Part 3 of 1 Peter: Living Stones

1 Peter 2:1-25 (CSB)

Today we are moving on to chapter two, and as we saw at the end of chapter one, Peter told us what he is going to be writing about. In 1 Peter 1:22-23, he wrote, “Since you have purified yourselves by your obedience to the truth, so that you show sincere brotherly love for each other, from a pure heart love one another constantly, because you have been born again—not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God.”

Those verses are the key to Peter’s theme in chapter two. As I mentioned at the end of last week’s chapter, Peter is going to be telling these believers how, by living holy lives, they can “show sincere brotherly love for each other, [and] from a pure heart love one another constantly.” How do we show brotherly love for each other? If we are purified by our obedience to the truth, which is the word of God, then we will love others. Whereas, if we disobey God’s word and live unholy lives, then not only do we hurt ourselves, we will hurt the people around us. It’s a pretty straightforward cause-and-effect proposition.  

Before we read the first verses, though, it’s important to note that it begins with the word “therefore.” That means Peter is continuing a thought. He had just stated in chapter 1 that they (the readers) had been born again through the living and enduring word of God. Because of this, he says, in verses 1-3, “1Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander. 2Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up into your salvation, 3if you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

Because they have been born again through the word of God, they are to get rid of “all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.” The word translated as malice is the Greek word kakia, and according to Strong’s Concordance, it means “wickedness.” In order to show sincere brotherly love to each other, those character faults cannot be embraced. If we are full of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander, we will love no one; we will actively harm people. All of those vices listed are sins. Peter is exhorting the believers to get rid of all hints of these sins, for they should have no place within a believer’s heart. If we are harboring malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander, either within our hearts or by our actions, then we cannot follow the laws of God. We will fail miserably to love one another.

But we are to rid ourselves of all forms of those sins that harm, and instead “desire the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up into your salvation, if you have tasted that the Lord is good.” We are to be innocent of those sins, like a newborn infant is innocent, and instead of filling our hearts and minds with those evil characteristics, we should fill our hearts and minds with God’s word, so that as we take it in, it causes us to grow in our faith, and “into our salvation” and into the people that God has called us to be.

Which is what he explains next, in verses 4-10:

 “4As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God—5you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For it stands in Scripture:

‘See, I lay a stone in Zion,a chosen and honored cornerstone,and the one who believes in himwill never be put to shame.’

7So honor will come to you who believe; but for the unbelieving,

‘The stone that the builders rejected—this one has become the cornerstone,’

8and

‘A stone to stumble over,and a rock to trip over.’

They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this.

9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

He says that Jesus is a living stone “rejected by people but chosen and honored by God.” Other translations say chosen and loved, or chosen and precious, which is closer to Strong’s Concordance definition of this word which, in the Greek, is entimos and it means, “valued, precious.”

But Jesus is not just a living stone, He is the cornerstone. Peter explains what that means by quoting from three different Scriptures:

·       Isaiah 28:16, which says, “Therefore the Lord God said: ‘Look, I have laid a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will be unshakable.’”

·       Psalm 118:22, which says, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”

·       And Isaiah 8:14, which says, “He will be a sanctuary; but for the two houses of Israel, he will be a stone to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”

Here we see evidence Peter is most likely writing to a group of believers who are composed of Jews and Gentiles, for as he says, “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light,” and also, “once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” It seems like he’s addressing both groups of people who now are collectively called “God’s chosen.”

Peter is telling all of them that they are to be a “living stone,” just as Jesus is a living stone. I think it’s significant that Peter uses the word “living stone,” for Jesus gave Peter this very name. He named him Peter, which means rock.

All believers are now living stones and a part of the holy priesthood. Instead of the old system of Jewish priests who offered sacrifices on behalf of the people, now all believers are to offer spiritual sacrifices to God. This is a monumental change. As Maclaren writes, “Christians individually and collectively are temples, inasmuch as they are ‘the habitation of God through the Spirit.’ They are priests by virtue of their consecration, their direct access to God, their function of representing God to men, and of bringing men to God. They are sacrifices, inasmuch as one main part of their priestly function is to offer themselves to God. Now, it is very difficult for us to realize what an extraordinary anomaly the Christian faith presented at its origin, surrounded by religions which had nothing to do with morality, conduct, or spiritual life, but were purely ritualistic. And here, in the midst of them, started up a religion bare and bald, and with no appeal to sense, no temple, no altar, no sacrifice. But the Apostles with one accord declare that they had all these things in far higher form than those faiths possessed them, which had only the outward appearance.”

We believers are now the temple of the Holy Spirit, and God dwells inside each one of us. We do not need a priest to offer sacrifices for us. In fact, Scripture says, “to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22). Meaning, our sacrifice of obedience is better than the old system of priest-offered sacrifices. All of us believers are priests, and our sacrifice is our lives being given to the Lord.

Last week, we looked at how we must know the truth, which is God’s Word, if we are to obey God. We must know what is right and wrong in order to do what Peter exhorts these believers to do in verses 11-12, “11Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul. 12Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits.”

There is that description again, of believers as strangers and exiles, and the keyword to note is “abstain.” We are to be holy, which means separated or set apart. In Maclaren’s Expositions about this passage of 1 Peter, he writes, “Let me put them in the shape of one or two practical counsels. First let us try to keep up, vivid and sharp, a sense of separation. I do not mean that we should withdraw ourselves from sympathies, nor from services, nor from the large area of common ground which we have with our fellows, whether they be Christians or no--with our fellow-citizens; with those who are related to us by various bonds, by community of purpose, of aim, of opinion, or of affection. But just as Abraham was willing to go down into the plain and fight for Lot, though he would not go down and live in Sodom, and just as he would enter into relations of amity with the men of the land, and yet would not abandon his black camels’-hair tent, pitched beneath the terebinth tree, in order to go into their city and abide with them, so one great part of the wisdom of a Christian man is to draw the line of separation decisively, and yet to keep true to the bond of union. Unless Christian people do make a distinct effort to keep themselves apart from the world and its ways, they will get confounded with these, and when the end comes they will be destroyed with them.”

Let me emphasize that last sentence again: “Unless Christian people do make a distinct effort to keep themselves apart from the world and its ways, they will get confounded with these, and when the end comes they will be destroyed with them.” We are foolish to think otherwise. We might intend to keep our Christian worldview and beliefs, but if we are not intentional and deliberate, we will separate our lives into sacred/secular categories, compartmentalizing our faith into only a small part of our lives. But Christians aren’t supposed to do that. As Nancy Pearcey wrote in her book Total Truth, “Not only will we fail to be salt and light to a lost culture, but we ourselves may end up being shaped by that culture.”

I think she wrote that too generously. I think the world will unquestionably shape us into its image. We will end up thinking, looking, and behaving just like the world. And our worship of God will be reduced to snapshots and snippets of moments.

Pearcey goes on to offer what she calls “the antidote to the secular/sacred divide.” She says, “We must begin by being utterly convinced that there is a biblical perspective on everything- not just on spiritual matters.” She says, “There is no philosophically or spirituality neutral subject matter.” (Pearcey, Nancy. Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity. Wheaton, Ill., Crossway Books, 2004. p.44-45)

I agree wholeheartedly with her. And so would Peter, for then he explains what this looks like in practice and will list some specific areas of life in which they are to demonstrate to the unbelieving Gentiles that they are living stones, whereby showing God’s power to them through how they live.

Verses 13-17 say, “13Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority 14or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. 15For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. 16Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves. 17Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”

They are to submit to authority and obey the laws. Now, of course, this presupposes that the ruling authority is just. I don’t believe the mandate is that we must obey authority that does the opposite and punishes those who do good and rewards those who do evil. Of course not, for we are ultimately to obey God’s law and not man. But when the ruling authority is doing what Peter describes, then, of course, we are not to disobey the law. We are to be upstanding, law-abiding citizens, for if we break the law and are immoral, we would be hypocrites, and that would destroy our witness for Christ.

Then Peter mentions another area of life in which the believers are to be living stones and submissive. To our modern way of thinking, this will seem like horrible advice, for he is telling them to submit to their slave masters. But in Peter’s society, being a household slave was a way of life for many people. He’s not offering a commentary on whether his society is right or wrong. He’s merely telling those who are household slaves how they are to live as living stones within their current life situation. Let’s read what he says, in verses 18-20: “18Household slaves, submit to your masters with all reverence not only to the good and gentle ones but also to the cruel. 19For it brings favor if, because of a consciousness of God, someone endures grief from suffering unjustly. 20For what credit is there if when you do wrong and are beaten, you endure it? But when you do what is good and suffer, if you endure it, this brings favor with God.”

I would think that most of us feel very uncomfortable reading that. Is he really telling them to endure unjust beatings? Where is the justice in that? He even calls it injustice, so why should anyone have to endure ill treatment? He tells us why in the concluding passage, which is verses 21-25: 21For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth; 23when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. 24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

This whole time we’ve been reading this letter, we have rightfully applied Peter’s words to the believers as being applicable to us. Does that mean that we, too, are called to this? I think it does. Christ has suffered for us, leaving us an example which we should follow, hasn’t He? But it’s a hard teaching, isn’t it?

A long time ago when I was in Bible college, a pastor named Ralph Moore spoke during chapel. He told us, “Nobody owes you anything.” That was revolutionary to me at the time I heard it. I don’t remember how he followed it up exactly, but my take away was that nobody owes me anything, but I owe the Lord everything. That is what Peter is saying, too.

As Peter said back in verse 3, “if you have tasted that the Lord is good” then we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifice to the Lord. That means that we have died to our rights. We are no longer to live for ourselves and our desires. Just as those Peter is writing to are to be living stones, so too are we to be living stones. But we won’t be a living stone if we’ve been shaped into the world’s image, or if we are trying to put our wants and needs first.

This is the exact opposite of the world’s message. The world tells us to stand up for ourselves, get what’s ours, be number one, look out for ourselves. Jesus’ message was the opposite. In Luke 9:23, it says, “Then he said to them all, ‘If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.’”

But as Peter’s letter points out, Jesus is the stumbling block. Jesus’ words and hard teachings cause a lot of people to trip and fall. So many of the Jews could not accept His teachings. They couldn’t believe this humble man was actually the very Son of God, the promised Messiah. They stumbled over Him, and couldn’t accept Him. I see this same thing happening today. People stumble over Christ’s words and won’t believe what He said. They try to pick and choose which Bible verses they believe. They keep their Christianity confined to only select areas of their lives. Instead of being living stones, they’ve crafted their faith into something smooth and flat, so as they look like everyone else. I don’t know who originally said this, but there is a famous question someone posed: ‘If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?’ And so I want to ask you, is there evidence that you are “a living stone, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood”?

Let us remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:13-23. He says, “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it. Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves. You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So you’ll recognize them by their fruit. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’ “

Those are hard words, and many people trip over them. I am eternally grateful to the Lord that He offers us forgiveness, mercy, and grace when we, too, fail to follow Him as we should. But I want to leave us with these words from Maclaren: “So, dear friends, all comes to this: There is the Stone laid; it does not matter how close we are lying to it, it will be nothing to us unless we are on it. And I put it to each of you. Are you built on the Foundation, and from the Foundation do you derive a life which is daily bringing you nearer to Him, and making you liker [sic] Him? All blessedness depends, for time and for eternity, on the answer to that question. For remember that, since that living Stone is laid, it is something to you. Either it is the Rock on which you build, or the Stone against which you stumble and are broken.”

Pray: Heavenly Father, we pray that You would make us more and more like You each day. Help us to be living stones, separated and holy, submitted to You. We ask this is Jesus’ name, amen.