1 Peter 2:1-8

Rachel Workman: So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. 2 Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, 3 now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness. I love how Peter says to cry out for this nourishment. God didn't create us to sit and back and take a passive approach to spiritual matters. He created us to crave and cry out to him.

4 You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. I have always loved thinking about Christ as the cornerstone in my life. It's hard to imagine Christ being rejected, but he was and still is. And because we belong to him we are also rejected.

5 And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. 6 As the Scriptures say, That's a lot of verse there. We are living stones build with Christ as the cornerstone, holy priests that through Christ's mediation (meaning if we allow Christ to work through us) allows us to make spiritual sacrifices that please God. NOW that is hard for me to wrap my mind around. If we can make no other sacrifice we can make that one.

“I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem,
    chosen for great honor,
and anyone who trusts in him
    will never be disgraced.”\ Although some may look at me with disgrace here on this earth when I put my trust in Christ I will never be disgraced. Pretty amazing.

7 Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him, “The stone that the builders rejected
    has now become the cornerstone.”

8 And, “He is the stone that makes people stumble,
    the rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them. To every human being Christ is either the means of salvation if they believe, or the means of judgment if they reject the gospel. There is no escaping for anyone. 

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John Burnett:  2 Therefore, putting aside all ^[a]malice and all deceit and ^[b]hypocrisy and ^[c]envy and all ^[d]slander, ² like newborn babies, long for the ^[e]pure ^[f]milk of the word, so that by it you may grow ^[g]in respect to salvation, ³ if you have tasted ^[h]the kindness of the Lord.  The mention of growing in respect to salvation references the need to be born again.  When Christ accepts you (Not when you accept Christ), He gives us the Holy Spirit, imputes Christ’s righteousness to us, and we begin the lifelong process of sanctification.  If this does not happen, according to the Word you are not saved.  Many will say Lord, Lord and He will say, I did not them because they were not born again.

⁴ And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is ^[i]choice and precious in the sight of God, ⁵ you also, as living stones, ^[j]are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For this is contained in ^[k]Scripture:

“Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone,
And he who believes in ^[l]Him will not be ^[m]disappointed.”  No disappointment.  This world is full of disappointment and those whom believe in Him are going to a place where there is no disappointment, no sickness, nor crying.  Just joy and worship for our King.

⁷ This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve,

“The stone which the builders rejected,
This became the very corner stone,”

⁸ and,

“A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”;

for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.  Doom has the connotation that they will be destroyed, but my understanding is they will never be consumed.  The torment and pain is eternal and therefore they cannot be burned up by the fire. 

The seeker sensitive gospel is easily accessible but here Peter talks about the Stone of stumbling and the Rock of Offense.  The Gospel is very offensive because it excludes so many people because they love their sin more that the promises that come with believing the Gospel.

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Krista Cook:  2 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. ² Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, ³ now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.

- we, just like babies needing milk, must feed our souls on His word daily.  We should cry out if we don't get it.

⁴ You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.

- Jesus has to be our foundation!  All else will fail without Him.

⁵ And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests.^[a] Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.

- Christians are the stones being built upon His foundation.  Are you being a living stone for Him?  Don't just be a pet rock - LIVE FOR HIM!

⁶ As the Scriptures say,
“I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem,^[b]
    chosen for great honor,
and anyone who trusts in him
    will never be disgraced.”^[c]
7 Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him,
“The stone that the builders rejected
    has now become the cornerstone.”^[d]
8 And,
“He is the stone that makes people stumble,
    the rock that makes them fall.”^[e]
They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.

- we must tell the lost about Jesus!  Share His story with them. 

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Mike Grimm:  2 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. This verse continues from chapter 1:22. A person who loves other people will want to help them and say good things about them. The words that people use show what their spirit is like. Jesus said this in Matthew 12:33-37. All the behaviour in this verse is evil. ‘get rid of all evil’ means remove it from your life. Peter lists 5 evil things that Christians should remove from their lives.

² Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, ³ now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness. Peter now describes the word of God as ‘pure spiritual milk’. Spiritual means linked to a person’s spirit and not to his or her physical body. A Christian should want God’s word as much as a baby wants milk. A Christian should be eager to read and listen to God’s word. This will help them to become mature. Verse 3 comes from Psalm 34:8. ‘Tasted’ means discovered by experience. Christians realise how kind God is. This makes them hungry in their spirit and they want to know God more and more.

⁴ You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. “You are coming” means to come and worship Jesus (Hebrews 4:10). Peter called Jesus ‘the living cornerstone”. Christians do not worship someone who is dead. Most people did not believe or trust Jesus, but God chose Jesus. In verses 6-8 there are three Old Testament verses about a stone and a cornerstone. Peter explains that those verses refer to Jesus.

⁵ And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. Peter now says that Christians are like ‘living stones’. Jesus makes people alive in their spirit. God lives in Christians. He does not live in a physical building (1 Corinthians 6:19). When the builders made the temple, they built the walls with stones. God now builds a spiritual house. He builds it with people. Here spiritual means linked to God’s Spirit, not to a physical building. This spiritual house is the church. When people become Christians, they become part of the church. God is holy, so he wants to live in holy people (see chapter 1:15-16).

Christians are also ‘holy priests’. The Jewish priests were the only people who could go into the temple. They worshipped God and prayed to him. They sacrificed animals to God so that he would forgive sins. They went to God on behalf of other people. Now Jesus has died on the cross to forgive sins. We do not need to sacrifice animals any more. Everyone can come to God through Jesus. ‘Spiritual sacrifices’ are what Christians offer to God. This shows God that they love him. In the New Testament there are 4 ways by which Christians offer sacrifices to God:

(1) They give their whole life to God (Romans 12:1).

(2) They *praise and thank God (Hebrews 13:15).

(3) They do good work and share what they have with other people (Hebrews 13:16).

(4) They support people who explain the good news about Jesus (Philippians 4:18).

⁶ As the Scriptures say,

“I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem,
    chosen for great honor,
and anyone who trusts in him
    will never be disgraced.”

⁷ Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him,

“The stone that the builders rejected
    has now become the cornerstone.”

⁸ And,

“He is the stone that makes people stumble,
    the rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.

These three verses (6-8) are Old Testament prophecies about Jesus. A prophecy is a message from God. Sometimes it describes what is going to happen. These verses prophesied that God would send Jesus. But the Jews would refuse to accept him. This happened. They did not accept Jesus as the Christ (Messiah).

‘He will not disappoint anyone who believes in him’. Christians should never be ashamed to say that they trust in Jesus. They know how wonderful he is. Jesus is precious to God (verse 5) and he is precious to Christians.

Many people who believe in God do not accept Jesus. But, only Jesus gives eternal life. People who choose not to follow Jesus will not be part of his spiritual house. They ‘trip’ and ‘fall’ when they refuse to receive Jesus. This means that they will not receive eternal life. They will not go to heaven. People like that continue to do what is wrong. They ‘do not accept God’s message’. God knew that this would happen before he sent Jesus to this world.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6). It can’t be any clearer. AND there is a line in the book The Shack that contradicts this scripture, so be careful if you read the book and didn’t catch it, or if you plan on reading it.