do not merely rest on our baptism. Rather, we dig into the Word of God. We long for it as a baby longs for its mother’s milk.

      I can’t help but think about the baby in my house right now. Trina longs for her milk like clockwork every three hours. If she misses her milk, she screams to high heaven. Do we long for the pure milk of God like that? Do we feel something is missing and terribly wrong if we haven’t been in the Word recently? How long can we go without spending time in the Word before it upsets us? Do we long for the Word like a baby longs for its milk? That is the only way we will grow. When we grow, we will gain the salvation we so desperately want.

      Don’t say, “I’ve been baptized, I’m good.” Get into the Word. Long for it and grow.

Edwin L. Crozier