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1 Peter 2:4–5
“As you come to [Christ], a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
Christians rely solely on the work of God the Father through His only begotten Son and by His Holy Spirit for their salvation and for its fruit of obedience in their lives. The Apostle Peter makes this marvelously clear in the opening chapters of his first epistle—for instance, in 1 Peter 1:3, where he says that God caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Christ. We have been spiritually reborn by the same power that overcame death itself, and that power continues to be operative in our lives to overcome sin and make us fruitful Christians who serve God and neighbor. Peter also argues for our complete dependence on God for our salvation and for our consequent obedience more implicitly through the structure of his argument. First Peter 1:1–11 focuses on the great work of Christ in procuring our salvation, helping us understand that who we are in Jesus precedes our response of faith and good works. Then 2:4–10 stresses again what the Lord has achieved for us in making us into His true and holy temple. In between these sections is 1:13–2:3, which includes teaching on what Jesus has done for us but focuses a bit more on how we are to live as a consequence of His saving work. Structurally, our call to obedience is bookended by God’s actions in our behalf, revealing that His work for and in us initiates and completes any good that we do.
As Peter begins in today’s passage to focus again on what Christ has accomplished and is accomplishing, he uses Old Testament imagery to help us understand our true identity in Jesus. Our Savior is the living stone that has been rejected by men but is chosen and precious in God’s sight (2:4), and we will discuss that reality more fully in our next study. He goes on to say that as we come to trust in the Savior, we are being built up like living stones into a spiritual house. That parallel between our status as living stones and Christ as the living stone means that like Him, we are chosen and precious in God’s sight. Peter is referencing God’s work of unconditional election: We are chosen for salvation in the Chosen One, Jesus Christ, not on account of anything good in us but solely because God decided to love us (see also Eph. 1:3–6). Peter’s reference to living stones and sanctuaries alludes to the construction of the old covenant temple (see 1 Kings 5), indicating that the Christian church today is the true temple of God.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Our good works do not merit our salvation, but as we are being formed into God’s holy temple, God accepts them through Christ as spiritual sacrifices, as 1 Peter 2:4–5 states. John Calvin comments, “God deals so indulgently with us, that in Christ he sets a value on our works, which in themselves deserve nothing.” Our service to God and neighbor is accepted in and through Christ, and therefore it is well pleasing to the Lord.
For further study
- Romans 12:1–2
- 1 Corinthians 3:16
The bible in a year
- 1 Samuel 22–23
- Luke 17:1–19
- 1 Samuel 24–28
- Luke 17:20–18:34