2:1 "Therefore"goes back to 1:3-12 as well as 1:22-25. To prepare for an exposition of the Christian's calling, Peter urged his readers to take off all kinds of evil conduct like so many soiled garments (cf. Rom. 1:29-30; 2 Cor. 12:20; Eph. 4:31; Col. 3:8; 1 Tim. 1:9-10; James 1:21). The sins he mentioned are all incompatible with brotherly love (cf. 1:22). Malice (wickedness) and guile (deceit) are attitudes. The remaining three words describe specific actions. These are not "the grosser vices of paganism, but community-destroying vices that are often tolerated by the modern church."58
"The early Christian practice of baptism by immersion entailed undressing completely; and we know that in the later liturgies the candidate's removal of his clothes before descending naked to the pool and his putting on a new set on coming up formed an impressive ceremony and were interpreted as symbols of his abandonment of his past unworthy life and his adoption of a new life of innocence . . ."59
Peter here called his readers to put into practice what they had professed in their baptism.
2:2 Next he urged them to do something positive. Since they had experienced the new birth (1:3, 23), they should now do what babies do, not that they were new Christians necessarily. The milk of the Word is probably the milk which is the Word rather than the milk contained in the Word, namely, Christ, though either interpretation is possible.60"Long for"is a strong expression that we could paraphrase "develop an appetite for."This is the only imperative in the passage in the Greek text. God's Word is spiritual food that all believers instinctively desire, but we must also cultivate a taste for it (cf. 2 Pet. 3:18).
"It is sad when Christians have no appetite for God's Word, but must be fed' religious entertainment instead. As we grow, we discover that the Word is milk for babes, but also strong meat for the mature (1 Cor. 3:1-4; Heb. 5:11-14). It is also bread (Matt. 4:4) and honey (Ps. 119:103)."61
Ask God to give you a greater appetite for His Word. God's Word is pure in that it is free from deceit (cf. 1:22-25). "Salvation"here, as Peter used it previously, refers to the full extent of salvation that God desires every Christian to experience.
"The point of the figurative language is this: as a babe longs for nothing but its mother's milk and will take nothing else, so every Christian should take no spiritual nourishment save the Word."62
The "milk"here is not elementary Christian teaching (cf. 1 Cor. 3:2; Heb. 5:12-13), in contrast to "meat,"but the spiritual food of all believers.63
2:3 Peter's readers had already tasted God's goodness in their new birth. Greater consumption of His Word would bring greater satisfaction as well as increased spiritual growth (cf. Ps. 34:8).
