CONTEXT: Peter is writing to Christians in Asia Minor (modern Turkey)-new Christians-predominately Gentile Christians. They have been experiencing trials (1:6), so he is encouraging them by reminding them of their prospects for glory and salvation (1:8-9).
He calls them to live holy lives, "because it is written, 'You shall be holy; for I am holy'" (1:13-16; see also Leviticus 11:44). This emphasis on holy lives reappears at 2:1, which is not in our lectionary reading, but probably should be. Holy lives are essential to being "a holy priesthood, (able) to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (2:6).
In chapter one, Peter spoke of these Christians having purified their souls (1:22). This emphasis on purity recurs in chapter 2 with the call to "long for the pure milk of the Word" (2:2).
In chapter one, he spoke of their being "born again" (1:23). That emphasis on rebirth lays the foundation for his comments in chapter two about their being "newborn babies" who need "the pure milk of the Word" (2:2).
1 PETER 2:1-5. LONG FOR THE PURE MILK OF THE WORD
1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 and like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. 4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by people, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
"Putting away therefore all wickedness (Greek: kakia), all deceit (Greek: dolos), hypocrisies (Greek: hupokrisis), envies (Greek: phthonos), and all evil speaking" (Greek: katalalias) (v. 1). While this verse isn't in the lectionary reading, it probably should be. It makes specific what is involved in Peter's earlier call to holiness (1:13-16). It also sets the stage for verses 2-10-our reading. A person striving for holiness will avoid these sins:
"as newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word" (Greek: adolos logikos gala) (v. 2a). As noted above, Peter's earlier comment about their being "born again" (1:23) laid the foundation for his comment now about them being "newborn babies" who "long for the pure milk of the Word."
"that you may grow thereby" (v. 2b). A literal translation of this verse would be "so that you may grow by (the pure milk) for (or into) salvation." While the World English Bible does an excellent job of translation for the most part, it ignores the last two Greek words of this verse, eis soteria (into salvation). Salvation is the goal or ultimate prospect of these Christians' faith.
"if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious" (v. 3). This alludes to Psalm 34:8, which says, "Oh taste and see that Yahweh is good"-but in the New Testament, the word Lord is ambiguous-it can refer to either to Jesus or God. The last two Greek words of this verse are kurios (Lord) and chrestos (good). The more common Greek word for good would be agathos, but Peter chooses chrestos here-possibly because of its similarity to Christos, the Greek word for Christ. He might intend his readers to see kurios chrestos and think kurios Christos-the Lord is Christ.
"coming to him, a living stone" (Greek: lithos) (v. 4a). This verse introduces a new metaphor. In verse 2, these people were newborn babies. Now they are living stones. We know nothing of living stones-except, perhaps, for a coral reef still in the process of forming. "Living water" is a more frequent metaphor (Jeremiah 2:13; 17:13; John 4:10-11; 7:38)-and easier to understand. We can visualize a mountain stream as living water as it splashes its way down the mountain. However, stones usually just stay where they are-inanimate.
But, as we will see in verses 6-8, Peter is alluding to a verse from Isaiah 28:16, which Jesus interpreted to refer to himself (Matthew 21:42).
"rejected indeed by men, but chosen (Greek: eklektos) by God, precious" (v. 4b). Jesus was rejected by the religious leaders, whose rejection led directly to Jesus' cross. However, God had chosen (eklektos) Jesus so "that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Jesus was the Father's "beloved Son" (Matthew 3:17; 17:5)-precious in the Father's sight. We will see the word eklektos again in verse 9.
"You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house" (Greek: pneumatikos oikos) (v. 5a). By virtue of their relationship to Christ, these new Christians have also become living stones-suitable for incorporation into a spiritual house-God's temple-Christ's church.
The word oikos means house, but is often extended to mean a household (family) or a dynasty (such as "the house of David" 1 Samuel 20:16; 1 Kings 13:2) or the tabernacle or temple (Matthew 12:4; 21:13; John 2:16-17; Acts 7:47-49).
"to be a holy (Greek: hagios) priesthood" (v. 5b). The Greek word hagios means holy or set apart for God. The tabernacle and temple were holy, because they were the dwelling places of God. Sacrificial animals were holy, because they were set apart for God. Priests and Levites were holy, because they were set apart for service in God's tabernacle and temple. Now Peter tells these new Gentile Christians that God has set them apart to be a holy priesthood.
"priesthood." Priests of Israel were descendants of Aaron (Exodus 28:1), charged with responsibility for the religious affairs of the nation. Presiding over religious rituals, to include sacrifices required by Torah law, they served as an intermediary between God and the people.
"to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (v. 5c). The priests of Israel offered animal sacrifices in behalf of the people. But there were other, more personal kinds of sacrifices:
1 PETER 2:6-8. THE REJECTED STONE BECAME THE CORNERSTONE
6 For this is contained in Scripture: "BEHOLD, I AM LAYING IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, AND THE ONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME." 7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for unbelievers, "A STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME TEH CHIEF CORNERSTONE," 8 and, "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this they were also appointed. "a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.
"Because it is contained in Scripture, 'Behold, I lay (Greek: tithemi-set in place, appointed) in Zion a chief cornerstone, chosen, and precious: He who believes in him will not be disappointed'" (v. 6). In this verse, Peter uses the Greek word tithemi to mean that God set in place a chief cornerstone in Zion. In verse 8, he will use the same word to mean that God either (1) appointed the disobedient to stumble or (2) appointed certain people to be disobedient.
But in our present context, God, is laying a foundation anchored by a chief cornerstone that is "chosen and precious." While Peter doesn't say so specifically here, it is obvious that he means that Christ is that cornerstone. Jesus, Peter, and Paul made that connection explicit elsewhere:
"He who believes in him will not be disappointed" (Greek: kataischuno) (v. 6b). The Greek word kataischuno means "put to shame." Honor and shame are significant values in any culture, but were especially so in the Middle East. In Biblical times, honor was a virtue associated primarily with men, defining their identity and self-worth. It had less to do with feelings and more to do with clout-influence-power. People would pay attention when a man of honor spoke.
"For you who believe (Greek: pisteuo) therefore is the honor" (v. 7a). See the comments in the previous paragraph (v. 6b) on honor and shame. Peter promises that those who believe in Christ will find honor rather than shame.
"but for those who are disobedient" (Greek: apisteo) (v. 7b). Note the similarity between pisteuo (believe) in verse 7a and apisteo in verse 7b. Both pisteuo (believe) and apisteo (disbelieve) are related to the word pistis, which means faith. The "a" at the beginning of apisteo reverses the meaning of the word from "believe" to "disbelieve." Apisteo therefore means "to disbelieve" or "to lack faith"-not to be "disobedient."
"The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone" (Greek: kephale gonia) (v. 7c). The word kephale means head, and the word gonia means corner or cornerstone. Peter is quoting from Psalm 118:22, which says, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner."
cross. However, Jesus' resurrection revealed him to be the chief cornerstone for the temple that God had planned from the beginning. The Christians to whom Peter is writing are living stones-building blocks of the new temple of God, the church (Ephesians 2:21ff; 1 Corinthians 3:9).
"and, 'a stone (Greek: lithos) of stumbling (Greek: proskomma), and a rock (Greek: petra) of offense'" (Greek: skandalon) (v. 8a). Skandalon meant a trap or snare, but was also used for a rock in the road that would cause people to stumble.
"For they stumble at the word (Greek: logos), being disobedient (Greek: apeitheo), to which also they were appointed" (Greek: tithemi) (v. 8b). In my comments on verse 7b above, I noted that apisteo means disbelieving rather than disobedient. However, we have a different word, apeitheo in this verse, and it does mean disobedient.
1 PETER 2:9-10. NO PEOPLE-GOD'S PEOPLE
9 But you are A CHOSEN PEOPLE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR GOD'S OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were not a people, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.
"But (Greek: de) you are a chosen race (Greek: genos eklektos), a royal priesthood, a holy (Greek:hagios) nation, a people for God's own possession" (v. 9a). The little word de (but) intends to show a contrast between that which went before (the stumbling of the disobedient) with that which follows (these Christians as a chosen people).
"you are a chosen race" (genos eklektos). "Chosen" is a good translation of eklektos, but, given our association
of race with the pigmentation of one's skin, "race" is an unfortunate translation of genos. The word genos has to do with family heritage-the lineage from which one has sprung.
"a royal priesthood, a holy nation." These phrases are rooted in the promise of God to Israel, that "if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you... shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:5-6).
Furthermore, they are "a holy (hagios) nation." For hagios, see the comments above on verse 5b.
"that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (v. 9b; see also Isaiah 43:20). God has granted these honors (chosen people, etc.) for a purpose, which is that these Christians might witness to the excellence of the God who called them out of darkness into his marvelous light.
"who in time past were no people, but now are God's people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy" (v. 10). The allusion here is to the prophet Hosea, whom God called to marry a prostitute (Hosea 1:2). Hosea married Gomer, who bore him a daughter named Lo-Ruhamah, "for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, that I should in any way pardon them" (Hosea 1:6). Later, Gomer bore Hosea a son named Lo-Ammi, "for you are not my people, and I will not be yours" (Hosea 1:9). Gomer represented adulterous Israel, and the children represented God's judgment on Israel for her sins.
1 Peter 2:1-10 - T. CONSTABLE EXPOSITION
Our Priestly Calling (The Idenitity of Christians) 2:1-10
INTRODUCTION: The essentially chiastic structure of thought in the letter, excluding the introduction and conclusion, can be visualized in the outline (above). The recurrence of the direct address "Beloved" in 1 Peter 2:11 and 1 Peter 4:12 divides this letter into three main parts.
"The theme of the first part is the identity of the people of God established on the basis of the great salvation Christ has accomplished (and is accomplishing) on their behalf. Their identity as a 'chosen' people is affirmed programmatically in the address (1 Peter 1:1-2) and confirmed in the concluding pronouncements of 1 Peter 2:9-10 so as to form an inclusio. More broadly, there is an inclusion between the emphasis on the identity of Christians in the first section (1 Peter 1:1-12) and last section (1 Peter 2:1-10) of part one. In the first section, they are 'chosen' as heirs of divine salvation, while in the last their election is confirmed by the metaphor of priesthood." [Note: Michaels, p. xxxiv.]
Peter began the body of this epistle by reminding his readers of their identity as Christians. He did this to enable them to rejoice in the midst of present suffering. They could do this since they would ultimately experience glorification. The tone of this entire epistle is warm, pastoral, and full of encouragement. In it Peter partially fulfilled Jesus' instructions to him to "tend (shepherd) my [Jesus'] lambs . . . sheep" (John 21:15-17).
v. 1: Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, - "Therefore" goes back to 1 Peter 1:3-12 as well as 1 Peter 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. Zechariah 3:1-5; Romans 1:29-30; 2 Corinthians 12:20; Ephesians 4:31; Colossians 3:8; 1 Timothy 1:9-10; James 1:21). The sins he mentioned are all incompatible with brotherly love (cf. 1 Peter 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."
▪ "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 . . ." [Note: J. N. D. Kelly, A Commentary on the Epistles of Peter and Jude, pp. 83-84.]
▪ Peter here called his readers to put into practice what they had professed in their baptism.
▪ Peter continued his explanation of Christians' duties as we endure trials and suffering joyfully. He called his readers to do certain things in the world of unbelievers, and he reminded them of certain realities in this pericope. He did so to motivate them to press on to finish God's plan and purpose for them in the world now.
▪ "The great doxology (1 Peter 1:3-12) begins with praise to God, who is the One who begot us again. All hortations that follow grow out of this our relation to God: 1) since he who begot us is holy, we, too, must be holy (1 Peter 1:13-16); 2) since he is our Judge and has ransomed us at so great a price, we must conduct ourselves with fear (1 Peter 1:17-21); 3) since we are begotten of the incorruptible seed of the Word we are brethren, and thus our relation to each other must be one of love, of children of the one Father (1 Peter 1:22-25). So Peter now proceeds to the next hortation: 4) since we have been begotten by means of the eternal Word we should long for the milk of the Word as our true and proper nourishment." [Note: Lenski, p. 76.]
In this pericope Peter used four different images to describe the Christian life. These are taking off habits like garments, growing like babies, being built up like a temple, and serving like priests.
v. 2: and like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, - Next he urged them to do something positive. Since they had experienced the new birth (1 Peter 1:3; 1 Peter 1:23), they should now do what babies do, not that they were new Christians necessarily. The milk of the Word is probably the milk that is the Word rather than the milk contained in the Word, namely, Christ, though either interpretation is possible. [Note: A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, 6:95.]
▪ "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 Peter 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; Hebrews 5:11-14). It is also bread (Matthew 4:4) and honey (Psalms 119:103)." [Note: Wiersbe, 2:400.]
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 Peter 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." [Note: Lenski, p. 78.]
The "milk" here is not elementary Christian teaching (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12-13), in contrast to "meat," but the spiritual food of all believers. [Note: Michaels, p. 89.]
v. 3: if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. - 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. Psalms 34:8).
2. Growing in God 2:4-5
v. 4: And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by people, but is [i]choice and precious in the sight of God,-- Not only is Jesus Christ the source of the believer's spiritual sustenance, He is also our foundation. Peter not only changed his metaphor from growing to building, but he also changed it from an individual to a corporate focus. However, unlike a piece of rock, Jesus Christ is alive and able to impart strength to those who suffer for His sake. "Living stone" is an oxymoron, a figure of speech in which the writer joins contradictory or incongruous terms to make a point.
▪ The point here is that even though Jesus Christ is the church's foundation, He is also alive today. Builders quarried and chiseled huge blocks of stone to support large buildings in the ancient Near East. Some of the Old Testament writers compared God to such a foundation (e.g., Deuteronomy 32:4; Deuteronomy 32:15; Deuteronomy 32:18; Deuteronomy 32:30-31; Psalms 18:2; Psalms 18:31; Psalms 18:46; Psalms 62:2; Psalms 62:6; et al.; cf. Matthew 7:24-25; Matthew 16:18). Peter modified this figure and used it to describe Jesus Christ. [Note: See C. Norman Hillyer, "'Rock-Stone' Imagery in I Peter," Tyndale Bulletin 22 (1971):58-81; and Frederic R. Howe, "Christ, the Building Stone, in Peter's Theology," Bibliotheca Sacra 157:625
▪ Here Peter began to give the basis on which the four preceding exhortations rest. These exhortations were: be holy (1 Peter 1:13-16), be fearing (1 Peter 1:17-21), be loving (1 Peter 1:22-25), and be consuming the Word (1 Peter 2:1-3). They grow out of our relationship to God who has begotten us. The apostle referred to Psalms 118:22 that both Jesus and he had previously quoted to the Sanhedrin (Matthew 21:42; Acts 4:11).
v. 5: you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. - Peter saw the church as a living temple to which God was adding with the conversion of each new believer. Each Christian is one of the essential stones that enables the whole structure to fulfill its purpose (cf. Matthew 16:15-18). Later Peter would say his readers were also priests (1 Peter 2:9), but here the emphasis is on their being a building for priestly service, namely, a temple.
▪ "This 'spiritual house' includes believers in the five Roman provinces of 1 Peter 1:1 and shows clearly how Peter understood the metaphor of Christ in Matthew 16:18 to be not a local church, but the church general (the kingdom of Christ)." [Note: Robertson, 6:96.]
▪ "I Peter never speaks of the Church as ekklesia, but uses metaphorical images of OT origin."
▪ This verse helps us appreciate how much we need each other as Christians. God has a purpose for all of us to fulfill that we cannot fulfill individually. The Christian who is not working in relationship with other Christians as fellow stones, as well as with Jesus Christ as his or her foundation, cannot fulfill God's complete purpose for him or her. While every Christian has an individual purpose, we also have a corporate purpose that we cannot fulfill unless we take our place in the community of Christians that is the church. Peter explained this purpose more fully below, but here he revealed that it involves worship and service (cf. Romans 12:1; Hebrews 13:15-16; Philippians 4:18).
3. Building on Christ 2:6-8
v. 6: For this is contained in Scripture: "BEHOLD, I AM LAYING IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNERSTONE, AND THE ONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME." - Before going on, however, Peter elaborated on the foundation of this building, the church. "Zion" here refers to the heavenly Jerusalem, that larger eschatological entity of which the church will be a part (cf. Revelation 21:14). The "corner stone" refers to the main stone on which the building rests. It does not refer to a modern corner stone or to the last stone the mason put at the top of the building, the keystone (Isaiah 28:16; cf. Ephesians 2:20). In view of this, it seems that the rock (Gr. petra, a large stone) to which Jesus referred in Matthew 16:18 was not Peter (Gr. Petros, a small stone) but Himself. Jesus, not Peter, much less Judaism, is the foundation upon which God has promised to build the church (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:11).
▪ Isaiah promised that those who believe on the Stone will never (Gr. ou me, the strongest negative) be disappointed.
▪ Peter clarified two relationships of the believer in these verses (4-6). He rests on Christ as a building rests on its foundation. Furthermore he relates to every other believer as the stones of a building under construction relate to one another. We need each other, should support each other, and should work together to build the church in the world.
vv. 7-8: This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for unbelievers, "A STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME TEH CHIEF CORNERSTONE," 8 and, "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this they were also appointed. - In contrast to believers, those who reject Jesus Christ as the foundation find Him to be a stone over which they trip and fall. He becomes the instrument of their destruction. The "builders" were Israel's religious leaders (cf. Psalms 118:22). When they disobeyed Old Testament commands to accept their Messiah, they stumbled spiritually and would suffer destruction (Isaiah 8:14). This was true of Israel corporately, and it is true of every unbeliever individually.
▪ Jesus Christ was the stone that would have completed Israel had Israel's leaders accepted Him as their Messiah, Israel's keystone. Instead, the Israelites cast the stone aside by rejecting their Messiah. God then proceeded to make this stone the foundation of a new edifice that He would build, namely, the church. Israel's rejected keystone has become the church's foundation stone.
▪ Election results in the salvation of some (1 Peter 1:2), but it also means destruction for others (1 Peter 2:8).
▪ "In the immediate context it is not so much a question of how Christian believers perceive Christ as of how God (in contrast to 'people generally') perceives him, and of how God consequently vindicates both Christ and his followers." [Note: Michaels, p. 104.]
To what does God appoint those who stumbled, unbelief or the stumbling that results from unbelief? In the Greek text the antecedent of "to this" (eis ho) is the main verb "stumble" (proskoptousi), as it is in the English text.
▪ "Are disobedient" (apeithountes) is a participle that is subordinate to the main verb. Therefore we would
expect "to this" to refer to the main verb "stumble" rather than to the subordinate participle "are disobedient." God appoints those who stumble to stumble because they do not believe. Their disobedience is not what God has ordained, but the penalty of their disobedience is (cf. Acts 2:23; Romans 11:8; Romans 11:11; Romans 11:30-32). [Note: Bigg, p. 133.]
▪ The doctrine of "double predestination" is that God foreordains some people to damnation just as He foreordains some to salvation. This has seemed to some Bible students to be the logical conclusion we should draw because of what Scripture says about the election of believers (e.g., Romans 9; Ephesians 1). However this is not a scriptural revelation. The Bible always places the responsibility for the destiny of the lost on them for not believing rather than on God for foreordaining (e.g., John 1:12; John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:47; Romans 1-3).
▪ The point of 1 Peter 2:6-8 is to demonstrate the honored status believers have because of their relationship with Christ." [Note: Fanning, pp. 453-54.]
4. Summary affirmation of our identity 2:9-10:
NOTE: Peter proceeded to clarify the nature of the church and in doing so explained the duty of Christians in the world, particularly suffering Christians.
v. 9: But you are A CHOSEN PEOPLE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR GOD'S OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; -- All the figures of the church that Peter chose here originally referred to Israel; however. with Israel's rejection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:7), God created a new body of people through whom He now seeks to accomplish the same purposes He sought to achieve through Israel but by different means. This verse, which at first might seem to equate the church and Israel, on careful examination shows as many differences between these groups as similarities. [Note: See John W. Pryor, "First Peter and the New Covenant," Reformed Theological Review 45:1&2 (January-April & May-August 1986):1-3, 44-50, for an example of how covenant theologians, who believe the church replaces Israel in God's program, interpret this and other passages dealing with Peter's perception of the identity of his readers.]
▪ "But this does not mean that the church is Israel or even that the church replaces Israel in the plan of God. Romans 11 should help us guard against that misinterpretation. . . . The functions that Israel was called into existence to perform in its day of grace the church now performs in a similar way. In the future, according to Paul, God will once again use Israel to bless the world (cf. Romans 11:13-16; Romans 11:23-24)."
▪ Israel was a physical race of people, the literal descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The church is a spiritual race, the members of which share the common characteristic of faith in Christ, and racially, are both Jews and Gentiles. Christians are the spiritual descendants of Abraham. We are not Abraham's literal des-cendants, unless we are ethnic Jews but are his children in the sense that we believe God's promises as he did.
▪ God's purpose for Israel was that she be a nation of priests (Exodus 19:6) who would stand between God and the rest of humanity representing people before God. However, God withdrew this blessing from the whole nation because of the Israelites' apostasy with the golden calf and gave it to the faithful tribe of Levi instead (Numbers 3:12-13; Numbers 3:45; Numbers 8:14; cf. Exodus 13:2; Exodus 32:25-29). In contrast, every individual Christian is a priest before God. [Note: See John E. Johnson, "The Old Testament Offices as Paradigm for Pastoral Identity," Bibliotheca Sacra 152:606 (April-June 1995):182-200.] We function as priests to the extent that we worship, intercede, and minister (1 Peter 2:5; Revelation 1:6). There is no separate priestly class in the church as there was in Israel.
▪ "Whatever its precise background, the vision of 1 Peter is that the Gentiles to whom it is written have become, by virtue of their redemption in Christ, a new priesthood in the world, analogous to the ancient priesthood that was the people of Israel. Consequently they share with the Jews the precarious status of 'aliens and strangers' in the Roman world." [Note: Michaels, p. liv.]
▪ "When I was a pastor, I preached a message entitled, 'You Are a Catholic Priest.' The word catholic means 'general,' of course. In that sense every believer is a catholic priest, and all have access to God." [McGee]
▪ God redeemed Israel at the Exodus and adopted that nation at Mt. Sinai as one that would be different from all others throughout history (Exodus 19:6). God wanted Israel to be a beacon to the nations holding the light of God's revelation up for all to see, similar to the Statue of Liberty (Isaiah 42:6). He did not tell all the Israelites to take this light to those in darkness, but to live before others in the Promised Land. He would attract others to them and to Himself, as He did the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10) and Naaman (2 Kings 5).
▪ However, Israel failed. She preferred to be a nation like all the other nations (1 Samuel 8:5). Now God has made the church the bearer of His light. God has not told us to be a localized demonstration, as Israel was, but to be aggressive missionaries going to the ends of the earth. God wanted Israel to stay in her land. He wants us to go into all the world with the gospel (Matthew 28:19-20).
▪ God wanted to dwell among the Israelites and to make them His own unique possession by residing among them (Exodus 19:5). He did this in the tabernacle and the temple until the apostasy of the Israelites made continuation of this intimacy impossible. Then the presence of God departed from His people (cf. Ezekiel 10). In the church God does not just dwell among us, but He resides in every individual Christian (John 14:17; Romans 8:9). He has promised never to leave us (Matthew 28:20).
▪ The church is what it is so that it can do what God has called it to do. Essentially the church's purpose is the same as Israel's. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20; et al.) clarifies the methods God wants us to use. These methods differ from those He specified for Israel, but the church's vocation is really the same as Israel's. It is to be the instrument through which the light of God reaches individuals who still sit in spiritual darkness. It is a fallacy, however, to say that the church is simply the continuation or replacement of Israel in the New Testament, as most covenant theologians do. "In the ancient world it was not unusual for the king to have his own group of priests." [Note: Davids, p. 92.]
v. 10: for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY. - Peter highlighted the differences involved in our high calling by contrasting what his readers were and had before conversion with what they were and had after conversion. The church is not the only people of God in history. Nevertheless it is the people of God in the present age because of Israel's rejection of the Corner Stone (cf. Romans 9-11).
▪ "The evidence from the use of the Old Testament in 1 Peter 2:6-10 suggests that the Old Testament imagery used to describe the church in 1 Peter 2:9-10 does not present the church as a new Israel replacing ethnic Israel in God's program. Instead, Old Testament Israel was a pattern of the church's relationship with God as his chosen people. Therefore Peter uses various aspects of the salvation, spiritual life, and service of Israel in its relationship with Yahweh to teach his recipients the greater salvation, spiritual life, and service they enjoy in Christ. In his use of the three people of God citations in 1 Peter 2:9-10, the apostle is teaching that there are aspects of the nation of Israel's experience as the people of God that are also true of the New Testament church. These elements of continuity include the election, redemption, holy standards, priestly ministry, and honor of the people of God. This continuity is the basis for the application of the title people of God to the church in 1 Peter 2:1-10.
▪ "The escalation or advancement of meaning in Peter's application of these passages to his recipients emphasizes the distinction between Israel and the church. Israel is a nation, and the national, political, and geographic applications to Israel in the Old Testament contexts are not applied to the church, the spiritual house, of 1 Peter. Furthermore, the initial application of these passages to the church by typological-prophetic hermeneutics does not negate the future fulfillment of the national, political, and geographic promises, as well as the spiritual ones, made to Israel in these Old Testament contexts." [Note: W. Edward Glenny, "The Israelite Imagery of 1 Peter 2," in Dispensationalism, Israel and the Church, pp. 186-87.]
▪ Christians, generally speaking, do not understand or appreciate God's purpose for the church that Peter presented so clearly here. Consequently many Christians lack purpose in their lives. Evidence of this includes self-centered living, unwillingness to sacrifice, worldly goals, and preoccupation with material things. Before Christians will respond to exhortations to live holy lives they need to understand the reasons it is important to live holy lives. This purpose is something many preachers and teachers assume, but we need to affirm and assert it much more in our day.
▪ "Peter concludes the first major section of his epistle (1 Peter 1:3 to 1 Peter 2:10) by drawing the lines for a confrontation. Two groups are differentiated-'unbelievers' and 'you who believe'-on the basis of their contrasting responses to Jesus Christ, the 'choice and precious Stone' (1 Peter 2:6). The former are on their way to 'stumbling' and shame, the latter to 'honor' and vindication. The theological contrast between these two groups, with its consequent social tensions, will absorb Peter's interest through the remainder of his epistle." [Note: Michaels, p. 113.
