1. (1-3) How to respond to the eternal word of God.
Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
a. Therefore: Peter has just demonstrated the glory and eternal character of God’s word. Now therefore, in light of what God’s word is to us, we should receive the word and receive it with a particular heart.
b. As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word: The word desire is strong. In the Septuagint (an ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament) it is used for man’s deepest longing for God: As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God (Psalm 42:1). It speaks of the desire each believer should have for the word of God.
i. Babes… desire: A healthy new baby has an instinctive yearning for its mother’s milk. When things are right, you don’t have to tell it to want the milk.
ii. The failure to either desire or to receive this pure milk of the word is the reason for so many problems in both individual Christian lives and in congregations. “The sickly condition of so many Christians sets forth a lamentable complaint of the food with which they are supplied. To say nothing of strong meat, they do not even get milk. Hence the Church of God too much resembles the wards of a children’s hospital.” (Meyer)
c. That you may grow thereby: The Word of God is necessary for the growth of the Christian. We should all desire the pure milk of the word, even though Paul rebukes the Corinthians for being able to only receive milk (1 Corinthians 3:1-2), the Christian should never get tired of the simple truths of the Gospel simply presented.
i. Who are the newborn babes? In a sense, we all are. “The most advanced among us, in knowledge and attainment, are, in comparison with what they shall be, only as babes.” (Meyer)
ii. “To drink the milk of the Word is to ‘taste’ again and again what he is like, for in the hearing of the Lord’s words believers experience the joy of personal fellowship with the Lord himself.” (Grudem)
d. Laying aside all malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking: This described the attitude of heart that receives the word and grows by the word. This is a humble, honest heart, willing to do what the Word of God says.
i. Evil speaking: This ancient Greek word has more the idea of spicy and hurtful gossip than the idea of profane speech.
e. If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious: If we have received from God and have tasted (personally experienced) that the Lord is gracious, then we have great reason and responsibility to receive the word in the enthusiastic way that babies receive their milk.
2. (4-5) Coming to Jesus.
Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 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.
a. Coming to Him as to a living stone: Peter’s picture here is that God is building a spiritual temple (a spiritual house) using living stones (Christians), those who have come to the ultimate living stone (Jesus).
i. This spiritual house shows that as much as Israel had a temple, Christians also have one. Yet the Christian’s temple is spiritual, and they themselves are the temple.
ii. Jesus is first called the living stone; then we are called living stones. We live because we are connected with Him who is the source of life. “It is in union with him that they live, and answer the end of their regeneration; as stones of a building are of no use but as they occupy their proper places in a building, and rest on the foundation.” (Clarke)
b. Chosen by God and precious: As much as God chose Israel, so the church is also chosen. As much as Israel had a priesthood, so Christians are a holy priesthood. And as much as Israel had sacrifices, so Christians offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.
i. A holy priesthood: The believer is his own priest before God. He does not need any mediator except his great High Priest, Jesus. “There can no longer be an elite priesthood with claims of special access to God, or special privileges in worship or in fellowship with God.” (Grudem)
ii. Peter’s idea isn’t that God has abandoned Israel or that they have no place in His redemptive plan, but that Christianity is in no way inferior to Judaism.
c. To offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ: God does the work of building (being built), but we do the job of offering sacrifices pleasing to Him, as we come to Jesus as who we are – living stones, made by Him.
i. Even a living stone cannot build something great for God as it sits all on its own. What God does in us together is important. He is building something out of us together.
ii. We can only serve as priests as we do it through Jesus Christ. In ourselves, we have no priestly authority, but only in Jesus.
3. (6-8) The glory of the Chief Cornerstone.
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.”
Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,
“The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone,”
And
“A stone of stumbling
And a rock of offense.”
They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
a. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone: If we are being built into a spiritual house, there is no doubt who our Chief Cornerstone is. Even though men rejected Jesus, He has become the Chief Cornerstone in the work of building the church.
i. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of Psalm 118:22, the stumbling stone of Isaiah 8:14, the foundation stone of Isaiah 28:16, the supernatural stone of Daniel 2:35, 40, 44, 45, and the rock that miraculously gave Israel water in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:4).
b. Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious: Though this chief cornerstone is rejected by the disobedient and unbelieving, undeniably He is precious to those who believe. One way to know if a person has truly Biblical faith is to see if Jesus is truly precious to them.
i. When Charles Spurgeon was 16 years old, he preached his first sermon in a village cottage to a handful of poor people, and he chose for his text 1 Peter 2:7: “Unto you therefore which believe He is precious.” Spurgeon said that he didn’t think he could have preached on any other Bible passage, “but Christ was precious to my soul and I was in the flush of my youthful love, and I could not be silent when a precious Jesus was the subject.” (Spurgeon)
ii. “Is Jesus precious to your soul? Remember, on your answer to this question depends your condition. You believe, if he is precious to you, but if he is not precious, then you are not believers, and you are condemned already because you believe not on the Son of God.” (Spurgeon)
· Christ is precious intrinsically.
· Christ is precious positively.
· Christ is precious comparatively.
· Christ is precious superlatively.
· Christ is precious suitably to the need of the believer.
iii. This is true; though G. Campbell Morgan preferred the Revised Version translation: For you therefore which believe is the preciousness. “The declaration is not that believers know the preciousness of Christ; it is rather that they share it… The qualities of Christ that create His preciousness, His honour, are placed at the disposal of the believer.”
iv. “The honour is to you who believe; i.e. the honour of being in this building, and of having your souls saved through the blood of the Lamb, and becoming sons and daughters of God Almighty.” (Clarke)
c. The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone: Those who reject the Chief Cornerstone and refuse to build on Him instead stumble over Him. Instead of being their salvation, Jesus becomes to them a rock of offense.
i. Jesus quoted this passage from Psalm 118:22 in regard to Himself (Matthew 21:42). A chief cornerstone is the starting point of a building; everything is laid out according to its connection to the chief cornerstone. Because it stands at the corner, the same stone is the starting place for two walls.
ii. Thus Jesus set out the course for both Jew and Gentile to be joined together into one glorious house for God. This in itself was a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense for the Jews, who thought that Gentiles should not have equal share with the Jews into God’s great house.
iii. In the thinking of many Jews of that time, God should not have built a new building with both Jew and Gentile. He should have simply renovated the present structure of Judaism (adding Jesus as the Messiah) and invited Gentiles to come into that structure. But God did something different, and it was a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense for many first-century Jews.
iv. Therefore these great titles of 1 Peter 2:9-10 now apply to all believers, Jew and Gentile alike; whereas before they only applied to the Jewish people as God’s covenant people.
d. They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed: It is appointed that those who are disobedient to the word should stumble over Jesus.
i. When Jesus spoke of Himself as the stone of Psalm 118:22, He spoke of what those who rejected Him are appointed to: “And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” (Matthew 21:44)
4. (9-10) The privileged place of God’s people.
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; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
a. But you are a chosen generation: The things that once exclusively belonged to Israel – their election (chosen), priesthood, and calling are now no longer the property of Israel alone. These are now the property of every Christian, and we have them in a greater and spiritual sense.
i. We are a royal priesthood. The offices of royalty and priesthood were jealously separated in Israel. But Jesus, who is our King and Priest, has brought them together for His people.
b. His own special people: We are special because we belong to God. A museum may be filled with quite ordinary things: hats, canes, shoes, and so forth; but they may be significant because they once belonged to someone famous. God takes ordinary people; and because He works in them, they are special.
i. These same titles were applied to Israel (Exodus 19:5-6, Deuteronomy 4:20, Deuteronomy 7:6, and Isaiah 43:20-21). Now in Jesus we belong to God as His own special people.
ii. “The description of the Church is systematic and exhaustive. It is a race, and this suggests its life principle. It is a priesthood, and so has right of access to God. It is a nation, and so is under His government. It is a possession, and so is actually indwelt by Him.” (Morgan)
c. Who once were not a people but are now the people of God: We once were without these privileges, and were not even a people before God. We had not seen the mercy of God, but now have obtained mercy.
i. In our culture, with its Christian foundations, we don’t easily understand the great sense of privilege and relief that came to Gentiles as they were shared in the New Covenant with the God of Israel. Peter’s message is wonderful: “You didn’t used to belong, but now you belong to God and among God’s people.”
d. That you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light: The purpose for these high privileges is not so we can grow proud, but so that we can proclaim the praises of Him who has done such great things for us.
i. Since it is true that believers have a new life principle (chosen generation), a new access to God (royal priesthood), a new government (holy nation), and a new owner (His own special people), it will affect the way the believer lives life. That effect is described in the following verses.