10  Spiritual Privileges—  Part 2: Security in  Christ, Affection for  Christ, Election  by Christ, and  Dominion with Christ  (1 Peter 2:6–9b)

For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” 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, ” 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. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, (2:6–9b)

A university student once told a pastor, “I have decided I don’t believe in God.”

“All right, ” the pastor replied, “could you please describe for me the God you don’t believe in.”

The student proceeded to sketch a caricature of God, a portrait of one who was completely unfair and lacking in essential goodness.

The pastor said to him, “Well, we’re in the same boat. I don’t believe in that God either.”

Unfortunately, not all believers would make as astute a response as the pastor did. Some people, including professed believers, view humanity’s general sin-plagued circumstances and, without a true understanding of sin, conclude that God is less than good, caring, or capable. But when one consistently views things from a biblical perspective, it is clear and convincing that God is indeed good, gracious, merciful, and benevolent. That is the God the Bible portrays, as the psalmist wrote, “The goodness of God endureth continually” (Ps. 52:1, KJV; cf. Nahum 1:7). The original Saxon meaning of the word God was “the good, ” indicating that centuries ago God’s name was synonymous with goodness.

God remains the infinite, inexhaustible source of all goodness, visible in the beauties of creation and experienced in His mercy toward sinners (cf. James 1:17). His ultimate and most generous goodness is the gift of redemption from sin, which culminates with eternal life. The apostle Peter wanted his readers to continue to focus on God’s goodness, which has granted all spiritual privileges. In 2:4–5 he affirmed the first two privileges as union with Christ and access to Christ—fellowship expressed through believers being made a holy priesthood that offers spiritual sacrifices. In verses 6–9b the apostle presents four more spiritual privileges for believers to ponder: security in Christ, affection for Christ, election by Christ, and dominion with Christ.

SECURITY IN CHRIST

For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” (2:6)

Peter adds to the list of spiritual privileges by introducing Isaiah 28:16 with the phrase this is contained in Scripture, testifying to the inspiration and authority of the prophetic book. That verse is an important messianic statement (cf. Paul’s reference to it in Rom. 9:33) that promised when Christ came He would be the cornerstone of God’s new spiritual house, which is made up of believers (cf. Matt. 21:42; Acts 4:11; Eph. 2:19–22).

God, through the prophet, called His people to behold or view Messiah as the special stone that the Father Himself laid in Zion—Israel, and more specifically the mountain in Jerusalem (cf. 2 Sam. 5:7; 1 Kings 8:1; Pss. 48:2; 51:18; 102:21; Isa. 2:3; 4:3; 10:12; 24:23; 30:19; 52:2; Jer. 26:18; Amos 1:2; Mic. 3:12; Zeph. 3:16; Zech. 1:17). Messiah will come to that city to establish His spiritual kingdom among those who believe in Him. Christ did come to Israel, to Jerusalem, and though He was rejected and postponed His earthly rule until the future Millennium (Rev. 20:1–7), He did establish His spiritual rule over the hearts of all who believe in Him (cf. Luke 17:20–21). Figuratively, Zion can refer to the new covenant as Sinai does to the old covenant (cf. Gal. 4:24–25), or to heavenly blessings as Sinai does to judgment (cf. Heb. 12:18–23).

Christ is uniquely fitted for His task and thus He is a choice stone, God’s chosen One. Peter’s believing Jewish readers would have remembered that during the building of Solomon’s temple, the workers prepared the stones in advance and brought them to the site (1 Kings 6:7). With the help of a careful blueprint of the temple, the craftsmen cut and shaped each stone to its perfect size and determined the exact place each was to fit. With only minor adjustments on site, those temple stones were set precisely together like parts of a large puzzle. That description is analogous to God’s choosing Christ as the foundation on which to build His spiritual temple (cf. John 10:16; 1 Cor. 3:9, 16–17; 1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 3:6) made up of believers in the Messiah Jesus, divinely prepared (elect) from before the creation of the world (2 Tim. 1:9; Rev. 13:8; 17:8).

Christ is not only a living and choice stone, but he is also a precious corner stone. The Greek word translated precious (entimon) means “unequaled in value, ” “costly, ” or “irreplaceable.” Christ is irreplaceable because He is the cornerstone, the most important stone in any building. The word translated corner stone (akrogōniaios) denotes a chief cornerstone and describes the stone that sets all the proper angles for the building. It is like the building’s plumb line in that it sets the horizontal and vertical lines of the rest of the building; it also establishes the precise symmetry of the entire edifice. To ensure the perfect precision of God’s spiritual house, the main cornerstone had to be flawless. The only one who could set all the angles of God’s house was the living, perfectly prepared cornerstone, Jesus Christ (Matt. 21:42; 1 Cor. 3:11; Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:18; cf. John 1:14; Phil. 2:9; Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3; 7:26–28; 8:6).

From this reality issues one of the great privileges for all who believe: when they place their trust in Christ they will not be disappointed. The word rendered disappointed (kataischunthē) denotes being deceived in some confidence, or placing hope in someone and having that hope dashed. Those who sincerely believe in Christ as Lord and Savior will never know any disappointment from Him (Rom. 10:11–13; cf. Jer. 17:7–8). Instead they will be forever secure in Him (John 10:3–4, 14, 27–28; Rom. 8:16; Eph. 1:13–14; Phil. 1:6; 2 Tim. 1:12; James 1:12; 1 John 5:20; cf. Heb. 4:15–16).

Because Jesus Christ is the perfect, exact, precise One on whom God has built His church, all the lines coming from Him in every direction complete the perfect temple of God. No one is ever out of alignment. No one ever falls from the structure. It all fits exactly and permanently together (cf. Eph. 4:16). So here is one analogy that fittingly illustrates believers’ security.

The prophet Isaiah, centuries before Christ’s incarnation, declared that Israel could have supreme confidence in the security God provided:

The apostle Paul expressed the same kind of confidence to the Romans. In view of believers’ election (Rom. 8:28–30), he posed a series of rhetorical questions (vv. 31–35) and summarized his answer to those questions with this majestic, poetic expression of praise to God for believers’ security:

The nineteenth-century church historian and hymnologist John Mason Neale’s translation of the words of a seventh-century Latin hymn majestically and succinctly summarizes the essence of verse 6:

AFFECTION FOR CHRIST

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, ” 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. (2:7–8)

Because of the precious value believers place in Jesus Christ, they possess a genuine affection for Him, which is in itself another spiritual privilege. This benefit is the joy of loving Jesus. He told the Jews, “If God were your Father, you would love Me” (John 8:42). In the Upper Room Discourse, He told the apostles, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him” (John 14:21; cf. vv. 23–24). Later in the Discourse Jesus told them, “For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father” (16:27). Believing in Christ and loving Him are therefore inseparable privileges (1 Cor. 8:3; 1 Peter 1:8; 1 John 5:1).

Only those who believe manifest a surpassing love for Christ (cf. Matt. 10:37; 2 Cor. 5:14). In utter contrast to that, however, those who disbelieve (such as the unbelieving Jewish leaders) do not and will not love Christ. Quoting Psalm 118:22, Peter asserted that the Jews were the builders who rejected Christ (the stone). As discussed in the previous chapter of this volume, the Jews examined but did not accept the One who became the very corner stone (cf. 2:4). To them Jesus was worthless as God’s cornerstone because He did not fit their preconceived idea of what the Messiah needed to be like (cf. Matt. 13:54–57; Luke 4:20–30; 6:6–11). Such rejection was tragic but not surprising, as Peter indicated when he quoted Isaiah 8:14–15 (NKJV), which predicted that Messiah would be considered “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense” to most of the Jews, as Isaiah himself was (v. 12). A stone of stumbling was any stone that people could trip over as they moved down a road, and a rock of offense was the rock bed they could be crushed against after they fell over the other stone. In Peter’s symbolism, the Jews threw away the true cornerstone, then wound up falling over it to be finally crushed in judgment by the same rock (Luke 20:17–18; cf. Matt. 13:41).

Verse 8 makes clear that those who reject Christ stumble and suffer divine judgment because they are disobedient to the word. Unbelievers receive the exact judgment their sinful choice demands—to this doom they were also appointed—because they do not believe and obey the gospel. God does not actively destine people to unbelief; but He does appoint judgment (doom) on every unbeliever (John 3:18, 36; 8:24; 2 Thess. 1:6–9; Heb. 3:19; 4:11). God judges unbelievers as a consequence of their lack of love for Him, their disobedience to His Word, and their refusal to believe in Him. Paul told the Corinthians, “If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed” (1 Cor. 16:22).

ELECTION BY CHRIST

But you are a chosen race, (2:9a)

To underscore the contrasting eternal destinies of unbelievers and believers, Peter began this verse with a strong adversative, but. Unlike unbelievers who, because of their rejection of Christ, are destined for eternal destruction, believers are a chosen race. They are a spiritual people elect by God Himself.

The apostle again drew his terminology from an Old Testament passage:

He identifies those who believe in Christ as chosen, just as God had chosen Israel for a special purpose within His redemptive plan (cf. Isa. 43:21). As discussed in chapter 1 of this volume, it is crucial for Christians to understand that their salvation is based on the sovereign, electing purposes of God. Scripture explicitly and implicitly makes that unmistakable (John 15:16; Acts 13:48; Rom. 9:13–16; 11:5; 1 Cor. 1:9; Eph. 1:3–5; 1 Thess. 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:13–14; 2 Tim. 1:9; 2:10; Rev. 13:8; 17:8; 20:15); and election is the great privilege from which all other spiritual privileges derive.

Scripture suggests at least five superlatives related to God’s sovereign choice to save certain sinners. First, election is absolutely the solitary decision of God, thus it is the most pride-crushing truth in God’s Word. It devastates humans’ pride since nothing in their salvation derives from any merit in them—it is all of God (cf. Jonah 2:9; John 1:12–13; Eph. 2:8–9). Second, because election is totally by divine grace, it is the most God exalting doctrine (cf. Rom. 9:23; Eph. 1:6–7; 2:7; 2 Thess. 2:13). Third, election is the most holiness-promoting doctrine. Because God set His love on believers before the world began, they should be consumed with gratitude and a passion to obey Him no matter what (cf. Deut. 11:13; Josh. 24:24; Rom. 6:17; 7:25). Fourth, because God’s election is eternal and unchangeable, it is the most strength-giving doctrine in the Bible. Therefore it affords believers genuine peace no matter what circumstances they face (cf. Ps. 85:8; John 14:27; 1 Cor. 14:33; Eph. 2:14–15; Col. 1:20; 3:15; 2 Thess. 3:16). Finally, election is the most joy-producing spiritual privilege because it is the surest hope believers have in the midst of a sinful world (cf. 1:21; Eph. 4:4; Col. 1:5, 23; 1 Thess. 5:8; Heb. 7:19).

DOMINION WITH CHRIST

a royal priesthood, (2:9b)

Peter employed a remarkable symbol when he combined in one metaphor references to royalty and the priesthood. The concept of a royal priesthood comes from Exodus 19:6, where God through Moses told Israel, “You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” The sad fact is, however, that Israel forfeited her privilege of priestly dominion because of her apostasy and rejection of the Messiah (cf. John 12:37–48; Rom. 10:16–21; 11:7–10; Heb. 3:16–19). But all those who believe in Jesus as Messiah and trust in Him alone for salvation receive the privilege of becoming royal priests (Rev. 5:10).

Two primary elements constitute the image of the royal priesthood. First, the priests serve the King by having access to His holy presence, into which they come offering spiritual sacrifices to Him (see the previous chapter of this volume), and second, the priests rule with the King in His kingdom.

Basileion (royal) generally describes a royal residence or palace (cf. Luke 7:25), but it can also refer to a sovereignty or monarchy. Peter used the term here to convey the general idea of royalty. The spiritual house he mentioned in verse 5 turns out to be a royal house, the dominion of a royal family. Believers are a ruling priesthood, literally “a royal house of priests.” The apostle John wrote, “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years” (Rev. 20:6; cf. Luke 22:29–30; Rev. 3:21).

The only one who can establish such a royal house is Jesus Christ. He is both King (Isa. 9:7; Zech. 9:9; Matt. 2:2; Luke 1:33; John 1:49; 12:12–15; 18:36–37; 19:19; Rev. 19:16) and Priest (Ps. 110:4; Heb. 4:15). The writer of Hebrews sets forth the uniqueness of Christ’s royal priesthood:

Melchizedek was the Old Testament model for the royal priest (Gen. 14:18–20) and he foreshadowed Christ, the ultimate and perfect royal priest. Like Melchizedek, He did not inherit the priesthood through the priestly line; rather God appointed Him as the sinless royal priest who transcended the Levitical system (Heb. 3:1–2; 5:4–5; 7:11, 14, 16; 8:1–2, 6), fulfilled the old covenant law (Ps. 40:7–8; Matt. 5:17–18; Heb. 10:11–14), and offered Himself as the new covenant sacrifice for sin (Matt. 20:28; John 1:29; Heb. 2:17; 7:27; 9:25–26; 10:12). Because salvation unites believers with Christ, they too become royal priests.

Christians’ privilege to rule with Christ includes some practical implications:

Since believers will rule with Christ in His kingdom, they must be sufficiently qualified—without secular assistance or oversight—to settle relatively small earthly disputes between themselves. Paul further said they will have dominion over those heavenly realms God assigns to them. No one, not even an angel, can stand between them and God.

All this is cause for unleashing a doxology. As believers contemplate all their spiritual privileges, from union with Christ to security in Him to dominion with Him, they ought to be transported into unbounded praise and worship. Anything less betrays sinful indifference to these great privileges.