1 Peter 2:5 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Peter 2:5

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By nature, none of us would say, ‘I am a rock, I am a stone.’ We are all so unstable and weak but, yes, in a sense, once we are converted, we become stones, because, despite our weakness, God will ensure that our conversion will endure: the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Once we come to Christ, we are sealed. If we fall, if we sin, even if he has to sorely chastise us, he will ultimately bring us back and restore us because we too, in a sense, are now like stones, in terms of being spiritually impregnable. Salvation will stand and hopefully by the work of the Spirit our character will also become unchanging and fixed and firm and loyal.What does a spiritual house, a temple suggest? Well, a temple was at the centre of Jerusalem. People came to see it and they came there to worship and those who were foreigners came to observe this tremendous temple compound. So it is with the church. We are built together to make something visible, a spiritual house, which the community can see and hear of our joys in Christ and what we believe. All the stones in the temple were carved and fashioned and there was no mortar, yet they fitted perfectly to make a strong, interlocking structure. We are an holy priesthood in the sense of being separated to God; consecrated to him. In Old Testament times there were a limited number of priests, but in the New Testament everyone is a priest. Every Christian is a stone in the spiritual building; it is the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. A priest first of all represents God to man – he speaks to man on behalf of God – and a priest also represents man to God. He is a kind of go-between. Jesus Christ is, of course, the go-between whose work is effective, but we serve as go-betweens in terms of representing the message of God to man and praying for man to God. Do I as a father or mother represent Christ to my children? Do I represent Christ in my place of business? Do I, on lost man's behalf, or my lost children's behalf, plead to God for them?Why spiritual sacrifices? Because physical sacrifices are no longer offered. The blood of bulls and goats were all illustrative, symbols of the Old Testament. They are passed with the coming of Christ. Christ now is the only sacrifice. And the churches on his behalf offer up spiritual – that is non-physical – sacrifices. What are the sacrifices? Worship and holiness, and service. That's the threefold sacrifice of a spiritual nature. A sacrifice is something you lose. Everything we do is given to God.

Application

Note that we are Christians first, and then we are built up in the church. Being in the church and worshipping and hearing the word doesn’t make us Christians. We become Christians before we are joined to the church. The church is a like a temple building here and it is composed of living stones. It is an illustration. Not dead stones. A church shouldn’t be a mixed multitude. Who do we receive into membership of the church? Some people who believe they are converted, and others who are not? No, we are to build, so far as we can, by the help of God, a spiritual temple, composed of living stones. We may often be fooled by people who tell us, ‘I have received Christ. I have repented of my sin. I know him and I walk with him,’ but we aim to receive only truly converted people.

Oh, that we would be such as people in the church of Jesus Christ, joined together in harmony. Every stone taking its place. Some stones being in those huge pillars, supporting tremendous weights. Others in the walls; others were decorative. So we all have our place in the church of Jesus Christ. Everyone has a function; everyone has a role in the work of God and in the worship. Is that true of me? Do I see myself as one of the stones placed in the position that Christ would have me in the church, labouring with others, part of the team, appreciating them? The passage started like this: ‘See that ye love one another with a pure heart, fervently.’ Am I a stone, closely fitting in with other stones?

The priests were set aside for their work and so are we. We are not supposed to be of this world, not only in sinful things but in its general practices. The world loves to party. What is a Christian? Somebody who simply parties in a more sanitised way; a tidied up, cleaned up way? No, they are truly changed. You may have parties for your little children growing up, but even then, don’t make too much of them. Of course, we are all for the family and the children but when we start overdoing things and becoming like the worldling, we are no longer priests.

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1 Peter 2:5 Commentary and Bible Study