1 Peter 2:4–10

2:4–5 This paragraph is linked closely to what has preceded by the relative pronoun hon, the antecedent of which is ho kyrios (“the Lord”) in verse 3. The participle proserchomenoi most likely describes an attendant circumstance: “as you come to him.” To describe Jesus as a “living” (zōnta) stone is striking, as stones are by nature inert and lifeless. Peter has already referred to our “living hope” (1:3) and the “living” word of God (1:23), and here his focus is on Christ as “living” (that is, risen from the dead). The words “stone” and “cornerstone” are repeatedly applied to Jesus in this passage (2:6, 7, 8) in order to portray him as the foundation of a “spiritual house,” the church. This house, the true temple of God, is “living” and thus pulsating with life. It is a vibrant and ever-increasing organic reality that grows with each instance of conversion and expands by the power of the Holy Spirit.

To “come” to Christ, this living stone, likely means to follow him, to believe and trust in him, to put one’s hope in him as the sent one of God, unlike those “men” who have “rejected” him (v. 4). The participle “rejected” is concessive: “although” rejected by men, he is “chosen and precious” in the sight of God.

Jesus is preeminently God’s chosen or “elect” one and is immeasurably “precious”—valuable, highly honored—in God’s sight. That God the Father should prize Jesus in this way suggests that we too should treasure the Son of God above all else (cf. Phil. 3:7–8). Perhaps the most important task of the church, God’s temple, is to prize Jesus as precious so that all the world may see him as such (cf. 1 Pet. 2:9–10).

If we are in Christ, the “living stone,” then we too are “living stones” (v. 5) of a spiritual house, a temple that God is building. The purpose of God in and through the church is to establish us as a “holy priesthood” (in v. 9, believers are described as a “royal priesthood”) whose function is to offer “spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.” Our service and activity as the church is “spiritual” in the sense that, unlike the offerings of the priesthood under the old covenant, in which the blood of bulls and goats was perpetually placed on the altar, we offer a spiritual “sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (Heb. 13:15). However, by “spiritual” Peter does not mean immaterial, for our bodies are physical and are themselves to be offered as a “living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1). In the new covenant, no sacrifice of worship or service is “acceptable” to God unless it comes “through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5), that is, on the basis of his atoning sacrifice and bodily resurrection.

The body of Christ is the true temple of God’s indwelling presence. The glory of Yahweh now abides permanently and powerfully in us through the Holy Spirit. In language similar to that of Peter, Paul refers to Jesus Christ as the cornerstone “in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21–22; cf. 1 Cor. 3:16–17; 6:19–20; 2 Cor. 6:16). God’s residence is neither a literal temple in Jerusalem nor simply heaven but encompasses the church, of which all of us who know Jesus are a part.

2:6–8 This is the only occasion in the NT where the word translated “it stands” (present tense of periechō) is used to cite an OT text (although it is largely synonymous with the more common perfect tense “it is written” [gegraptai]). The citation that follows is from Isaiah 28:16.

The words “chosen and precious” are the same as those found earlier, in 1 Peter 2:4, and again they describe Jesus. The unusual akrogōniaios could be translated as “cornerstone” (ESV) or “capstone/keystone.” The former (which is more probable) forms the foundation to a building, while the latter completes it. “Cornerstone” is more likely, as the imagery is of one who stumbles or trips over it (cf. v. 8). This is confirmed by the additional description of Christ as, literally, “the head of the corner” (v. 7).

This is a metaphor, obviously, but one with deep and very personal meaning for everyone. If one finds Jesus precious and thus responds in faith, he is the cornerstone upon which such a person builds his life in community now and is the rock on which that person will stand without shame or disappointment in the ages to come. But if one finds him to be offensive and unappealing and responds to him in disobedience and unbelief, he is the stone over which such a person will stumble and fall, both now and forever.

Several translations render the opening of verse 7 as if Peter were declaring that Jesus is “precious” to us who believe (hē timē taken as a predicate nominative). Although Jesus is surely that, Peter’s point is to remind his readers that, although they may suffer shame and disgrace for their obedience to Christ, they are honored and valued by God for their resilient faith and trust. Thus the “honor” belongs to the believer through the grace of God.

The “builders” who rejected Christ as God’s cornerstone for the church, the true temple of God, are the ones who “do not believe” (v. 7a). Christ is “this very one” (most translations fail to observe the emphatic houtos, the subject of egenēthē [“has become”]) who serves the foundational purpose in God’s work.

The rejection of Christ as the cornerstone, though tragic and devastating for those who do not find him to be “chosen and precious” (v. 4), was not unforeseen and poses no obstacle to God’s purposes for the church. The “word” they “disobey” (v. 8) is the gospel, the same “good news that was preached” to all (1:25).

A more literal rendering of 2:8 would be, “they stumble because they disobey the word, unto which also they were appointed.” There is some dispute over the antecedent of the neuter relative pronoun (ho, “which”). Some are disturbed by the suggestion that certain people are “appointed” or “destined” not to believe the gospel, and thus find the antecedent to be “stumbling.” The point would be that “those who disobey the word are destined to stumble”¹ but not destined to “disobey.” But the ESV rendering is more likely: that to which “they were destined” is their unbelief.²

Human choices cannot finally destroy the temple of God. Even when someone rejects the chosen and precious stone of Jesus Christ, two things are still true: first, the stone will not be rejected by God but will still hold the place of honor and glory as the chief cornerstone; second, the one who rejects the stone will never be able to boast over God that he frustrated God’s ultimate design for his temple. God triumphs even as some reject him. Unbelievers still make the choice; they choose to disobey because such is their freely chosen desire. Their stumbling is not some inadvertent accident in which they never see the stone and unintentionally trip over it. No, they see it and spurn it. They refuse to cherish and embrace this stone as precious. And for that, they alone are morally accountable.

2:9 Although the adversative de is not as strong as other adversatives in the Greek NT, when combined with the emphatic second-person-plural pronoun hymeis (“but you”) it is clear that Peter is setting the Christian community in sharp contrast with those who “disobey the word” (v. 8b).

What follows reverberates with OT descriptions of the people of God (cf. esp. Ex. 19:5–6; Deut. 7:6; 14:2; Isa. 43:20–21; Hos. 2:23; cf. also Titus 2:14). Titles, privileges, and blessings formerly reserved for ethnic Israel are now freely applied to the NT church, the true Israel of God (cf. Gal. 6:16). Here in 1 Peter 2:9 are four distinctive truths applicable to all who believe in and build their lives on the chosen and precious cornerstone, Christ (v. 6).

First, the church is a “chosen [eklekton; also applied to Jesus, the “chosen” stone, in v. 6] race” (an echo of Isaiah 43:3, 20–21). Irrespective of ethnicity, believers have been united by faith in Jesus to be a new people, a new race. This kind of “race” (genos) has nothing to do with ethnicity precisely because this race is composed of every ethnicity. It is a spiritual race, a chosen race, defined not by color or culture but by creed. This race is defined by the One in whom we believe: Jesus.

Second, the church is a “royal priesthood.” Although “royal” (basileion) could easily be taken as a substantive noun (hence “kingdom”), it is more likely functioning as an adjective modifying “priesthood.” As priests of God, we are not merely the passive building in which God dwells; we are also the active participants in worship. The priests brought the sacrifices into the tabernacle in the OT. But now, that tabernacle is replaced by the Christian church, the atoning altar is replaced by Jesus Christ and his shed blood, and the Levitical priests are replaced by all who believe in Christ. We are a “royal” priesthood because we have come under the dominion of the King of the Universe, the Lord of lords and King of kings. Just as OT Israel was to mediate God’s blessing to the surrounding nations (Gen. 12:3; Ex. 19:6), so the NT church, as priests of God, is to spread his grace and truth to a needy world.

Third, the church is a “holy nation.” No people group can lay claim to being a “holy nation” except the church, those who have been set apart “in the sanctification of the Spirit” (1 Pet. 1:2) for obedience to Jesus.

Fourth, we are a “people for his own possession.” Although God owns everything (Ex. 19:5), he has through Christ obtained for himself (1 Pet. 1:19) a special and uniquely blessed people: those who by grace have believed in Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 6:16).

All of this is true of us so “that” (hopōs) we might proclaim God’s excellencies (aretas; used in the plural only here in the NT), which encompass God’s moral virtues, his inherent beauty (cf. Ps. 27:4), and his actions in and through Jesus on behalf of those whom he has called unto himself. In fact, the excellencies of God are seen primarily in his having “called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9b).

The “darkness” in which believers once lived is hardly physical in nature; rather, it points to the spiritual ignorance that dominated our lives. We were blind to the beauty and excellency of Jesus. God has chosen and delivered us so that we might experience a new sight, a new taste. God’s shining of his light into the soul does not merely awaken us to the existence or reality of spiritual things, of God and Christ and the Holy Spirit. It also shows the excellency, glory, and beauty of such and imparts a new taste for what is “marvelous” about God.

2:10 Verse 10 is Peter’s adaptation and application to the NT church of the story of Hosea and Gomer (in particular, Hos. 1:6, 9; 2:4, 23). The contrasts in this verse are striking and deliberate on Peter’s part. A literalistic translation might read,

1. who then not people,
2. but now people of God;
3. the ones not having received mercy,
4. but now the ones having received mercy.

Hosea was to represent God. Gomer, his wife, was to play the part of Israel. God directed Hosea to name his children in ways that would teach the people of Israel important lessons. Thus his firstborn, a son, was named Jezreel, which means “God scatters,” pointing to the judgment that would befall Israel. The second child, a daughter, was named Lo-ruhama, which means “not pitied.” And the third child, another son, was called Lo-ammi, “not my people” (Hos. 1:4, 6, 9).

However, the Lord graciously transforms the threats implied in the names of Hosea’s children into blessings. Such is the power of God’s love that Jezreel will be planted in the land (the Hebrew word meaning “scattered” can also mean “sown”; Hos. 2:22). The Lord declares that he will have mercy on Lo-ruhama and will say to Lo-ammi, “You are my people” (Hos. 2:23). Thus we see that the redemptive love of Hosea for Gomer, and of God for Israel, was a picture of God’s love for all of his people across the ages, including Peter’s original readers and the church today.