if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
Truth to Learn
Our Heavenly Father treats us very well.
Behind the Words
“If indeed” is translated from eiper, which is a compound word made up of ei, meaning “if” and per, meaning “perhaps” or “indeed.” The best manuscripts, however, use the word ei, meaning “if.” For this reason, we have included the word “indeed” in itallics.
In the New Testament there are three types of conditional phrases (in secular Greek literature there is a fourth). The first class conditional phrase implies reality and can be interpreted as, “if, and it is assumed so…” Hence, it is sometimes interpreted as “since,” rather than ‘if’. The second class condition is the condition of irrealis, or unreality and can be interpreted as, “if, and it is assumed not so…” The third class condition carries with it no assumption as to the reality of the condition. The differences between the various conditional clauses in Greek are distinguished by the grammatical construction of the text.
The conditional clause in the current verse is a first class condition and, therefore, could be translated as:
If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, and I assume you have.
The word translated “tasted” is the word geuomai, which means “to taste,” but figuratively it means “to experience something.” It is expressed here in the aorist tense, showing action that was completed at a point in time in the past.
The word “gracious” is translated from the Greek word chrēstos, which is from the verb chraomai, meaning “to make use of,” “to make the most of,” or “to treat well.” This noun form means, “one who provides what is needed.”
Meaning Explained
First, let’s see what Peter is NOT saying here. He is not saying that there is a question about the readers’ salvation. He made that very clear in the previous chapter:
[you who are] chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father … who according to His great mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead …who are kept by the power of God through faith … (selections from 1 Peter 1:2-5)
Neither is Peter questioning whether his readers have already experienced the Lord’s provision for their needs in the past. In fact, we see from the grammatical construction of this sentence that Peter is assuming that his readers indeed have experienced that gracious provision.
Because we have experienced God’s watch care over us, we should be willing, even eager, to lay aside our bad habits and we should have a craving for the sincere milk of the Word of God. We should be so delighted and amazed that the God of all creation cares for each one of us individually, that we should desire to act and be as He wants us to. And, we should have an uncontrollable desire to read His Word so that we can know Him better and so we can be more like Him.
Application
Have you experienced the wonder of salvation? If so, do you have a burning desire to be obedient to your Heavenly Father and to learn more about Him through His Word?
In God's service, for His glory,
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