As you come to him, a living stone, rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:4-5

Peter informs Christians that we “come to” the Lord (2:4a).  This journey began when we were baptized into Christ (Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:26-27), but it didn’t stop there.  We continue to come to the Lord as we faithfully and penitently serve Him (John 14:23; cf. 1 John 2:24; Rev. 3:20).  By coming to Jesus, we come to His Father also (Heb. 10:21-22; 4:14-16).

The apostle then describes the Lord as “a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious” (2:4b; cf. 2 Sam. 22:2; Ps. 61:2; Gen. 49:24b).  It was prophesied that men would reject the Messiah, but God would still use Him as the integral part of His plan to save mankind.  The Psalmist wrote, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Ps. 118:22), a passage Jesus and His apostles applied to Himself (Matt. 21:33-46; Acts 4:11; Eph. 2:20).    Architecturally, the cornerstone is very important in that the entire structure of the house rests upon it.  Paul had recognized that Christ is the foundation, the cornerstone of God’s temple which is the church (1 Cor. 3:9-17; Eph. 2:19-22; cf. 1 Tim. 3:15; Is. 2:2-3).  Now Peter continues in that analogy.  Just as Christ is that
“living stone,” Peter informs Christians that “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (2:4-5).

Here the apostle uses two different figures to teach us very important spiritual truths about ourselves and our importance to the church.  Just as Christ is the cornerstone which is the foundation of the church, each one of us is a stone that, collectively, are part of God’s house.  Imagine if your house had lots of holes in the walls where bricks should go but they weren’t there.  No one would want a house like that!  This should help us realize how vital every single one of us is to the work of God’s house (cf. Eph. 4:15-16; Heb. 10:24-25)!  Additionally, each one of us is part of a “holy priesthood” which offers “spiritual sacrifices.”  Within the Law of Moses, only those of a certain tribe were priests; Catholicism has followed that example by erroneously only calling some within its church to be priests in the clergy, separated from the rest of the church (the laity).  Biblically, Peter shows us that all Christians are priests (cf. 2:9).  Paul joins him in directing us to offer “spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (2:5b) specifically “(our) bodies as a living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1).  In other words, every aspect of our lives must be offered in service to God if we are to be acceptable to Him (cf. Matt. 22:37; John 14:15).

Returning to the spiritual house figure, Peter shows how this fulfilled another Messianic prophecy: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame” (2:6; cf. Is. 28:16).  Honor is the opposite of shame, and Peter lets us know that “the honor is for you who believe” (2:7a).  As “for those who do not believe” (2:7b), Peter correlates them with “the builders” in the Psalmist’s Messianic prophecy who had “rejected” Christ, the “stone” who became “the cornerstone” (2:7c; cf. Ps. 118:22).  Citing another Messianic prophecy from Isaiah about how Christ would become “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense” (2:8a; cf. Is. 8:14), the apostle points out how those who “stumble” over (i.e., reject) Christ do so because they “disobey the word” (2:8b).  He might have had the nation of Israel in mind (Rom. 9:30-33; 1 Cor. 1:23).  He added, “…and to this doom they were also appointed” (2:8c), as are all who choose to disobey God’s Word (Matt. 7:21-27; Heb. 5:9; Acts 10:34-35; Rom. 2:4-11).  If we unrepentantly disobey God’s Word, that same fate waits for us!

— Jon