*1 Peter 2:1-25
Peter calls believers to live holy lives, submitting to authorities, and following the example of Christ in suffering.
- Purification and Growth:
- Believers are urged to rid themselves of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.
- Like newborn babies, they should crave pure spiritual milk so that by it they may grow up in their salvation, now that they have tasted that the Lord is good.
- Living Stones and a Holy Priesthood:
- The passage uses the metaphor of believers as “living stones” being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- Jesus is described as the cornerstone, chosen and precious in the sight of God, and believers are also precious in this construction.
- Christ as the Foundation:
- The scripture references include Christ as a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, aimed at those who do not believe and disobey the word.
- For believers, however, Christ is the cornerstone, essential and invaluable.
- Royal Priesthood and Holy Nation:
- Believers are described as a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.
- They are called to declare the praises of God who called them out of darkness into his wonderful light, once not a people but now God’s people, once not having received mercy but now having received mercy.
- Living as Strangers:
- The text exhorts believers to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against the soul.
- As foreigners and exiles, they are to live good lives among the pagans so that, although they are accused of wrongdoing, they may see good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
- Submission to Authority:
- Believers are instructed to submit themselves to every human authority for the Lord’s sake, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority or to governors.
- This is God’s will, that by doing good they should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.
- Christ’s Suffering as an Example:
- Peter highlights Christ’s suffering as an example for believers to follow. He did not retaliate or make threats; instead, he entrusted himself to God who judges justly.
- Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.
- Healing through Christ:
- The passage ends with a reminder that by Christ’s wounds, believers have been healed. They were like sheep going astray but now have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of their souls.