ALL ROADS LEAD TO CHRIST
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST!!!
1 PETER CHAPTER 2 STUDY (PART ONE – vv. 1-10)
Our Inheritance Through Christ’s Blood
2 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow [a]thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
The Chosen Stone and His Chosen People
4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,
“Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”
7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who [b]are disobedient,
“The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,”
8 and
“A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.”
They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Notes 1 Peter 2 – (vv. 1-10)
2:1: The duty, the necessity, for Christians to be holy in their conduct is the issue pursued in this passage … The Apostle Paul has written that new – (indeed, all!!!) Christians are to put off the old manner of life, corrupted by evil and deception – (Ephesians 4:22) … Similarly, those addressed here are to turn from the same …
Ephesians 4:22: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
“The process of Christian growth requires our free will commitment to walk in righteousness and holiness” – (parts of v. 24) …
2:2-3: The pure milk of the word is apostolic doctrine – (Acts 2:42), the basic teaching of the Church both written – (1 Peter 1:10-12) and spoken – (1Peter 1:25) … These lead us to the meat of the word – (1Corinthians 3:2), the sacraments of the Church, and continual growth in the Christian life … We have TASTED THAT THE LORD IS GRACIOUS and should long for spiritual nourishment …
Acts 2:42: And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ [a]doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
1 Corinthians 3:2: I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;
2:4-10: Peter likens the growth of the Church to the OT temple with its attending priesthood and its sacrifice and worship, Christ Himself being the fulfillment of this imagery … So, in Christ we become living stones, a spiritual house, a royal priesthood – (v. 5; see Exodus 19:5-6), the people of God who have obtained mercy – (v.10; see Ephesians 2:19-22; 1Corinthians 3:16-17; 2Corinthians 6:16) … This is salvation in all its fulness …
Exodus 19:5-6: Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
Ephesians 2:19-22: Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17: Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone [a]defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
2Corinthians 6:16: And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you[a] are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”
2:5: In the true temple, one sacrifice is offered, the unrepeatable sacrifice of Christ … But in Him, in baptism, we also are sacrificed, “a living sacrifice” – (Romans 12:1) acceptable to God … Our whole life is to be lived in this baptism as an offering to Christ our life … This is the spiritual offering of the Church in the Eucharist, the offering by which she lives …
Romans 12:1: I beseech[a] you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your [b]reasonable service.
2:9: In the true Temple there is one offerer, one priest, who, again, is Christ … In baptism we all are anointed with grace as priests in the Kingdom of God; for the spiritual Kingdom is also the spiritual priesthood … Moreover, as the body of Christ, we have a priestly ministry to the world, fulfilling the very priesthood and intercession of the Lord Himself, so that to the whole universe we may proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of the darkness into His marvel light …
“The Church and all who follow the Lord and His ways, is also organic and made whole through Christ … (1): PLANTED – (The Church, all followers in Christ, our faith planted like the mustard seed) … (2): BUILDING, (3): A TEMPLE, “YOU” is plural and refers to us all the Church and all who follow Christ pure in heart, so we are the Temple our bodies is the Temple of the Lord, the Holy Spirit dwells in us all … The one who would break this unity would desecrate a sacred place” …
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