Bible Commentaries
1 Peter 2

Verses 1-10

1Pe 2:1-10

3. MEANS OF GROWTH

1 Peter 2:1-10

1 Putting away therefore all wickedness, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evel speakings,--"Therefore" (oun) points to the logical inference drawn from the matters considered in the closing portion of the first chapter. The meaning, expanded, is, "In consequence of the fact that you have been regenerated to a new life by the word of God (1 Peter 1:23), lay aside, your former evil dispositions, and particularly that which is inconsistent with fervent love of the brethren" (1 Peter 1:22). The New Testament writers gave much emphasis to this theme, and much space to its elaboration. For a similar discussion of it by Paul, see Ephesians 4:22-31, where most of the terms used by Peter here also occur.

"Putting away" (apothemenoi, aorist participle with imperative force) indicates a definite and decisive act with permanent results; and the proposition (apo-, from) in composition with the verb signifies separation. Thus, those to whom Peter wrote, in one decisive and positive act, and with results so pronounced as not to need repeating, were to separate themselves once for all from the sinful acts and dispositions mentioned, and henceforth to be free of their defilement. The verb apotithemi (from which the foregoing participle is derived) means literally to discard clothing ; and as here figuratively used, signifies the putting away of the evils of one’s former life as one would discard dirty and defiled linen. (Romans 13:12; Colossians 3:8; Colossians 3:10; James 1:21.) There is an interesting and significant tradition which comes down to us from the period of the early church that converts were accustomed to cast off forever their old clothing following their baptism into Christ, and to array themselves in new garments as a symbol of the new life upon which they had entered. The figure is a common one in the New Testament. (Romans 13:14.) Christ is to be "put on" in baptism (Galatians 3:27), and the evils here designated are to be "put off."

Five terms are used by the apostle to designate the things that are to be put away. (1) "Wickedness (kakian) is evil of any kind, but here, particularly, an evil disposition and a malignant spirit; the desire to injure another. The word "malice" of the Authorized Version exactly represents the meaning here. (2) "Guile" (dolon) is translated from a term the verb of which means to catch with bait; thus, here, artifice, craftiness. (3) "Hypocrisies" are deceptive and deceitful actions and attitudes. (4) "Envies" are feelings of unhappiness because another has that which one desires for himself. (5) "Evil speakings" (katalalias) are slanderous and defamatory statements about others. The word is elsewhere translated "backbitings" (2 Corinthians 12:20); and a verb form of it occurs in 1 Peter 2:12, where it is rendered "speak against." It should be observed that the sins designated in this catalog are such as operate to destroy the brotherly relationship which begets and maintains love, and to create an attitude of mind and disposition of heart where malice, bitterness and hate reign instead. These evils are closely related and develop from each other. A malicious disposition leads to deception, deceit, envy and defamation; and, the effort to conceal such produces hypocrisy. All such attitudes are utterly foreign to the Spirit of Christ, and to the principles which governed and motivated his life. All such must be resolutely put away if we are to have his approval and commendation. "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen." (1 John 4:20.)

2 As newborn babes, long for the spiritual milk which is without guile,--Twice before, in the epistle (1 Peter 1:3; 1 Peter 1:23), the metaphor of a new birth and resultant entrance upon a new life has been used; and here, in the reference to "newborn babes," the figure is extended and repeated. It is a common one in the New Testament, being first used by the Lord in his teaching regarding the birth from above. (John 3:3; John 3:5.) Paul used it (1 Cor. 4 15), as did John (1 John 5:1); and Jesus often compared his disciples to little children (Matthew 18:3; Mark 10:14-15). The figure is applied in the Old Testament to those who, like children, are teachable and guileless. (Isaiah 28:9.) Babes (brephe) in the text signifies children of the earliest infancy; and the words "long for" (epipotheo) suggest great eagerness and an ever-recurring desire for the word of God such as is characteristic of infants in their passionate longing and yearning for the milk which alone constitutes their food. As babes instinctively turn to their mothers’ breasts as the only source of their life, so are all children of God here admonished to desire the spiritual milk which is "without guile," and which alone can sustain their spiritual life. The appetite for spiritual food is not often as intense, alas, as that which prompts a baby to return again and again to its mother’s breast. Infants do not have to be constantly urged and admonished to seek the source of their life!

The word "milk" in the text continues the figure of the new birth, and is used in opposition to the solid food (meat, 1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12), adaptable to the more mature. Under this figure reference is made to the simpler and more primary matters of the Christian life which are adaptable to the young and immature in Christ, in contrast to those matters which are profound and involved, and thus applicable only to the "full-grown." (Hebrews 5:14.) Here, as often elsewhere in the scriptures, emphasis is given to the fact that Christianity involves growth, such being comparable to that characteristic of an infant in its development from childhood to maturity, attained through feeding on the food especially adaptable to one’s need.

The milk is described as spiritual (logikon), rational, because it appeals to the reason, thus nourishing and sustaining it instead of performing the functions of ordinary milk in sustaining the body, the flesh. The word occurs only once elsewhere in the New Testament (Romans 12:1), where it describes the character of the service we are to render to God. There the Authorized, or King James’ Version renders it "reasonable," i.e., a service of the reason, one originating with, and performed by, the reason.

"Without guile" is, literally, "unadulterated." In ancient times milk was often adulterated with gypsum, a chalky-like substance to increase its volume, thus rendering it impure and contaminated. Such adulteration became a figure of the admixture of false doctrine with the pure word of God. Irenaeus, an early Christian writer, born between 120 and 140 A.D., said of the heretics of his time, "They mix gypsum with the milk, they taint the heavenly doctrine with the poison of their errors."

That ye may grow thereby unto salvation.-- "That" introduces a purpose clause, meaning "in order that." "Thereby" is, actually, "therein." It is in feeding on the proper spiritual food that growth and development follow; and this is the purpose of the feeding. The salvation unto which one grows is the deliverance which awaits the faithful at the consummation of all things. "Grow" is, literally, to be nourished, such being the sole purpose of the milk which is "without guile." Such nourishment results in and produces salvation.

3 If ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious:--This is an exact quotation of Psalms 34:8, as it appears in the Septuagint, a translation from Hebrew into Greek, made in 280 B.C., so the tradition runs, and used by Christ and the New Testament writers. The passage, in our text of the Old Testament, reads: "Oh taste and see that Jehovah is good." The conditional particle "if" with which the quotation begins does not imply doubt, but is a fulfilled condition, meaning "since you have tasted that the Lord is gracious." "Gracious," from chrestos in the Greek text, and Cobh in the Hebrew, means "good," and is so translated in Psalms 34:8 and Luke 5:39. The metaphor of tasting that the Lord is good continues the figure suggested by reference to the milk beginning in verse 2. As an infant, once directed to the breast continues to desire it, so their first experience in partaking of the delectable delights of the Lord should prompt them to return again and again to that feast.

4 Unto whom coming, a living stone rejected indeed of men, but with God, elect, precious.--From the figure of milk with which the apostle has been illustrating his teaching he now turns to that of a building, and particularly to the corner stone thereof, by which he represents Christ. There is a similar transition in Paul’s writings when, in 1 Corinthians 3, after asserting that he had fed the Corinthians with milk and not with meat, he resorts to the illustration of builders laying a foundation, and writes that "other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 3:1-11.)

"Unto whom coming" does not refer to the primary steps of salvation when the alien sinner first comes to Christ, but to the constant approaching of the Lord characteristic of all who find strength and support from the "living stone." It is only through continually reaching forth to Christ--the standard and ideal of Christianity--that the means and method of constructing the Christian structure may be found. The approach is made by faith, and is constant and continuous if one is to realize the communion and union with the Lord without which all spiritual life must fail.

Christ is a "living stone," (1) because, unlike the inert, lifeless stones of the earth, he is a stone of energy, vitality, and life; and (2) having been raised from the dead, he lives to die no more. Being alive himself, he is thus the source of life to his followers. Though Peter was himself a stone (petros), he was wholly unlike the stone (lithos) which he describes here. Petros is a fragment of native rock, unhewn; whereas, lithos is one shaped and fitted for the purpose designated.

"Rejected" is from apodokimadzo, to reject after trial and examination, as one casts aside worthless and spurious coins. The Jews examined the claims of Jesus, and because he did not conform to their expectations of a Messiah, nor establish the earthly kingdom they desired and expected, they rejected him as spurious. That men professedly religious could thus test and reject as worthless metal the Lord of glory is a measure of the appalling unbelief which obtained in that day, and which extends to our time on the part of those who still stumble after the same manner of unbelief. While this passage which Peter cites in support of his statement here (Psalms 118:22) limits the rejection of the stone to the builders (see below under verses 7, 8), he extends it to embrace all of those who through unbelief repudiate and reject the Saviour.

The Stone was "with God elect," literally, "by the side of God (para) chosen." Though wicked men rejected him, God chose him, and sent him into the world a fitted and shaped stone (lithos) for the mission he was destined to fulfil. Moreover, God regarded him as "precious" (entimos), worthy of honor, in opposition to the attitude of repudiation and rejection characteristic of the "builders," the unbelieving Jews. "Precious" in 1 Peter 1:19, descriptive of the blood of Christ, is not the same in meaning as here. There it is translated from timios, that which has intrinsic value; here it is entimos, God’s recognition of that intrinsic value. The contrast is further drawn out with reference to the manner in which God and men regarded Jesus. Though the Jews "rejected him," God "chose" him; though they counted him spurious and without value, God regarded him as worthy of great honor.

5 Ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.--Continuing the figure of a building in which Christ is the foundation stone, Peter declares that the followers of the Lord "as living stones" are built up into it so as to constitute a "spiritual house." In view of the fact that Christ is a "living stone" (verse 4), Christians are similarly described because they derive their life from his. In comparing believers to a building, Peter was doubtless recalling the famous words of the Lord to him in the coasts of Caesarea Philippi when he said to him, "And upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18.) The "spiritual house" is the church. (1 Timothy 3:14-15.)

In this spiritual house--the church--there is a "holy priesthood." Here the figure changes from a building contemplated as a structure composed of many stones to a house occupied by servants. The servants are designated as priests. Under the law of Moses the priests constituted a special class empowered to officiate in worship. Inasmuch as all Christians are authorized to engage in the worship of God, all Christians are priests, and thus together constitute a priesthood of believers. This priesthood is "holy," because its members have been separated to the sacred purpose of worship before the altar of God. The word translated "holy" has, as its basic idea, separation for a special purpose. Derived from the same root are the words saint, sanctify, and sanctification.

The kind of sacrifices which this holy priesthood is to offer is described as "spiritual" to distinguish them in nature and character from the sacrifices required by the law of Moses. They are also spiritual to conform to the nature of the building (church) in which they are offered; to the priests which are to offer them; and to the God to whom they are to be offered. "Offer up," from anaphero, suggests the bearing up of sacrifices to the altar; and the aorist tense which occurs in the text here distinguishes between such acts contemplated as regular and habitual and a once-for-all dedication of the life on the altar of God, the meaning here., Prayer, praise, the contribution, indeed, all the items and acts of worship are thus figuratively included in the sacrifices which Christians, as priests officiating under Christ, the High Priest (Hebrews 9:11-28), are to offer in the spiritual temple, the church "Through him then let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which make confession to his name. But to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." (Hebrews 13:15-16.)

The purpose of these sacrifices is to be pleasing to God "through Jesus Christ." "Acceptable" is from a word which means not only something received from another, but which, in addition, brings pleasure to the recipient (euprosdektos). Such is "through Jesus Christ," because God is approachable in no other way. (John 14:6.)

6 Because it is contained in scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be put to shame.--The prophecy to which Peter refers is recorded in Isaiah 28:16, though the quotation varies somewhat from both the Hebrew and the Greek Septuagint texts. It is a free rendering, such as one would make were he quoting the prophecy from memory. In Paul’s citation of the same text (Romans 9:33), there is an even greater variation. Peter’s quotation more nearly conforms to the Greek Septuagint text than to the original Hebrew. It does not include the words "a tried stone" and "a sure foundation," and for "shall not be in haste" it has "shall not be put to shame." For the meaning and significance of the phrases "a tried stone" and "a sure foundation," see comments under verses 4, 5.

The phrase "shall not be in haste," which Peter interprets to mean "shall not be put to shame," indicates an attitude of mind and disposition of heart enabling one to be calm and unflurried, hence not stampeded into fearful and hasty flight. Those whose confidence is resolutely fixed on the Lord shall never have occasion to be ashamed thereof..

Christ is the "chief corner stone, elect precious," which has been laid in Zion. It is the function of a corner stone to unite and securely fasten the two walls of a building. Under the same figure, and in a passage which illustrates the meaning here, Paul wrote to the Ephesians: "For through him (Christ) we both (Jew and Gentile) have our access in one Spirit unto the Father. So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but we are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone in whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit." (Ephesians 2:18-22.) Thus, in the joining of the Jew and Gentile into "one body"--the church--there is henceforth but one building, and in it Christ occupies the position of chief corner stone. The metaphor of the "chief corner stone" (akrogoniaios lithos) emphasizes the function Jesus performed in uniting Jews and Gentiles into the one body, the church. (Ephesians 4:4.)

The "Stone" is said to have been laid "in Zion (Jerusalem, 1 Kings 8:1), because there Jesus died; there he fulfilled the old law and removed it, nailing it to his cross; and there, on the first Pentecost following the resurrection, the Christian dispensation was inaugurated.

7 For you therefore that believe is the preciousness: but for such as disbelieve, the stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner.--In view of the fact that the Stone (Christ) is precious (verse 6), its preciousness (time, literally honor), is transferred to those that believe. The preciousness of the stone of the foundation is acquired by the "living stones" (children of God) which rest upon it. This preciousness is available only to those that believe; those who disbelieve have rejected (cast aside as spurious) the living stone, Christ, and are in the same position of builders which have rejected a stone which they regarded as worthless but later discovered to be the head stone of the corner. The word "disbelieve" means more than the mere absence of faith in it is the definite suggestion of positive disobedience. The words, "The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner," is a quotation from Psalms 118:22. The builders were the Jewish teachers; the stone which they rejected was Christ.

8 And, a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence; for they stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.--Verses 7 and 8 contrast those who believe, and the honor that is theirs through believing, with those who disbelieve and the consequences attending such unbelief. The meaning, expanded, is, "For you who believe, there is the preciousness of the stone transferred to you; but to you who disbelieve, the stone, instead of being a source of preciousness (honor), becomes a stone (lithos) of stumbling, and a rock (petra) of offence." The. words "stone of stumbling" and "rock of offence" are from Isaiah 8:14. Paul, in Romans 9:23, cites this passage and makes a similar application to that of Peter. It is interesting to observe that both Peter aind Paul, in their reference to this prophecy, follow the Hebrew text rather than the Greek Septuagint.

"Stumbling" (proskomma), to collide with something, thus suffering hurt or injury), and "offence" (skandalon), a trap wherein with bait the unwary are caught), are terms suggestive of the ruin and utter calamity certain to overtake those who through unbelief are opposed to Christ. The passage means much more than mere vexation and mental annoyance at the claims of the Lord it includes the ultimate consequence of unbelief and damnation awaiting those who have arrayed themselves against the "tried stone." The ruin awaiting such is put in contrast with the preciousness belonging to those who obey him. Peter, in his reference to the rock of offence, must have recalled his own brief period of unbelief when the Lord addressed him as a "stumbling-block" (skandalon). (Matthew 16:23.)

Those who stumble at the word do so because they are disobedient; and this disobedience is the natural fruit of unbelief. The words, "Whereunto they were appointed," do not mean that they were predestined to such disobedience by arbitrary and immutable decree, but because such stumbling is the inevitable result of unbelief. Having given themselves over to unbelief, the fact that they stumbled was neither fortuitous nor accidental; it was simply the working out of the principle applicable in both the natural and the spiritual realms. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Galatians 6:7.) God has ordained that to those who disbelieve Christ is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence against which all such shall destroy themselves. These of whom Peter wrote were unbelievers. Hence, they were appointed to the destruction which is the inevitable lot of all such. It is idle to suppose that these individuals who deliberately repudiated Christ would have stood in the same relationship to God had they died in infancy. Had Judas been born a thousand years earlier he could not have sinned in the fashion he did. One may elect whether he will believe in Christ or not. If not, then through his own choice he places himself among those appointed to destruction. The word "appointed" (tithemi) means to set under certain and definite circumstances; to place, arrange, etc.; and God, in placing man under circumstances involving the possibility of great benefit as well as terrible dangers, expects man to seize the benefits and avoid the dangers; and if man refuses to do so, he cannot complain that God is unjust.

9 But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession,--"But" (de) is a disjunctive, and the "ye" is emphatic, the meaning of which is, "But as for you, in contradistinction to the Jews who rejected Christ, you are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession." The statement is designed to put in vivid contrast those who, through unbelief, were appointed to the penalties of disobedience (verse 8), and those who, through obedience, became the recipients of blessings belonging only to the children of God. The phrases, an elect race, a royal priesthood," etc., were selected from various Old Testament passages originally applicable to the Israelite people, formerly regarded as the Lord’s "chosen" (Isaiah 43:20-21); but who, through their unbelief, were "broken off" (Romans 11:13-24), thus permitting the Gentiles, through Christ, to be "grafted in." It follows, therefore, that Christians are the true "Israel of God," today, the only Jews whom God recognizes! (Romans 2:28-29.)

Peter describes the people of God as "an elect race," because they have been chosen (eklekton) to salvation, "in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth" having been "called" by the gospel. Inasmuch as the gospel is addressed to all (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Matthew 11:28), all who believe and obey it are chosen to salvation, and thus comprise the elect race to which Peter refers. Such are also a priesthood, because empowered to officiate in worship (see comments under verse 5); and the priesthood is a "royal" one because of its relationship to the King. This portion of. Peter’s quotation is from Exodus 19:6, where the Hebrew has "kingdom of priests" instead of "a royal priesthood." The ideas are very similar. Children of God constitute a "holy nation" (a) because the company to which they belong is a monarchy with Christ as King; and (b) it is "holy" because dedicated to a sacred purpose. The subjects of this holy nation are described as "a people for God’s own possession," because they belong to him in a special and intimate sense characteristic of no other. This is cited from Deut.. 7:6. Malachi 3:17 (Authorized Version) refers to them as the Lord’s "jewels," i.e., a peculiar treasure belonging only to the Lord. The meaning of the words, "a people for God’s own possession," literally suggests the idea of something acquired, gained, and includes the idea of preserving, keeping to one’s self. It follows therefore that Christians are today the special, acquired treasure of God, precious jewels which he proposes to keep for himself. How we should rejoice that it is so!

That ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:--The words "show forth" mean, literally, to proclaim, to publish abroad, and the verse thus reveals the obligation of all children of God to herald abroad and give wide publicity to the excellencies (virtues, gracious dealings as exhibited in the plan of salvation) of him who called us from a sinful life into the marvelous light of truth. These words are especially applicable to those among Peter’s readers who had formerly been idol worshipers; these, through the gospel, had been called from the darkness of heathenism to the glorious light of the truth. The words apply, however, to all, both Jew and Gentile, the state of sin being often described by the sacred writers as a condition of darkness, and Christianity as a world of light. (1 John 1:5; 1 John 1:7, and often elsewhere, particularly in John’s writings, and those of Paul, Ephesians 5:8.)

10 Who in times past were no people, but are now the people of God: who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.--This is a quotation from Hosea 2:23. Paul cites it in Romans 9:25-26, and applies it to the Gentiles, as Peter apparently does here. Here, again, as often elsewhere in the epistle, it appears that the Gentiles were in the mind of the writer, and that the address to the "elect sojourners of the Dispersion" (verse 1 of the first chapter) is to be understood in a figurative sense as including children of God without regard to their racial origins. The Gentiles, before they obeyed the gospel, were "no people," being scattered through all the nations, with separate languages, governments, customs, etc., but through their obedience to the gospel were constituted into a holy nation with common interests, obligations, government and king. Formerly they had not "obtained mercy" (eleemenoi, perfect passive participle. literally, were up to a definite time unpitied) but now have "obtained mercy" (eleethentes), passive aorist participle, obtained pity in a single act, and at a definite time, viz., at their conversion. Formerly unpitied and the objects of aversion and wrath, they had, by their conversion to Christ, become the objects of compassion and pity. This change in attitude on the part of God toward them was due to their renunciation of the evil which had characterized them, and to their acceptance of the truth in Christ.

Commentary on 1 Peter 2:1-10 by N.T. Caton

1 Peter 2:1—Wherefore laying aside all malice.

A necessary conclusion here follows. You have a com­plete view of the magnitude of the great salvation provided for you, and therein the great love of the Father, whose gift it is, and the certainty of the ground upon which your faith and hope rest, and the duties you owe to one another as brethren. All the vices of the alien must cease, namely, malice, guile, hypocrisies, envies, evil speakings. These belong not to the Christian character, and, on the other hand, listen to the following advice.

1 Peter 2:2—As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word.

What a natural figure. How grand and beautiful it is when fully apprehended and applied. The Savior said, "Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God," and in that connection added further: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:3-5). Born again, they are babes in Christ Jesus. I take it the apostle knew that some he addressed had lately been born into the kingdom. Babes, we all know, hunger and thirst for milk. This is their proper and necessary food. On this they grow. So with babes in Christ; they ought to desire the sincere or unadulterated milk of the Word. Peter says: "That ye may grow thereby." As milk is the proper food for babes in the physical world, so the word of God is the proper and only food in the spiritual realm for babes in Christ to insure their growth. And if in the one case growth will not follow without food, neither will it in the other.

1 Peter 2:3—If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

The Vulgate uses the word "sweet" in lieu of the word "gracious." I cannot see how that expression, even if adopted, throws any additional light on the text. The Lord is gracious because he is good. The word "good" is, therefore, in a sense its equivalent. Whatever word is used, it must be applied to the giver, and "sweet" strikes me as wholly inadmissible, and can be only tolerated because of the figure here used. The sense is that God has been good, has been gracious in providing this great salvation, and permitting his creatures to accept and enjoy it.

1 Peter 2:4—To whom coming, as unto a living stone.

Coming to Christ Jesus in the way he has appointed. So coming, we reach what? A living stone. Here is food for thought. In the New Testament Scriptures the term "stone" or "rock" is ever after applied to the savior. He himself, speaking of his divine sonship which had just been confessed, announced: "Upon this rock I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18). The Church is not only built upon this foundation, but children of God build their spiritual edifices on the same foundation. It is a living stone. It possesses life and can impart life. Notice the word "living." Study its meaning for a moment, and then turn and read what he says of himself to the lonely prisoner of Patmos: "I am he that liveth and was dead, and, behold, I am alive forevermore" (Revelation 1:18). No uncertainty there; the foun­dation is sure and unceasing.

1 Peter 2:4 --Disallowed indeed of men.

Peter tells all about this disallowance in his defense before the Jewish high priest, rulers, elders and scribes. "This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner" (Acts 4:11).

1 Peter 2:4 --But chosen of God, and precious.

Rejected by men, yet chosen by God. Isaiah foretells the laying of this foundation stone under the image of a temple, and the apostle Paul, in his Ephesian letter, speaks of the Church of Christ built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone. It is precious, then, for two reasons: First, because it was chosen by God to be the foundation of the spiritual temple to be erected, and, secondly, because of its excellence and entire sufficiency for the purpose intended. All this is apparent.

1 Peter 2:5—Ye also, as lively stones.

The Revised Version, Vulgate, Syriac, Macknight and Rotherham have it "living stones." Being born again, the Christian possesses the hope of eternal life. They are, therefore, living stones built into this spiritual temple; built upon Christ, their living foundation. The spiritual house mentioned in the text is, of course, the Church.

1 Peter 2:5 --A holy priesthood.

The living stones are all priests. Christ is High Priest, and all these are by him anointed, and their duties made and plainly specified in the succeeding paragraph.

1 Peter 2:5 --To offer up spiritual sacrifices.

None other than spiritual sacrifices will be acceptable to God. Spiritual sacrifices, by these living stones all made priests by Jesus Christ, are to be offered up to God. These spiritual sacrifices are all plainly designated in the Living Oracles, which may be briefly summed up in this: "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellow­ship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42).

1 Peter 2:6—Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture.

Peter here appeals to the Scripture confirmatory of the truthfulness of his statement in making Christ a living stone and the foundation of the spiritual temple. The quo­tation is from the prophet Isaiah (xxiii. 16). God laid in Zion a chief corner-stone, and of it the prophet says it was "a tried stone, a sure foundation." Peter did not quote the prophetic utterance in full, but says of the chief corner­stone that it was elect, precious. It was elect because God made this choice. It was precious in that it was a sure foundation, and without it the spiritual temple could not have been erected. He that believeth on him.

Here the apostle changes the figure, and shows that he alluded to a person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and faith is the basis of our salvation through him. Faith in Christ is necessary to become living stones to be built into his spir­itual house, and thereby to receive the anointing by Christ that makes us priests.

1 Peter 2:7—Unto you, therefore, which believe he is precious.

That is, on the believer is the honor conferred of being built on him, and of not being ashamed, and in that sense precious. Peter here applies the prophecy of Isaiah: But to the disobedient, or those who believe not, he is made the head of the corner. To those who do not believe, but are disobedient, disallow and reject the stone, to them it becomes a cause of stumbling, as seen in the following verse.

1 Peter 2:8—And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.

Notice that to the believer he is said to be precious, to the disobedient a stone of stumbling and rock of offense; that is to say, the unbeliever stumbles at the Word, rather, against it, and falls. This is his proper punishment. "And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder" (Matthew 21:44). Thus spake our Lord in relation to this same matter.

1 Peter 2:8 --’Whereunto also they were appointed.

God having given his Son, and every possible evidence of his love, for his creatures, and the exceeding great and precious promises to induce belief and incite to repentance and acceptance of his Son, those therefore rejecting are the arbiters of their own future. God’s appointment is not that man shall stumble and fall, but that the disobedient only, as such, shall stumble and fall. This is their punish­ment. Bro. Johnson, in his notes, I think, makes it clearer. He says: "Whereunto unto stumbling over the stone, and falling. This is God’s appointment to the disobedient."

1 Peter 2:9—But ye are a chosen generation.

That is, an elected race or people. This was once con­fined to the Jew only; now to the whole world. See how the apostle piles up the high titles. Not only a chosen genera­tion, or an elect race, but also a royal or kingly priesthood. More yet, ye are a holy nation, a peculiar people. These are all high and mighty honors to be enjoyed by God’s children. However, it must not be forgotten that these honors impose corresponding duties.

1 Peter 2:9 --To show forth the praises of him.

Tell of the excellencies, the goodness and perfections of Him who conferred these honors upon us, and called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. Heathenism is moral darkness. In this dwelt many to whom Peter wrote. By the gospel preached by Paul and others, they were called out of this darkness into the light of Christianity, and by com­parison this latter state is called a marvelous light.

1 Peter 2:10—Which in time past were not a people.

All those called out of darkness in the time passed, while in that darkness were not the people of God, but were worshipers of idols.

1 Peter 2:10 --Which had not obtained mercy.

That is, in the time passed mercy had not been offered and its benefits were not yet received by you, but now the foundation stone is laid, and mercy has been tendered you, and by you accepted. You are now as living stones in the temple. You are God’s children and members of the church.

Commentary on 1Pe 2:1-10 by Burton Coffman

In this great chapter, Peter stressed the duties of the church as the new Israel of God, who were bound by their privileges to exhibit lives worthy of their sacred calling (1 Peter 2:1-10); and then he gave the first of a number of admonitions directed to the Christians with regard to their obligations to the outward society (1 Peter 2:11-25).

1 Peter 2:1 --Putting away therefore all wickedness, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, (1 Peter 2:1)

Putting away therefore ... This is from [@apothesthai], "which is the word for stripping off one’s clothes."^[1] The child of God must denounce and turn away from all manner of wickedness, just as one might strip off filthy clothing. The words here are strongly suggestive of what occurs at the time of baptism:

Paul connects the putting on of Christ with baptism (Galatians 3:27); and Peter, when speaking of baptism in 1 Peter 3:21; both used the Greek word which corresponds to the word here, "laying aside."^[2]

Hunter also agreed that the words here have the meaning of "Since you are born again,"^[3] the sins about to be enumerated being by implication survivors from the old bad way of life.

Guile ... is deceitfulness, especially lying and false speech; thus it is usually spoken of as being on the lips, or found in the mouth.

Hypocrisies and envies ... Hypocrisy was the leaven of the Pharisees, according to Christ himself, the same being a way of life for the religious leaders of that day. It is pretending to be what one knows he is not.

Envies ... So long as self remains active in one’s heart, there will be envy in his life."^[4] It springs from jealousies which are, in fact, concealed malice in hearts that are displeased with all beauty, achievement, virtue, or any other desirable quality in others.

And all evil speakings ... All evil speakings are prohibited to Christians, whether against brethren, officers of the state, or any other persons.

^[1] William Barclay, The Letters of James and Peter (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 189.

^[2] B. C. Coffin, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 20,1Peter (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 68.

^[3] Archibald M. Hunter, The Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. XII (New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1957), p. 105.

^[4] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 190.

1 Peter 2:2 --as newborn babes, long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation;

As newborn babes ... Paul used this same figure in 1 Corinthians 3:2; but Peter here, using the same figure, stresses, not the contrasting diet of infants and adults, but the appetite which all Christians should have in order to grow. All Christians should have a constant and intense longing for the word of God.

Long for the spiritual milk which is without guile ... There are two changes from the KJV in this verse: (1) the addition of the words "thereby unto salvation," which is a very wholesome change, and (2) the substitution of this clause for "desire the sincere milk of the word," which in no sense improves the meaning; for as Hunter pointed out, "belonging to the word" is a thought surely contained in the Greek.^[5] In fact, he said, "The King James is preferable, the milk of the word, the word being the gospel.^[6] This is the first of a number of instances in this chapter where the KJV is definitely superior to the subsequent versions.

That ye may grow thereby unto salvation ... The doctrinal force of this is significant. This indicates that salvation is a mature state, not something achieved "per saltum" (at a leap) at conversion.^[7]

Without guile ... This is rendered "sincere," which is true, but one of the meanings of it is "unadulterated."^[8]

Spiritual ... Paul used this in Romans 12:1, where it means "reasonable," or pertaining to the reason. It should be noted that it is not the word of God mixed with human additives that enables people to grow unto salvation; but it is the pure word of God. As Macknight put it, "The milk of the word will not nourish the divine nature in those who use it, if it is adulterated with human mixtures."^[9]

^[5] Archibald M. Hunter, op. cit., p. 106.

^[6] Ibid.

^[7] Ibid.

^[8] Stephen W. Paine, Wycliffe Bible Commentary, New Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p. 973.

^[9] James Macknight, Macknight on the Epistles, 1Peter (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, reprint, 1969), p. 450.

1 Peter 2:3 --if ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious:

In this verse from Psalms 34, Peter applied to the Lord Jesus the great Old Testament word for God, "the Lord." The writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 6:4-5) also mentioned "tasting" as a metaphor of understanding and appropriating to one’s own needs the word of God. As Mason said, "This gives quite a new complexion to the 34th Psalm,"^[10] applying it as a prophecy of Jesus Christ. The Psalm is also quoted again in 1 Peter 3:10. It is also quite evident that the metaphor of Christ as the bread of life (John 6:35) lies behind the thinking of the apostle in this verse. The "if" which stands at the head of the verse, as frequently in the New Testament, "has reference to a fact, rather than to a condition."^[11]

^[10] A. J. Mason, Ellicott’s Bible Commentary, Vol. VII (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), p. 400.

^[11] Raymond C. Kelcy, The Letters of Peter and Jude (Austin, Texas: R. B. Sweet Company, 1972), p. 43.

1 Peter 2:4 --unto whom coming, a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God elect, precious,

Peter here combined the thought of Isaiah 28:16 ff; Isaiah 8:14 ff, and Psalms 118:22 in his presentation of Christ the Stone, living, elect, foundation, precious, rejected, the chief corner, and the stone of stumbling, in one of the most beautiful metaphors of the word of God. For a full discussion of this, see in my Commentary on Romans, pp. 352-357. It must surely be true, as Barclay said, that Peter could hardly have spoken of Jesus in this manner without thinking of Jesus’ words to himself,"^[12] "On this rock I will build my church, etc." (Matthew 16:13 ff); and yet Peter, in this passage, made no connection with his own person, stressing the view that Christ is the foundation, not Peter. He did not use either of the words [@Petros] or [@petra], but "spoke of Christ as the [@lithos]."^[13]

A living stone ... This is an appropriate metaphor for Christ who is the Lord of life. He is the eternally living one. "Rejected indeed of men ..." Jesus Christ the Messiah was the true and only foundation of this spiritual temple; but he did not fit the designs and purposes of the "builders" in Jerusalem who found him totally unsuitable for any use at all in the building they had in mind; therefore, they rejected him. Really, this should have been expected, because their concept of a temple for God was precisely like that of the idol temples which filled the world of that era, namely, a pile of stone, timber and gold. The idea of such an edifice being in any real sense God’s temple was a human conceit from the very inception of it. See article on the True Temple, below.

But with God, elect ... The purpose of building a spiritual temple upon the Lord Jesus Christ was God’s purpose from the beginning. He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). It was of Christ and the spiritual temple "in him" that Nathan spoke to David (2 Samuel 7:13); and in the light of that promise, it is clear enough that even the temple of Solomon was not God’s plan for a temple. It was David’s idea, not God’s; God never gave a pattern for the building of it, as he did the tabernacle; and, if it had been truly God’s temple, God would never have destroyed it.

Precious ... The ASV margin gives "honorable" as an alternate reading, the idea being that all honor and glory are due to Jesus Christ who is the cornerstone and foundation of God’s true temple. The contrast is between the worthless status accorded Jesus by the Pharisees, who found no use at all for him in their plans, and the fact of our Lord’s being God’s most precious and only begotten Son.

The great prophecies of Isaiah which formed the background of the apostle’s thought here, and which he would immediately quote, foretold, "The formation of the Christian church, for the spiritual worship of God, under the image of a temple, which God would build on Messiah as a foundation-stone thereof."^[14] Both the foundation stone of Isaiah 28:16 and the rejected keystone of Psalms 118:22 are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. "He is both the Foundation on which the church is built and the Keystone into whom it grows up."^[15]

Of that collection of Old Testament texts Peter was about to quote, Hart wrote, "This collection of texts can be traced back through Romans 9:32 f to its origin in the saying of Mark 12:10 f";^[16] but such a view is totally wrong. The conception of Christ as the Stone goes back to the Saviour himself (Matthew 21:42 f). That Peter who had heard the Lord use this very figure would have needed to borrow it from either Paul or Mark (who received practically all of his information from Peter!) is one of the little conceits of New Testament critics which true students of the New Testament view as preposterous. Long before this epistle was written, Peter had himself also used the same figure of the chief corner set at naught by "you builders" (the Jewish hierarchy) (Acts 4:11).

^[12] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 195.

^[13] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 400.

^[14] James Macknight, op. cit., p. 451.

^[15] David H. Wheaton, The New Bible Commentary, Revised (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 1241.

^[16] J. H. A. Hart, Expositor’s Greek Testament, Vol. V (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 55.

1 Peter 2:5 --ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Ye also, as living stones ... The figure of the spiritual temple of God is continued in this; just as Christ is the living stone, so also are the Christians. And why "living"? Because the Lord is the living One, and the life-giving One, the same yesterday, today, and forever. As members of Christ’s spiritual body, Christians partake of the same nature as their Lord, and they too are "living stones," endowed with a measure of the Spirit which shall raise them up at the last day. Nicholson was correct in seeing here a contrast between a spiritual temple of born-again believers with the stone temple in Jerusalem."^[17] The words "living stone" and "living stones" are to be understood as "distinguishing the Christian church, the spiritual temple of God, both from the temples of the idols and the temple in Jerusalem, which were built of dead materials."^[18] It is not enough, then, to see the spiritual temple of God, which is the church, as merely attaining a higher glory than the Jewish temple; the true temple is of a totally different kind, the same being the only kind God ever wanted.

Are built up a spiritual house ... It is important to note that house here bears its ecclesiastical sense of temple. Jesus himself used the word in that same sense when he declared, "Behold your house is left unto you desolate" (Matthew 23:38). In this statement, Peter gave the same teaching that Paul gave, who said, "Ye are a temple of God" (1 Corinthians 3:16 f), and "being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone" (Ephesians 3:20).

THE TRUE TEMPLE OF GOD

This was never the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. True, God permitted that temple to be built and accommodated himself to it in exactly the same manner as he did the secular kingdom of the Jews; but neither that secular kingdom nor the temple was ever, in any sense, a fulfillment of God’s will. It was the rejection of God’s government that led to the formation of the secular kingdom (1 Samuel 8:7); and it was the rejection of the tabernacle that led to the building of the temple (2 Samuel 7:13).

That this is true regarding the temple is apparent from a number of considerations.

(a) It is called in Scripture Solomon’s Temple, and that is exactly what it was; and who was Solomon? He was a debauchee whose life was the scandal of ten generations. As the martyr Stephen sarcastically put it, "Solomon built him a house" (Acts 7:47); that remark coming after Stephen had just recounted all the glories of Israel that had come to them while they were worshipping in the tabernacle, "even as God appointed," a tabernacle that had been constructed after the pattern that God gave Moses; and it was followed by the key declaration that "The Most High dwelleth not in houses (temples) made with hands." Did God dwell in Solomon’s temple? Of course not.

(b) Every statement Jesus ever made concerning the temple corroborates this view. "My house (the true temple) shall be called a house of prayer; but ye made it a den of robbers" (Matthew 21:13). "Behold your house is left unto you desolate" (Matthew 23:38). "Make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise" (John 2:16). This is not an endorsement of the temple as God’s house, but a condemnation of their house of merchandise. Matthew has, "Jesus entered into the temple of God"; but even if the text is valid the passage must be understood as Matthew’s use of a common popular name for Solomon’s temple (rebuilt by Herod the Great); but as the margin indicates (ASV), "Many ancient authorities omit of God."

(c) The very idea of building a temple for God was David’s idea, not God’s (2 Samuel 7): and Nathan’s prophecy that after David’s death one of his seed should rise up after him and build God a house, whose kingdom would be established for ever (2 Samuel 7:13), refers to the kingdom of Christ and the true spiritual temple of which Peter was writing in this passage. The whole chapter reveals that any thought of a secular temple was no part of God’s purpose.

(d) When the apostles and elders in Jerusalem sent out that letter to the churches, they quoted Amos 9:11-12, which records God’s promise of rebuilding again "the fallen tabernacle," not the ruined temple.

(e) All of the typical material in the book of Hebrews has reference to the tabernacle, not to the Solomonic and Herodian temples. While true enough that the temple had been constructed after the general pattern of the tabernacle, the writer of Hebrews ignored it (Hebrews 9:2), which under the circumstances is tremendously significant.

(f) God permitted the destruction of the Solomonic temple, which he would not have done had it been God’s true temple. The Herodian temple, which in time replaced it, was also destroyed by divine flat, Christ himself pronouncing the doom of it, and decreeing that "not one stone shall be left on top of another" (Matthew 24:2), an inconceivable fate if that temple had indeed been the true house of God.

(g) The early church found the Jewish temple to be the center of enmity and hatred against the church. It was the masters of the temple who bribed witnesses to lie about the resurrection of Christ; they imprisoned, beat and threatened the holy apostles; they forbade them to preach in the name of Christ; and, as for the character of the temple establishment, it was as corrupt as anything that history records.

(h) The apostle Paul, upon his conversion, went to the temple; and while there he saw a vision of the Lord, but the Lord commanded him to get out of the temple and even out of the city of Jerusalem (Acts 22:17 ff); but Paul had difficulty understanding this, and seemed to think that something could still be accomplished in the temple. Although expressly forbidden to go back to the city of Jerusalem (Acts 21:4), Paul, through some misunderstanding of the Spirit’s message, even though it was reinforced by the entreaties of Luke (Acts 21:12), nevertheless went to Jerusalem and even into the temple, where, except for God’s repeated intervention, he would have suffered death. The temple establishment organized a mob to slay Paul; through the duplicity and reprobacy of the high priest himself, they set up a phony trial in the hope of assassinating him; a group of brigands under the direction of the high priest bound themselves with an oath neither to eat nor drink until they had slain Paul. After those wicked events, there is never any record of any child of God subsequently entering that temple again; but it was tragic that they were compelled to learn the hard way the truth that Jesus had spoken, namely, that the temple was a "den of thieves and robbers."

(i) It was the secular temple that, more than anything else, blinded Israel to the recognition of the Messiah. Jesus plainly spoke of himself as the true temple, even from the first: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19); and "One greater than the temple is here" (Matthew 12:6); but the religious leaders were so blinded by their own ideas of a temple that they were never able to understand the nature of that holy institution which Jesus came to establish. It was Stephen’s stress of the spiritual nature of the true temple that unleashed the full fury of the temple mob against himself and which issued in his martyrdom.

(j) The fundamental error of David himself in planning to build God a temporal house was evidently the same identical error that led to the formation of the secular kingdom, the desire to be like the nations around him. There were great idol temples all over the world in David’s day; and, in the last analysis, Solomon’s temple was exactly like all the rest of the human temples, a beautiful edifice enshrining the nation’s vanity, and controlled by an unscrupulous band of pirates.

To be a holy priesthood ... The original purpose of God was that all of the Israelites should be a nation of priests (Exodus 19:6); and the subsequent development of a special priestly class came about as a result of the weakness and sins of the people. God’s purposes are eternal; and therefore the same goal of having a "holy nation" a "kingdom of priests" still prevails. The priesthood of every believer in Christ (that is, obedient believers) is evident in a statement like this. This conception is also in the book of Hebrews and in Revelation 1:6, where it is written that God made Christians to be a "kingdom and priests unto God." It should be noted especially that it is a "holy" priesthood to which Christians are ordained. All wickedness must be put away, stripped off, renounced by all who would participate in the priesthood mentioned here.

To offer up spiritual sacrifices ... This is a continuation of the thought, in which the type of sacrifices to be offered by God’s nation of priests is given, "spiritual" sacrifices. A closer look at this is necessary.

CONCERNING SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES

Under the old law, sacrifices were dead, bloody, burned with fire, smeared with fat, carnal, temporal, and salted with salt (Leviticus 2:13; Mark 9:49). By contrast, in the church, sacrifices are spiritual, living, clean, pure, holy, and acceptable to God. They are described as "better sacrifices" (Hebrews 9:23).

Although Christians must offer sacrifices to God, such are always "lesser sacrifices," the one true, great and efficacious sacrifice already having been offered, namely, Christ himself. "Now once at the end of the ages hath he (Christ) been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrews 9:26). This was the "one sacrifice for ever" (Hebrews 10:12). Christ’s blood alone is the blood of the everlasting covenant (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 13:20; Hebrews 10:29).

Nevertheless, there are sacrifices which God’s holy nation of the new Israel, which is the church, must now offer according to the will of God. And what are these?

(a) Our faith is our sacrifice. "Even if I am to be poured out as a libation upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all" (Philippians 2:17).

(b) The love of God is our sacrifice. "And to love ... is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices" (Mark 12:33).

(c) Our repentance is our sacrifice. "Take with you words, and turn to the Lord; and say unto him, take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously; and so will we render the calves of our lips" (Hosea 14:2). It is safe to assume that if repentance, even under the old covenant, was a "sacrifice," so it still is.

(d) Our confession of faith in Christ is a sacrifice. "Through him then let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips which make confession to his name ... with such sacrifices God is well pleased" (Hebrews 13:15-16).

(e) Our baptism into Christ is our sacrifice. "I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service" (Romans 12:1). See also Hebrews 10:19-22.

(f) Our praise of God is our sacrifice. "Let us offer up a sacrifice of praise unto God, that is, the fruit of our lips" (Hebrews 13:15). There are also important Old Testament glimpses of this same truth. "Bringing sacrifices of praise unto the house of God" (Jeremiah 17:26). "Sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoicing" (Psalms 107:22; Psalms 116:17).

(g) Our contributions are our sacrifices. Paul spoke of having received a contribution brought by Epaphoditus thus, "an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God" (Philippians 4:18).

(h) Our songs are our sacrifice. "Singing with grace in your hearts unto God" (Colossians 3:16). By virtue of these songs being "unto God," they are understood as sacrifices.

(i) Our prayers are our sacrifices. "Having golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints" (Revelation 5:8). "My name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering; for my name shall be great among the heathen" (Malachi 1:11).

(j) The whole life of honor and love on the part of devoted Christians is their sacrifice. Paul wrote, "I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand" (2 Timothy 4:6). "Even as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell" (Ephesians 5:2).

Faith, love of God, repentance, confession, baptism, praises, contributions, songs, prayers and a total life of devotion - these are our sacrifices; no wonder they are called "better sacrifices."

Those sacrifices in view in the above passages did not easily lend themselves to the type of exploitation so dear to the Jewish temple concessioners, and the inevitable result was a bitter hatred of the new faith. Mason observed that "The substitution of something else in lieu of the Jewish temple was one of the greatest stumblingblocks to the Hebrews from the very first."^[19] However, it was not the true spiritual temple which was "substituted for" the Jewish temple, but that temple itself had been "substituted for" the true temple God had promised.

Acceptable to God through Jesus Christ ... "Through Christ alone are these spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. They are offered through Christ, and only through him."^[20]

^[17] Roy S. Nicholson, Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 10 (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1967), p. 279.

^[18] James Macknight, op. cit., p. 451.

^[19] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 401.

^[20] B. C. Caffin, op. cit., p. 70.

1 Peter 2:6-8 --Because it is contained in Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: And he that believeth on him shall not be put to shame. For you therefore that believe is the preciousness: but for such as disbelieve, The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner; and, A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence; for they stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

Behold I lay in Zion ... Zion is the poetic name for Jerusalem; and "The laying of this precious cornerstone in Zion for a foundation signifies that the Christian church, the new temple of God, was to begin in Jerusalem."^[21]

A chief corner stone ... The type of stone meant here is not the kind usually called by that name today. "It was the stone at the extremity of the angle which controls the design of the edifice and is visible."^[22] In the church, Christ is both the foundation stone (1 Corinthians 3:11) and the cornerstone.

CHRIST; THE CORNERSTONE

In Christ, the Law of Moses ended; and the gospel began.

In Christ, the Old Testament culminated; and the New Testament began.

In Christ, all history split into B.C. and A.D.

In Christ, the wicked find their doom, and the saints find their salvation.

In Christ, the old Israel perished, and the new Israel began.

In Christ, the infinite past and the infinite future met.

In Christ, God and humanity came together.

In Christ, God’s humiliation and man’s glory united.

In Christ, the destiny of every man is turned, those on the right entering his joy forever, and those on the left departing from his presence forever.

Elect, precious ... See the comments on these expressions under 1 Peter 2:4. In this section of Isaiah, especially the 29th chapter which came in close connection with Peter’s quotation here, the destruction of Jerusalem is foretold and also the reprobacy of the Jewish leaders who changed the word of God by their traditions; therefore, "Peter’s quotation here is as much intended to show his Hebrew readers the sweeping away of the carnal Israel as to encourage them in their Christian allegiance."^[23] These passages cited by Peter, especially in their Old Testament context, show that "Even while the Mosaic service was in force, the Lord was planning on another one and made predictions concerning it."^[24] Scholars like to point out that Peter’s quotation of these passages is "from neither the Hebrew nor the Septuagint (LXX) versions of the Old Testament, some supposing it to have been quoted from memory."^[25]However, in our studies of the Pauline letters, it became clear that the inspired writers often combined Old Testament passages with their familiar phraseology to express new truth not always evident in the "quotations" cited in the Old Testament; but it should never be forgotten that the apostles of Jesus were as fully inspired (and more) than any of the Old Testament writers, and that their words, therefore, are true Scripture in the highest sense of that word, and that it is a sin to charge the New Testament writers either with "faulty" quotations from the Old Testament, or a "fallible" memory.

"And he that believeth on him shall not be put to shame ... In view here is the eternal shame which attaches to the Jewish nation for the rejection of the Messiah, the shame being simply this: the very Christ whom they contemptuously rejected was chosen by God to be the head of the new Israel; and the Father gave him "a name which is above every name" (Philippians 2:9). On the other hand, fidelity to Christ brings honor and glory to the believer, since he partakes of the honor and glory of Christ himself.

For you therefore that believe is the preciousness ... All honors and benefits are denied to unbelievers. Only the Christian shares the joy of redemption in Christ Jesus.

The stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the head of the corner ... It should be pointed out that this famous line is founded upon an actual event. In the building of Solomon’s temple, the first stone that came down from the quarry was very remarkably shaped, having been marked and cut at the quarry. The builders of the temple did not know what to do with it, and it was dragged to a place apart and became finally hidden by debris and rubbish. "It was afterward found to be that on which the completeness of the structure depended, the chief corner stone where the two walls met and were bonded together."^[26]

There were many providences in the building of the Jewish temple, despite the fact of its being a departure, really, from the will of God; just as there were also many wonderful providences and miracles connected with the secular kingdom, which also was not really the will of God; and surely, this incident of the rejected cornerstone must be one of such wonders. It is the perfect illustration of how the "builders," the Jewish hierarchy, rejected the true and only head of all holy religion. Peter was fond of this illustration and told the Sadducees to their face that they were the "builders" who had rejected the chief corner stone (Acts 4:11). In this passage, Peter extended the application to include all unbelievers as partakers of the same blame that pertained to the "builders." Macknight’s paraphrase of this verse is:

To you therefore who believe is this honor of being built on him, and of not being ashamed. But to the disobedient is the dishonor written (Psalms 118:22): the stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner of God’s temple.^[27]

A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence ... Some have been puzzled by Peter’s putting these two passages from the Psalms and Isaiah together, exactly as Paul did in Romans, and have therefore supposed Peter’s dependence on Paul; but such a device is both erroneous and unnecessary. Peter was present no doubt and heard the Lord Jesus Christ himself put the two passages together in exactly the same manner as here (Luke 20:17-18). Therefore, neither Peter nor Paul was dependent upon the other, their teachings, as in the case of all the sacred writers, going back to Christ himself, the fountain source of the entire New Testament.

See in my Commentary on Romans, p. 356, for full discussion of the metaphor of Christ the Living Stone.

The particular application of "stumbling stone" as a figure of Christ is that of comparing him to a heavy stone blocking a path or road that people travel, resulting in their stumbling and falling. Christ, as the aged Simeon prophesied, was "set for the falling and rising of many in Israel" (Luke 2:34). People, through their pride, stumble at the lowly birth of the Saviour and at the humility of his followers, the stern morality of his teachings, and his sharp exposure of their sins.

For they stumble at the word, being disobedient ... There is much to commend the viewpoint of Macknight on this place, who wrote, "Peter does not mean that they stumbled at the preached word, but against Christ himself, one of whose titles is the Word (John 1:1)."^[28]

Whereunto also they were appointed ... This does not mean that God foreordained, or appointed certain individuals to fall; but it means that God has finally and irrevocably appointed all disobedient souls to stumble. When the proud hierarchy of the ancient Israel refused to believe in Christ, they thereby thrust themselves under the blanket indictment of all unbelievers; and they fell, as God had ordained and appointed all unbelievers to fall. The indictment still stands, and unbelievers still incur the wrath of God through their unbelief.

^[21] James Macknight, op. cit., p. 451.

^[22] Archibald M. Hunter, op. cit., p. 109.

^[23] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 401.

^[24] E. M. Zerr, Bible Commentary, 1Peter (Marion, Indiana: The Cogdill Foundation, 1954), p. 256.

^[25] Roy S. Nicholson, op. cit., p. 280.

^[26] Dean Plumptre, as quoted by R. Tuck, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 15, 2(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 356.

^[27] James Macknight, op. cit., p. 456.

^[28] Ibid., p. 456.

1 Peter 2:9 --But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:

Here are repeated one after another all of the glorious titles which once belonged exclusively to the old Israel, the Hebrews, the children of Abraham; but here Peter trumpeted the bestowal of all those titles upon the new Israel, now no longer restricted to those of Abrahamic descent, but available to Jew and Gentile alike "in Christ Jesus." Peter had already cautioned his readers (1 Peter 2:5) to be what they were supposed to be, and to show the kind of life and character that would be pleasing to God, thus warning them to avoid the mistake of the old Israel who had failed so spectacularly in that very duty.

An elect race ... Just as the living stone was elect, so are the living stones who make up his spiritual body; but they are not elect in their own right, being elect "in Christ." It is true of the elect, no less than of the disobedient, that they are "appointed" unto their destiny. This means that God has predestined and appointed all who shall be found in Christ to eternal glory; but people come under the benefits of such an appointment only when they are baptized into Christ and are "found in him" at last (Revelation 14:13).

A royal priesthood ... Jesus Christ is the true king, and therefore those "in Christ" are a royal priesthood, being themselves also, through their union with Christ, in a sense, even "kings" (Revelation 1:6).

A holy nation ... Nothing can diminish the obligation of Christians to be in fact what their lawful title implies, a truly "holy" nation. It is the absolute and invariable necessity of this that underlies the oft-repeated dictum in the word of God to the effect that people shall be judged "according to their works," as Peter, Paul, Jesus and all of the New Testament writers declared over and over again.

A people for God’s own possession ... In the old versions this was translated "a peculiar people"; but in time the expression came to mean "odd" or "queer," and is thus better rendered as here. "The phrase literally means `a people for (God’s) possession.’"^[29] There is also a meaning of "especially, for his very own" in the words.

That ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you ... "Show forth" comes from a word "used nowhere else in the New Testament,"^[30] and has the meaning of "to tell out," or "to tell forth." It presupposes that every Christian is automatically an evangelist so full of the knowledge of the excellencies of God that he is compelled to tell it forth to all with whom he comes in contact. Note too that Christians are not saved for themselves, and their own sake only, but for the purpose of enlisting as many other souls as possible in the service of our excellent God. It was precisely here that the ancient Israel failed wretchedly. Hugging to themselves the precious promises of God, they made no real effort to extend to the Gentiles any saving knowledge of the Lord, coming more and more to despise the very nations they were commissioned to enlighten. God grant that his holy church shall not founder and sink upon this same shoal.

Out of darkness ... There is an indication here that many of Peter’s readers were converts to Christ from heathenism, for such is the usual import of the word.

Into his marvelous light ... The marvelous light of God, in its fullness, is unapproachable (1 Timothy 6:16); and yet it is into that very light that we are called. The children of God are children of the light, or the day; and the sons of the evil one are children of darkness.

^[29] Archibald M. Hunter, op. cit., p. 111.

^[30] Raymond C. Kelcy, op. cit., p. 50.

1 Peter 2:10 --who in time past were no people, but now are the people of God: who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

The sweep of the paragraph concluded here is infinite. The vast dimensions of the love of God and of his overflowing mercy to all people, even to those who had fallen into shame and debauchery, are as wide as heaven and earth. The same outflowing love for the Gentile converts which marks much of the Pauline writings is also in evidence here. The "no people" are now the people of God; and the people without mercy have now received it through Christ. How marvelous indeed is such wonderful love.

By Peter’s use of no people" in this verse, it should be concluded that Peter’s letter was to Christians of Gentile origin. Mason pointed out that "no people" also refers to all, regardless of race, who are in rebellion against God, and that it is quite obvious that Peter was writing to Christians of both Jewish and Gentile origins who were then "one new man in Christ."

Verses 11-12

1Pe 2:11-12

1. CONDUCT BEFORE UNBELIEVERS

1 Peter 2:11-12

11 Beloved, I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; --Here, quite obviously, is the beginning of a new section of the epistle. Somewhat after the fashion of Paul who often ranged widely over the whole of the scheme of redemption, only to return to the starting point from which to launch a new survey, so here, Peter returns to that point in his letter when he addressed the "elect sojourners of the Dispersion" (verse 1 of the first chapter), from which to begin the practical portion of the epistle which follows. To this point Peter had given particular emphasis to the manner of life which should characterize his readers in view of their relationship to God; here he exhorts them to walk worthily and godly before unbelievers and their persecutors.

The section begins with a term of endearment. "Beloved," as a form of address, often occurs in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 Corinthians 15:58; 2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 John 3:2, etc.), though only once more elsewhere in the epistle. (4:12.) The term reveals the warm affection Peter felt for his readers, his good will in their behalf, and the close and intimate relationship he sustained toward them.

The exhortations which follow take the form of an entreaty "I beseech you . . ." The word "beseech" (parakaleo, to call to one’s side and tenderly admonish, thus, to entreat, to exhort, to plead with) suggests the tenderness which characterized the approach of the apostle to the matters to be discussed.

Those thus addressed were regarded as "sojourners and pilgrims." (A sojourner (paroikos) is one who lives as a foreigner in a strange land; a pilgrim (parepidemos) is one who remains in a place but a short while, as a traveler on a journey. Here, and in Ephesians 2:11, the meaning is metaphorical and describes the Christian who, though resident on the earth, has his real and permanent home in heaven. Though sojourning on the earth, he dwells there as a temporary tenant only, his citizenship being in heaven (Philippians 3:20), whence he derives his rights, privileges, laws, etc. The more nearly he conforms to the laws of the kingdom in which he has citizenship, the more apparent becomes the difference which obtains between himself and those of the land in which he sojourns; being a citizen of that, he is alien to this; and because his life is dedicated to him who reigns above, he must ever be on guard against the evil influences of him who is the prince of this world. (John 12:31.) Such has ever been the attitude of God’s faithful. Abraham "became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a land not his own"; and the patriarchs "confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." (Hebrews 11:9; Hebrews 11:13.) Such a relationship sets up obligations and establishes responsibilities. Christians, being strangers in the world, are (a) not to partake of the customs and characteristics peculiar to it (1 John 2:15; James 4:4); and (b) not to offend unnecessarily those among whom they dwell (c) in addition, they are to seek the good of those about them, and encourage them also to look "for the city which bath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God." (Hebrews 11:10.)

Because such a relationship obtains, Christians are to "abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul." "Abstain" (apecho, to hold back from), here, present, middle, infinitive thus to keep constantly holding one’s self back from fleshly lusts, as a constant, ever-present duty. The fleshly lusts are all evil desires, the effect of which is to war against the soul, i.e., against the best interests of the soul; and the word "war" (present, indicative middle of strateuo) does not mean merely a state of antagonism, but rather a constant, active, aggressive conflict which must be evermore resisted. See Galatians 5:16-24 for a graphic description of this warfare by Paul. The "soul," in this passage, is man’s higher nature, embracing the spirit, the immortal part of man directly derived from God. (Hebrews 12:9.)

12 Having your behavior seemly among the Gentiles;--This subdivision of the epistle, consisting of verses 11, 12, contains two general exhortations, the first negative, the second positive. Through abstinence from the fleshly lusts mentioned in verse 11, these addressed by Peter were, by their godly conduct to silence the mouths of their accusers and prompt them to glorify God. Here, the word "Gentiles" embraces the unconverted heathen resident in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia (1:1), and is figuratively used to designate the ungodly world in the midst of which the Christians of these provinces lived. "Seemly," sometimes translated good, and at other times comely, means more than mere moral rectitude. It also includes that which is beautiful, harmonious, lovely, and symmetrical. Works, in order to be good in God’s sight, must also be beautiful; and it matters not how much one’s life may conform to the laws of morality and right, it is imperfect unless it also measures to the law of beauty, i.e., to beautiful and lovely conduct. We are just as obligated to make our lives attractive and beautiful to others as we are to make them pure. He who exhibits a stern and unbending disposition; though his life be an exemplary one, is lacking in the qualities which are described in the Bible as good. (Matthew 5:16; Matthew 26:10.)

That, wherein they speak against you as evildoers,--"Wherein," i.e., in the very matter in which they speak. The speaking designated is critical and adverse, literally "to speak down," and to find evil satisfaction in such criticism. In spite of such Peter admonished his readers to live so circumspectly that their accusers would be able to see in their conduct occasion not only to reverse their opinion, but actually to glorify God in so doing. It is worthy of note that the word "evildoers" is the same as that which the chief priests applied to our Lord, and in thus being stigmatized, they were but suffering the same calumnies as the Saviour. (1 Peter 2:21.) The disciples of the period in which Peter wrote, and for many years afterward, were subjected to the most bitter calumny and the severest sort of persecution. They were charged with "turning the world upside down," with acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, and with blaspheming the names of the popular gods and goddesses of the day. Unbelieving Gentiles, encouraged and led on by Jews, were most active in leveling false charges against the saints, charges based on numerous grounds. On political considerations they were charged with being enemies of the government (Acts 17:6-7) on religious considerations as opposed to the prevailing idolatry (Acts 19:27-29); on business grounds as having interfered with the manufacture of idols; and on ethical considerations as having sought to abolish the customs and practices of the day. They were, by their enemies, held responsible for, and blamed with, all the national evils of the day. Wrote Tertullian (born about 160 A.D., died between 220 and 240 A.D.), "If the Tiber rises to the walls of the city, if the Nile does not irrigate the fields, if an earthquake takes place, if famine or the pestilence arise, they cry forthwith: Away with the Christians to the lions." Heathen writers, when not possessed of the bitterness of spirit and maliciousness of heart characteristic of those actively engaged in persecution of the church, were led by the popular feeling to speak of them in similar contemptuous vein, and to join in the condemnation which all but universally prevailed during the early years of Christianity. Tacitus, Suetonius, and Pliny--all prominent and well-known Roman authors and historians--imbibed the prevalent spirit and described the early Christians as being possessed of a perverse and excessive superstition, wicked and deadly in its nature. In suffering such the disciples were simply experiencing that which Jesus had predicted would come to pass, and were following in his own footsteps, in demonstration of the adage that the servant is not above his lord.

They may be your good works, which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.--"By your good works" is, literally" "out of your beautiful deeds." Here, again, it should be observed that the word translated "good" is that which is not only morally right, but beautiful, orderly, harmonious. These beautiful deeds their enemies "behold" (epopteuontes, present active participle of epopteuo, to scrutinize minutely, to examine carefully), on examining until, though their original motive was to find occasion for further accusation, they are led from such minute scrutiny to reverse their attitude and glorify God "in the day of visitation." The design of beautiful conduct on the part of Christians is, therefore, that God should be glorified and his name made great in the earth. To this end Jesus taught the disciples, "Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:16.) Thus, the ultimate design of such conduct is not to attract to oneself honor and praise, but that God may be honored and glorified among men. As praise bestowed on a child because of its pleasing manners and obedient conduct is, in reality, praise given to the parents for the training and instruction which produced such obedience, so when men praise the good works of Christians, they are actually praising and honoring the name of him who is the author of such works.

The phrase "day of visitation," with slight variation, occurs in Luke 19:44. "Visitation" (Greek, episkopes) is derived from the same source from which our words bishop and overseer come. Peter’s use of the phrase was doubtless prompted by his remembrance of the Lord’s use thereof ("Because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation," Luke 19:44), where it is applied to the time when God comes to oversee his people, not only to rebuke them, but to bring them, if possible, to repentance; and such appears to be its meaning here, expanded to include his coming in providence to all men, and in all the ways in which his gracious influence is wrought upon the world of mankind. It was thus the expressed hope of Peter that the godly conduct of the disciples to whom he wrote would be the means of influence for good in inducing many of the unbelievers who had formerly been their traducers and accusers to turn to God in penitence as they learned more and more of the salvation which had been vouchsafed to men. The context and the similarity which obtains between this phrase and the Lord’s use of it prompts us to conclude that the "visitation" here was a coming in grace, rather than of judgment, as the term sometime means. Though God "visits" men with judgment, he also visits them with salvation. (Psalms 106:4.)

Commentary on 1 Peter 2:11-12 by N.T. Caton

1 Peter 2:11—Dearly beloved, I beseech you.

The appeal is urgent and tender—I beseech you. Strangers and pilgrims. This the people of God while on earth must continue to be. We are strangers here; we are traveling, as pilgrims do, to another country, to the heav­enly country. Why appeal to such? Why exhort to abstain from fleshly lusts? Which war against the soul.

The natural disposition is to acquire earthly possessions, amass riches and engage in earth’s pleasure. These, the apostle would have them understand, are deadly enemies to the soul, to purity of life, and obstacles to the upbuilding of the Christlikeness. They should abstain from these because they war against the soul. Strangers and pilgrims must leave these all behind when they pass into that heavenly country. Why not, then, abstain?

1 Peter 2:12—Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles.

Conversation; that is, your behavior, your conduct. Let that be proper, honest, right and comely.

1 Peter 2:12 --Speak against you as evil-doers.

This they do. They blaspheme the blessed Master and spread calumnies concerning his cause and people, but if your conduct be such as your profession commends, those that speak against you may, by your good conduct and works, be induced to glorify God in the day of visitation. That is, in the day of persecution, they may acknowledge the truth as to your good conduct. This proved to be the case in the persecution in the days of Pliny. The fortitude exhibited by the persecuted ones attracted his attention, and he was induced to await the emperor’s advice. And the patience of these sufferers for their faith made such an impression upon the heathen who witnessed their fidelity that they embraced the gospel.

Commentary on 1 Peter 2:11-12 by Burton Coffman

1 Peter 2:11 --Beloved, I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

Beloved ... This term of endearment carries with it a certain feeling of concern and pity, for no one knew any better than Peter the fury of the gathering storm that was so soon to break over the defenseless heads of the Christians.

I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims ... Like the overture to a great opera which gathers the dominating strains of the whole production, these words suggest the tragedy that lies so close at hand. "These words, when compared with Psalms 39:12, Septuagint (LXX), from which Peter drew them, prepare for the description of distress which is to follow."^[31] For more comment on "sojourners," see under 1 Peter 2:11. The word "pilgrim" means primarily, "one who journeys."

Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul ... There ar two reasons assigned in this verse to support the renunciation of fleshly lusts: (1) the readers are sojourners, and (2) the lusts make war against the soul. The metaphor of warfare is an apt one for the Christian life. That life is a constant struggle against many enemies, both within and without. The social order itself is basically hostile to Christianity, and the inward desires of the flesh and of the mind also constantly tend to erode spirituality.

ENDNOTE:

^[31] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 405.

1 Peter 2:12 --having your behavior seemly among the Gentiles; that, wherein they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good works, which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

The winning of acceptance in a hostile environment is here held forth as the motivation for righteous behavior in the midst of the alien Gentile population.

They speak against you as evil-doers ... Already, despite the fact of the first great Roman persecution being yet a little while in the future, there were widespread antagonisms vented against Christians in the form of every kind of slander and reproach. Why? The Christians were the noblest, purest and most lovable people ever to appear on earth, and yet they were hated. Why? "Christianity by its very essence opposed the vanities of paganism at every turn."^[32] Like ancient Noah, the very purity of their behavior "condemned the world" (Hebrews 11:7), and that was reason enough for the world’s hatred. There was a double source of hatred for Christians, their model demeanor being one, and their also being widely confused with the Jews another. The Jews themselves were hated and expelled from Rome in apostolic times, and many vile slanders against them were circulated in connection with such displacements. Many of the people identified Christianity as a form of Judaism and therefore transferred to them the existing hatred of the Jews. Regarding the nature of slanders against the church, Barclay pointed out that:

They were accused of cannibalism ..., this took its rise from a perversion of the words of Jesus, "This is my body ... this is my blood, etc." They were accused of killing and eating a child at their feasts.

They were accused of immorality and incest. The famed Agape, or love feast, was misrepresented as a sensual orgy.

They were accused of turning slaves against their masters.

They were accused of "hatred of mankind."

They were accused of disloyalty to Caesar, due to their refusal to worship the emperor.^[33]

By your good works which they behold ... "The good works here were not what are commonly called acts of benevolence."^[34] The thing which the non-Christian beheld was the beautiful moral conduct of the Christians, emphasized by their adamant refusal to indulge in the sensualities of paganism.

May glorify God ... Peter had learned his lesson at the Master’s feet, because Christ himself taught this same principle in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5:16).

In the day of visitation ... Whether the day here is understood as the final judgment, or some time of future conversion, it yields the same basic meaning; because "The glorification of God on the day of judgment would presuppose their previous conversion."^[35]

As Barclay said of this verse:

Here is our challenge and our inspiration. It is by the loveliness of our daily life and conduct that we must commend Christianity to those who do not believe,^[36]

^[32] Stephen W. Paine, op. cit., p. 975.

^[33] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 203.

^[34] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 406.

^[35] Raymond C. Kelcy, op. cit., p. 54.

^[36] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 204.

Verses 13-17

1Pe 2:13-17

2. SUBMISSION TO CIVIL RULERS

(1 Peter 2:13-17)

13 Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake:--One of the most common slanders uttered against the early disciples by the enemies of Christianity was that they were disorderly in conduct, and disposed to disregard the edicts of civil authority. In Thessalonica, for example, it was charged that "they act contrary to the decrees of Caesar." (Acts 17:7.) To refute such slanders, and to give special emphasis to those matters most likely to be observed by people in general, the apostle, from a discussion of general precepts dealing with conduct before unbelievers in general, passes to specific exhortation with reference to the conduct of Christians in relation to the secular authorities.

"Be subject" is from hupotagete, aorist passive of hupotasso, here used with the force of the middle, signifying to place one’s self under subjection; to render one’s self subordinate. The word occurs in Romans 8:20; 1 Corinthians 14:32; 1 Corinthians 15:27; Luke 2:51, and often elsewhere in the New Testament. Peter uses it again in 3:22, in the phrase, "angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him."

"Ordinance" (ktisis), literally "a creation," and so translated in Romans 1:20 and Colossians 1:15, denotes that which has been made, and the prepositional phrase "of man" indicates that the creation contemplated is human in origin. The Greeks and Romans were accustomed to describe the appointment of officers as the creation of them; and here, the reference is to the institution, which they administered--the civil government. Peter thus exhorted those to whom he wrote to put themselves in submission to the prevailing and secular power. It should be observed that neither here nor elsewhere in the scriptures do the sacred writers designate any special form of government to which Christians are to subject themselves, or attempt to determine the type of government best suited to their needs. Aware that the saints would have no choice in the nature of the secular power under which they lived, these writers concerned themselves solely with the conduct which should characterize them, regardless of the form of government to which they owed allegiance. Whether the government was monarchal, democratic, or totalitarian, the obligation was the same. Christians under it were "to be subject to every ordinance of man." It is noteworthy that the form of government which then obtained was dictatorial, totalitarian, and tyrannical; and the men who dispensed the laws thereof were corrupt, depraved, and dissolute in the extreme. That the Christian’s allegiance thereto was not unconditional, however, follows from the fact that the apostle who penned the words of this text himself disregarded the edicts of constituted authority when forbidden to preach in the name of Jesus. "But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it is right in the sight of God to hearken unto you rather than unto God, judge ye: for we cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard." (Acts 4:1-22.)

When the law of God and the edicts of men are not in conflict, the Christian is obligated to obey both. When conflict exists, he must disregard the secular for the divine. Peter announced the principles that must govern in all such cases when he said, "We must obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:29.)

The submission here enjoined by the apostle was not to be from motives purely human, nor from the fear of punishment which follows disobedience, but because "the powers that be are ordained of God (Romans 13:1 ff.), and to be in subjection to them is to be in subjection to God, who ordained them. The submission contemplated is to be "for the Lord’s sake," i.e., because he commanded it (Matthew 17:26-27), and his name is honored as the leader of those rendering such submission.

Whether to the king, as supreme; --The king alluded to was the infamous Nero, emperor of Rome, and one of the most wicked, depraved and ungodly kings who ever reigned. Under him Paul suffered martyrdom; under him, multitudes of saints died rather than renounce the faith once delivered to the saints. These to whom Peter wrote were admonished to obey him, wicked though he was, since he derived his powers from God who ordains civil government. (Romans 13:1.) Because God does not determine the form of government under which his people live, or arbitrarily select the ruler, wicked men are often elevated to positions of authority therein. An example will be seen in John 19:11.

The word "supreme" is the same adjective as that translated "higher" in the phrase "higher powers" in Romans 13:1. It is used here to distinguish between the rulers in the highest position and those in more obscure places and who derived their powers through (verse 14) the king.

14 Or unto governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evildoers and for praise to them that do well.--The "governors" were the proconsuls and magistrates of the provinces, subordinate officials variously designated as "Asiarchs," town clerks, proconsuls, etc. (Acts 19:31; Acts 19:35; Acts 19:38.) The word "governors" means leaders (from hegeomai, to lead).

"By him" is, in the Greek text, literally "through him" (di’autou), the pronoun "him" referring to the king (verse 13), and not the Lord. Peter’s design here was to show that these "governors" exercised their powers by virtue of the supreme authority of the king by whom they were sent. The purpose for which this was done--the design, incidentally, of all civil authority --was (a) to punish the wicked, and (b) encourage good works by protecting those engaged therein. It is significant that throughout this passage there is similarity in form and in meaning to that of Paul in the well-known passage in Romans 13:1-7.

The obligation of the Christian to conform to the laws of the land in which he lives, even though the government itself is corrupt, and the officials who administer the laws depraved, is here, and in the passage above alluded to by Paul, clearly taught. The test is simply this: is the edict in harmony with the law of God? If yes, it must be obeyed whatever the nature of the government, and despite the depravity of its officials; if no, it must be resisted, however worthy the government and benevolent its rulers in other respects. This principle admits of no exceptions. It is fatal to disregard it.

15 For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:--Instead of indulging in vehement vindication of their character and conduct, of foolish men:16 as free, and not the saints to whom Peter wrote were admonished to make their good deeds the most conspicuous feature of their lives, this being the most effective defence available to them against the false and malicious slanders which they were suffering at the hands of their enemies. "For so" (outos esti), "in this way," the will of God was discharged. This was the manner in which God wanted them to defend themselves against such attacks; and it is the way he waits us to meet such today. "Silence," in the text, is from phimoun, present infinitive active of phimoo, literally, to muzzle, to gag; thus, figuratively, to silence. Instances of its literal meaning, and where it is thus rendered are 1 Corinthians 9:9 and 1 Timothy 5:18. Here, metaphorically, wicked men were to be muzzled, and the muzzle to be used was the saints’ good deeds! As a muzzle renders even a vicious and ill-tempered dog harmless, so the godly behavior of Christians effectively muzzles their most malevolent foes.

The "ignorance" designated was not merely the lack of information characteristic of the uninformed (agnoia), but a type of ignorance that is willful, persistent, and disgraceful in nature (agnosia). It is the same as that which Paul regarded as shameful in 1 Corinthians 15:34. "Foolish" (aphron), senseless, indicates an evil condition not only of the mind but also of the heart, i.e., folly preceding not simply from lack of understanding, but from evil and corrupt motives also. The article appears before the word foolish in the text, thus designating these foolish men as a .special class engaged in slandering the children of God, and not simply foolish men in general.

16 As free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God.--Though they were free, the freedom which Peter’s readers enjoyed was not license to ungodly indulgence. New Testament writers, and Paul particularly, gave much emphasis to the fact that children of God are free (Galatians 5:1), free from the law, free from sin, free from fear, but with many cautions that this freedom must be kept within circumscribed bounds. Men were, in that day, especially disposed to allege their freedom as ground for disregarding the sanctions of the law, and as license to fleshly indulgence. Some Gentile sects confusing liberty with libertinism, maintained that grace meant deliverance from all law (a view likewise held today by those who subscribe to the doctrine of impossibility of apostasy), and the Jews, on the plea that they were in possession of the oracles of God, often claimed immunity from law originating with man.

To guard his readers against such wicked conclusions, Peter penned these words of caution. They were to remember that, though free, they were under definite obligation and with responsibilities not to be disregarded. These the apostle presented both negatively and positively. (a) This freedom they enjoyed was not to be used as a cloak (covering, veil) for wickedness; (b) instead, they were to live as "bondservants" of God. Free, they were, nevertheless, servants; the paradox being a well known Christian characteristic. There is indeed no such thing as absolute personal liberty. Liberty without restraint is license; and unrestrained license is abject bondage. The alcoholic, the dope addict, because they recognize no restraint, are in the most helpless slavery.

17 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.--Four rules of conduct are here designated. The first, "honor all men," being more general than the others, is in the aorist tense; the last three are present imperatives. As occasion arises, all men are to be honored; the brotherhood is to be continuously loved, God is evermore to be feared, and there is a constant, unceasing obligation to honor the king where such form of government exists. Inasmuch as all men have in them the image of God, however greatly marred it may be, they are to be accorded the respect that is their due. The "brotherhood" is the church of the Lord in its aggregate sense; the affection we are admonished to feel for it is the love which obtains between those of the same family with common parentage, common interests, and common aims. Though not as universal as the command of the Lord in Matthew 5:44, "love your enemies," the special love which Christians are to feel for each other by no means excludes the love there enjoined for our enemies. The injunction to "fear God" and "honor the king," being so closely joined, suggests a relationship between them. To "fear God" is to show him holy, reverential awe; and to "honor the king" is to accord him the respect that is due one in such a position of authority. The "fear" we are to feel for God is not dread nor terror; it is rather fear of offending, of causing pain through misconduct. "The fear (Hebrew yirah, reverence) of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge." (Proverbs 1:7.) Though we do not live under a monarchy such as was characteristic of the saints to whom Peter wrote, the principle applies to the public servants empowered to administer the laws of the land, and these we are to honor.

Commentary on 1 Peter 2:13-17 by N.T. Caton

1 Peter 2:13—Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man.

Be obedient to the laws of the government where you may sojourn. Christianity does not require any of its devotees to be insurrectionists; upon the contrary, it is the Lord’s will that we as Christians obey human laws.

1 Peter 2:13 --Whether it be to the king.

The addressed ones were subjects of the emperor at Rome. He is here called king. To him Peter tells them to submit.

1 Peter 2:13 --As supreme.

The king is placed in authority. He is supreme, so far as the earthly power is concerned, and while living in his territory recognize his authority.

1 Peter 2:14—Or unto governors.

These, as rulers, are placed over provinces by the emperor, and as such are sent by him to punish evil-doers, and to praise such as do not break the law.

1 Peter 2:15—For so is the will of God.

You will put to silence the calumny that because of your faith you were law-breakers. Their calumny was in conse­quence of their ignorance, and also their wickedness. It is God’s will that you silence these slanderers by your good conduct.

1 Peter 2:16—As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak.

Christians are free from the law of sin. They are no longer under bondage to it, but you must not use this liberty as a covering for wrong-doing.

1 Peter 2:16 --But as the servants of God.

You are the Lord’s bondmen, and you live as his bonds­men, observing all of his laws. These lead you away from all evil conduct or wrong-doing.

1 Peter 2:17—Honor all men.

That is, those to whom honor is due. Have respect to men in every station in life. Some may occupy stations of honor, some stations of profit. Show no disregard to any.

1 Peter 2:17 --Love the brotherhood.

Our Savior has set us the example. It is his command; love the brethren.

1 Peter 2:17 --Fear God.

Not in dread, but in reverence. God is our Father. He loves us. We fear him when we walk before him blameless, doing his will

1 Peter 2:17 --Honor the king.

This is done when we obey his laws, which are designed to restrain the lawless.

Commentary on 1 Peter 2:13-17 by Burton Coffman

1 Peter 2:13-14 --Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well.

Be subject ... This means "submit, or obey"; and "It is the key word in this epistle, occurring here and in 1 Peter 2:18; 1 Peter 3:1 1 Peter 3:5 1 Peter 3:22, and in 1 Peter 5:5, six times in all."^[37]

To every ordinance of man ... Macknight translated this "to every human creation of magistrates,"^[38]making it clear that Peter rejected the sophistry of the zealots who maintained that obedience was due only to those magistrates appointed by God. Yes, it is human governments which Peter here commanded Christians to obey. This command is not absolute, as the next phrase indicates.

For the Lord’s sake ... Jesus is still Lord; and under certain circumstances, Peter himself affirmed that "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).

Whether to the king, as supreme ... One might have expected Peter to say, "to the emperor, as supreme," but the meaning is the same.

By "the king" is meant the Roman emperor, who was frequently so described by the Greek writers. Nero was emperor when St. Peter wrote. Christians were to obey even him, wicked tyrant as he was; for his power was given him from above, as the Lord himself had said of Pilate (John 19:11).^[39]

The existence of human governments is here revealed to be of God; and this is not hard to understand when the alternative chaos that would ensue without them is contemplated. Even the worst of governments is better than none at all. For full discussion of the Christian and the state, see in my Commentary on Romans, pp. 447-450.

Or unto governors, as sent by him ... Actually in Rome at the time of Peter’s writing, the emperor was the only actual ruler, the many governors of the provinces being no more than deputies whose authority and tenure were subject absolutely to the whim of the current Caesar. Among such governors mentioned in the New Testament were Pilate, Felix, and Festus.

For vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well ... This states the general purpose of human governments and may not be understood as a declaration that the governors sent by Nero were scrupulous to observe such guidelines.

^[37] C. J. Polkinghorne, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p. 590.

^[38] James Macknight, op. cit., p. 459.

^[39] B. C. Caffin, op. cit., p. 73.

1 Peter 2:15 --For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

So is the will of God ... refers to the institution and continuity of human governments.

That by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men ... There is a charge in this that the slanders of the Christians were grounded in the ignorance and foolishness of their accusers; but there is a definite culpability both in such ignorance and in such foolishness. "In the Bible, `foolish’ is often used in the sense of evil-disposed or wicked."^[40] Also, the kind of ignorance that repeats a vicious slander without checking the truth of it is likewise reprehensible.

Put to silence ... "The original word here properly signifies to muzzle a beast, to hinder it from eating, or from biting."^[41] Peter’s method of doing this, of course, was that of doing so by righteous conduct. As Barnes said, "One of the best ways of meeting the accusations of our enemies is to lead a life of strict integrity. It is not easy for the wicked to reply to this argument."^[42]

Is our situation with reference to government today any different from that when Peter penned his epistle? There is, of course, the principle that in a democratic society, the people themselves are those who govern; and there is a vast difference in that. The difference, however, still does not license illegal and rebellious behavior against the duly constituted authorities. The great practical difference is that a Christian should actively participate in the affairs of his government. Agreement is felt with Barclay who said that "It is tragic that so few Christians really fulfill their obligation to the state and the society in which they live."^[43]

^[40] Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament, 1Peter (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1953), p. 146.

^[41] James Macknight, op. cit., p. 460.

^[42] Albert Barnes, op. cit., p. 147.

^[43] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 206.

1 Peter 2:16 --as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God.

"The meaning of this verse is that Christian freedom must show itself, not in license, but in willing obedience to constituted authorities."^[44] It has been supposed by some that a few Christians might actually have vaunted a freedom contrary to these words, claiming to be above the state and speaking contemptuously of human governments. Such an attitude of course would have further antagonized and aroused their enemies. Mason warned that no Christian "should mistake the nature of his Christian liberty so as to dream of an exemption from obedience either to God or man."^[45] It is evident that there are many today who have done exactly that, even claiming that it is not necessary or essential for them to obey even God!

^[44] B. C. Caffin, op. cit., p. 74.

^[45] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 407.

1 Peter 2:17 --Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

It is perhaps best to understand this verse in two parts: (1) honor all men, but go much further than this and love the brotherhood particularly, and (2) fear God first, and in all that is consistent with the fear of God, honor the king. It appears that "fear God," standing just ahead of "honor the king," has some qualification in it with reference to the latter command. It is much like the Saviour’s admonition to "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s" (Matthew 22:11).

Honor all men ... This is a difficult commandment, but no more so than Paul’s admonition for every man to "count others better than himself’ (Philippians 2:3). See comment on this under that reference in my Commentary on Philippians. Every man is entitled to honor because of one trait or another.

Love the brotherhood ... Paul also commanded the same thing (Galatians 6:10). The Greek term for "brotherhood" which Peter used here and in 1 Peter 5:9 occurs nowhere else in the New Testament.^[46]

Fear God ... The beginning of all spiritual wisdom is in this (Proverbs 6:7); and the commandment is actually a short form of the entire duty of man (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

ENDNOTE:

^[46] C. J. Polkinghorne, op. cit., p. 591.

Verses 18-25

1Pe 2:18-25

3. DUTIES OF SERVANTS TO MASTERS

1 Peter 2:18-25

18 Servants, be in subjection to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.--A common word for "servant," and that by which Paul often designated himself in the familiar phrase, "servant of Jesus Christ" (Romans 1:1; Philippians 1:1; Titus 1:1), is doulos, slave. Here, "servants" is from the milder oiketes, a domestic servant, a household slave. This class of servants, being more constantly in contact with their masters than would those slaves whose work was customarily in the fields and shops, would be subjected to greater provocation from evil masters, and are thus particularly addressed here. It is well known that many in the church during the apostolic age were in bondage; and instruction to those under such restraint is significantly large in the New Testament. (Ephesians 6:5-8; Colossians 3:22; 1 Timothy 6:1-2.) The reason is obvious. As Christians, they had learned of their equality with all men before God, and had come to recognize that in Christ Jesus all fleshly distinctions have been abolished. (Galatians 3:28-29.) There was thus grave danger that these considerations would prompt them to disregard their obligations, and to repudiate the relationship which subsisted between them and their earthly masters. The institution of slavery was opposed to the very spirit and genius of Christianity, and destined to perish as the influence thereof came to be dominently felt; yet, so deeply rooted was it in the social and economic fabric of the time that a frontal attack upon it would have been disastrous to the cause of Christianity. The sacred writers thus tolerated it and regulated it until such time as it would disintegrate under the impact of the cross.

The relationship must have been an exceedingly trying one, particularly to those with heathen masters. In the first place it was difficult for them to reconcile subjection to men with spiritual liberty; and most difficult of all when these masters were evil men, and disposed to oppress and mistreat them. Yet, it was a relationship which, for the time, they could not escape; and these instructions were vitally essential to the progress and good name of Christianity among the heathen.

The "subjection" enjoined is to be related to that designated in verse 13, "be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake," the relationship of servants and masters being one of the ordinances of men there implied. It is also to be identified with the teaching of the entire context as another means by which to "silence" (muzzle) the mouths of their accusers and prompt those about them to "glorify God in the day of visitation."

The service commanded was to be rendered "with all fear." There are many kinds of fear: fear of punishment; fear of offending God; fear of bringing reproach on the name of Christ--all of which is to be included here. These to whom Peter wrote were not only to fear the displeasure of their earthly masters, but especially God, their highest Master. (Ephesians 6:5.) Moreover, their service was to be the same whether their masters were kind and benevolent or cruel and vindicative. It was to be given "not in the way of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart." (Eph.. 6:6.) The word "good," descriptive of humane masters, denotes inner goodness, kindness of heart; "gentle," that which is mild and considerate; "froward" is, literally, crooked, here figuratively used to indicate that disposition which is perverse, surly, opposed to gentle. Good and gentle masters were those who showed consideration for their servants; the froward were masters who oppressed and abused them.

19 For this is acceptable, if for conscience toward God a man endureth griefs, suffering wrongfully.--"This" (touto, neuter singular, this thing) refers to that immediately preceding--obedience to wicked and oppressive masters. "Acceptable" is translated from the same word (charis) as "thank" in the passage, "And if ye love them that love you, what thank have ye" (Luke 6:32), where it signifies not only thanks, but also reward and praise. Here, as in that passage, such is contemplated as being witnessed by the Father, i.e., under his eye, and proceeding from his hand. The term is descriptive of the credit which belongs to those who exceed what might be ordinarily expected. Slaves of the world resent and rebel against the surly disposition and abusive conduct of their wicked masters; but Christians, in the same relationship, suffer such uncomplainingly because of their consciousness of God’s presence and approval. Peter is not to be understood as affirming here that suffering of itself is an occasion for commendation from God it is only when such proceeds from one’s determination to do that which is right that it is "acceptable" (thankworthy, A.V.) in God’s sight.

20 For what glory is it, if, when ye sin, and are buffeted for it, ye take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye shall take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.--"Glory" here is not that which affords occasion for boasting, but is that impression which, by worthy conduct, is made upon others. The word literally signifies renown, fame, praise earned by commendable achievement. Where punishment is suffered because of improper conduct, no praise accrues to the sufferer; good people feel that in such cases the culprit is merely receiving that which he deserved. "Buffeted" (kolaphizo, to strike with the fist, here present passive participle) means to be repeatedly. pummelled, perhaps literally here to indicate the type and extent of the punishment slaves often received from their "froward" masters. When punishment is undeserved, and is administered because of the wickedness of the master, and Christian slaves endure it patiently because they desire to do their duty to God, he approves and blesses. The word "acceptable" is similarly derived, and means the same as in verse 19. When men endure such treatment for conscience sake they are exceeding that which their fellows ordinarily do under such circumstances, and are therefore regarded as "thankworthy" in God’s sight. The early Christians often found occasion to rejoice amidst the most severe persecution and trial. (Acts 5:40-42; Acts 16:25.)

21 For hereunto were ye called:--Verses 18-20 deal with the duty of servants to continue in well doing, and to submit patiently to whatever trials it is their lot to bear; verses 21-25 establish the motive which should prompt to such manner of life. "Here-unto (eis touto) is, literally, "into this," i.e., into such a life as they were experiencing had they been called (by the gospel) to do good and to suffer patiently. While primarily applicable to Christian slaves, these words have a general application to all saints, for it is "through much tribulation" that we "enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22), and Paul warned that all who would live godly in Christ Jesus shall "suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12). These saints to whom Peter wrote were "called" to such suffering, this being an inevitable consequence of their lot in life. Christianity is, itself, a calling (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14), and trials an invariable characteristic thereof. "Because to you it hath been granted in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer in his behalf." (Philippians 1:29.)

Because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow in his steps:--The calling alluded to in the first clause of verse 21 is here explained: "because Christ also (literally, even Christ) suffered for you." Since the disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord, such suffering was to be expected. Two ideas are here advanced: (1) Christ suffered; hence, you, his servants, must likewise suffer ; (2) in suffering the Lord left an example for his disciples to imitate in enduring similar trials.

"Example," in the text, is from hupogrammon, accusative singular of hupogrammos, from the preposition hupo, under, and gramma, literally, to write under; to copy, and here figuratively, a pattern or model for imitation. It is a figure suggested by the copybook method of teaching penmanship. Christ thus becomes the copyhead, the beautiful writing at the top of the page. Implied in the figure is a copybook, a perfect pattern of writing, a white, unblemished sheet of paper, the student’s effort to transcribe the copy, the awkward attempts in the beginning, persistent determination, constant and unremitting practice; and then, eventually--success!

The purpose for which such an example has been provided is that we should "follow in his steps." "Steps" is from ichnos, the heel of a shoe; also, a footprint. At this point the figure changes from a copyhead to a guide who goes before and breaks out the path that others may safely and surely follow. The Lord thus becomes for us not only an example of patient resignation in suffering trial and hardship, he went before us marking out the path and leaving us footprints of meekness, gentleness, and fortitude.

Christ’s example was cited as a particular encouragement to the Christian slaves among those to whom Peter wrote to bear patiently the unjust and undeserved reproaches which they received from their heathen masters. Suffering for evil conduct they might have accepted as that which should be expected under the circumstances; but to suffer unjustly and at the hands of unbelieving heathens was indeed a difficult trial to bear. Christ, as an example of an innocent sufferer, is offered to sustain them in bearing similar trials. Though he suffered, and suffered unjustly, this did not prompt him to sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. This pattern Peter’s readers should strive to follow. The conduct of Christ under such great provocation is next alluded to by the apostle.

22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth --These words are cited, with slight variation, from the Septuagint translation of Isaiah 53:9, sin (hamartia) being substituted for violence (anomia, lawlessness) in our version of the Hebrew text. (See, also, Zephaniah 3:13.) "Did" is from epoiesen, aorist tense of poieo, with the negative signifying that never in a single instance did Jesus commit sin. For the meaning of the word "guile," see comments on 1 Peter 2:1. "Found" is from a word (eurisko) which means to search diligently. No guile (deceit, deception) could be found in the words of our Lord, despite the fact that his enemies sought diligently and searched carefully to discover such. The Saviour’s sincerity thus stood the test of hostile scrutiny. Peter may have cited this prophecy of Isaiah as especially significant to slaves because the Messiah is designated by that prophet as the servant of Jehovah (Isaiah 52:13), and an oppressed and afflicted one. (Isaiah 53:7-8.) Other passages where the sinlessness of Jesus is expressly affirmed are Hebrews 7:26; 2 Corinthians 5:21 ; and 1 John 3:5. He himself alluded to the fact in his challenge to his enemies, "Which of you convicteth me of sin? (John 8:46), a challenge infidels for twenty centuries have never accepted. Jesus did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, thus exhibiting perfect sinlessness, both in word and in deed. These words were especially relevant to slaves whose servitude and consequent oppression by evil masters laid them open to greater temptation to practice deception and deceit, and to resort to trickery and artifice in evading and avoiding the accusations of their masters. However great the provocation, Peter would have them remember, and imitate the Christ they followed. These words are as pertinent to us today as to those to whom they were originally penned.

23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:--The antecedent of "who" is Christ. (Verse 21.) The verbs "reviled" are translated from Greek imperfects, the force of which is to signify that when our Lord was being constantly reviled, he did not retaliate with railing for railing; while suffering the bitter taunts of his most determined enemies he did not utter vain and meaningless imprecations, but committed (Greek, kept on committing) himself to God with the assurance that, though being greatly wronged by man, he would receive righteous judgment at the hands of the Father.

The biographies of Jesus abound with instances of that to which Peter here alludes. The Jews charged him with being a devil, a winebibber, and a glutton, in league with Beelzebub, a blasphemer of God, and violator of the law. When on trial before the Sanhedrin--the supreme court of the Jews--the judges thereof ridiculed his claims, heaped scorn and contempt on his head, and spit in his face. Common soldiers, in further derision of his claims to royalty, placed a purple robe about his shoulders and did mock obeisance at his feet. While dying on the cross a bloodthirsty mob milled and surged about him, shouting, "He saved others himself he cannot save." (Matthew 27:39.) The stark tragedy of those fateful hours was deeply etched in Peter’s consciousness, and he penned these words in vivid remembrance of scenes in which he himself had performed a disgraceful part.

Again, it should be noted that this instruction was especially pertinent to the Christian slaves to whom it was particularly addressed. (1 Peter 2:18.) They must often have been tempted to retaliate when reviled by their heartless masters. Even so, they were not to forget that their Master under circumstances even more trying had met such ungodly taunts with silent patience. In the indignation which they felt for undeserved and evil treatment incident to their position as slaves they were doubtless often sorely tempted to threaten dire vengeance against their oppressors. They must, in all such instances, remember that while the Lord could have brought to his side twelve legions of angels, he made no defense of himself, and gave utterance to no threats, quietly committing himself into the hands of his Father. As their master had done, so were his servants to do.

The pointed words of condemnation which Jesus sometimes hurled at the Pharisees and others (Matthew 7:5; Matthew 16:3; Matthew 22:18; Matthew 23:13; Matthew 23:25-36) were not the bitter taunts of personal malice, nor the retaliatory retorts for insults received, but the probings of one capable of looking into the innermost recesses of the heart and exposing the corruption there, with the design of saving, if possible, the persons so possessed.

Our Saviour thus not only taught non-retaliation (Matt. 5 38-48); he practiced it, and under the most trying circumstances possible to conceive. It is only when his disciples do likewise that they reflect his spirit and demonstrate in their lives his influence. Far from calling down upon his enemies the vengeance of his Father, he prayed for and sought their conversion and salvation. "Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me; I will render to the man according to his work." (Proverbs 24:29.) "All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so de ye also unto them: for this is the law and the prophets." It is idle to claim the Spirit of Christ while disregarding, under any circumstances, the principles taught in this passage. They are universal in nature and applicable to every relationship possible to the Christian.

24 Who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree,--In the verses’ immediately preceding (21-23), the example of Christ, as a patient and uncomplaining suffered under extreme provocation, was brought forth, and the Christian slaves, to whom Peter was particularly addressing this instruction, were admonished to "follow in his steps." Having thus had occasion to refer to the suffering and death of Christ on the cross, and unwilling to pass from this momentous theme when thus far he had pictured the Lord as merely a martyr courageously suffering and dying for a cherished cause, he here dwells on and considers his death in its relation to the redemption of man. Already, in the context, he had pointed out that Christ suffered "for you," and lest this should be interpreted as meaning no more than an example of patient endurance and an encouragement to holy living, he passes to the contemplation of his death in its atoning aspects and sharpens and extends the remarkable statement of verse 22. Not only had our Lord no sin, not only did he not sin himself, he also bore our sins in his body on the tree.

The word "bore" is translated from the Greek anenegken, second aorist active indicative of anaphero, the word used in the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament of the bearing up on the altar of the sacrificial victim by the priest. Inherent in the word is thus the idea of sacrifice, and it is idle to attempt to weaken its meaning by its exclusion. The Lord not only died in our behalf; he also died in our stead. The vicarious aspect of the death of Christ is clearly taught here, as often elsewhere in the sacred writings. (Matthew 20:28 Mark 10:45; 1 Tim:2:6.) The position of the pronoun is emphatic he, himself, bore our sins, he alone. This verse is an obvious allusion to the well-known prophecy of Isaiah 53 : "He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet he bare the sins of man, and made intercession for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:11-12.)

The Lord, in bearing the sins of the world, simply allowed the penalty of the law to fall upon him, the execution of which he suffered in our stead. Moreover, he bore our sins "in his own body." His body thus became the sacrificial victim, and the cross the altar on which it was offered. Christ in his death became both priest and victim; he bore our sins, thus making an offering for us ; he bore our sins "in his own body," thus serving as the victim of sacrifice which he offered. (Hebrews 9:25-28.)

He bore our sins in his body "on the tree." For the cross the apostle uses here the word "tree" (xulon), the same term by which he designated the cross in his speeches in Acts. (Acts 5:30; Acts 10:39.) Paul alluded to the cross in similar fashion (Galatians 3:13), and both apostles were doubtless influenced to this end by Deuteronomy 21:23.

That we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; --The two effects of Christ’s death are here prominently exhibited: (1) by it our sins have been removed; (2) through its effects we are privileged to live unto righteousness. "Having died" is in the aorist tense, and thus refers to a definite and consummated act of renunciation of sin occurring in repentance and the reformation which follows; and the life of righteousness begins when one is raised from the baptismal grave. (Romans 6:1-6.) To live unto righteousness is simply to live in the service of righteousness. "Righteousness" is that state or condition existing when one keeps the commandments. (Psalms 119:172.) The word "died" in this clause is an unusual one, occurring nowhere else in the scriptures. Its literal meaning is "having ceased to be." By virtue of the sacrificial atonement of Christ, when we turn from a life of sin the relationship which has thus far subsisted ceases to be, and when the "old man of sin" is buried in the watery grave, a new life unto righteousness ensues. (Romans 6:1-6.)

By whose stripes ye were healed.--These words are quoted from the Greek translation of Isaiah 53:5. "Stripes" is from the Greek molops, a bruised and swollen welt from which blood trickles, the livid mark on the quivering flesh, red and raw, from scourging. In the Greek the word is singular, as it also is in Isaiah 53:5, the body of Jesus being so bruised from the brutal beating he received that there was but one wound or stripe, and this covered his entire body. The instrument by which this punishment was inflicted--the scourge--was a leather whip of cords into which had been woven jagged bits of brass or iron. When these Christian slaves were beaten they were to remember that, however cruel and brutal such beatings were, none equaled that which the Lord suffered prior to his crucifixion.

By his stripes we "were healed." The word "healed" is here figuratively used for the salvation of the soul from sin, and may not properly be extended to include miraculous healing of the body from disease. The sickness implied in the word is of the soul, and the healing, redemption. An instance of such use by the Lord will be seen in Matthew 13:15. Evidence that bodily healing as a part of the atonement is not taught here or elsewhere in the scriptures follows from the fact that (1) instances abound of individuals known to be saved who nevertheless suffered bodily affliction (Philippians 2:27; 2 Timothy 4:20; 2 Corinthians 12:7; 1 Timothy 5:23); (2) were healing a part of the atonement, sickness in an individual would be proof that the soul is unsaved (3) the context here clearly points to the fact that it is salvation from sin, and not physical healing of the body contemplated in this passage. So-called modern divine healers are guilty of a perversion of this text in extending it to include healing of the body from affliction and disease.

25 For ye were going astray like sheep;--The figure of sheep as representative of a people confused, bewildered, and without a leader is a common one in the scriptures. (Matthew 9:36 Luke 15:4; Numbers 27:17 1 Kings 22:17.) Wandering sheep, away from the fold, and exposed to the manifold dangers of the wilderness, are a fitting representation of those who have forsaken the right way and have gone astray. While the reference here is primarily to Isaiah 53:6 ("All we like sheep have gone astray"), Peter must have recalled the many allusions thereto by the Lord during his public ministry, and particularly the parable of the Good Shepherd. (John 10:1-16.)

But are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.--"Returned" is in the aorist tense, and thus indicates a single act, and a definite occasion when they returned--viz., at their conversion. The verb is also in the passive voice, often used as here with middle sense, to show that the subject acted upon itself to accomplish the desired result. Thus, these to whom Peter wrote, by their obedience to the gospel, were saved from the wandering life of sheep and the dangers incident thereto, and returned unto the"shepherd and bishop" of their souls. The Lord is presented here under two aspects: (1) he is a shepherd, in that he feeds, guides, and protects his sheep; (2) he is a bishop (overseer) because he superintends, supervises, and directs their activity. Those whose duty it is to direct the affairs of the churches are undershepherds in feeding, guiding, and directing the work of the church; and they are bishops in overseeing, under Christ, the work committed into their hands. (Ephesians 4:11; Acts 20:28.) The author of this epistle was an elder (1 Peter 5:1), and Christ is presented as the "chief shepherd" (1 Peter 5:4). There is perhaps significance in the fact that attention is drawn to Christ as shepherd and bishop of souls. Though these to whom Peter primarily wrote were in bondage in the flesh, their souls, their higher nature was free and answerable only to the Great Shepherd

Commentary on 1 Peter 2:18-25 by N.T. Caton

1 Peter 2:18—Servants, be subject to your masters.

To such among the addressed believers as are in the station of a servant, I say to you it is your duty to be subject to the orders of those who are for the time being over you as masters. You must be careful not to discrimi­nate. Some masters may be good and gentle; others, ill-natured and cross, even severe. Render faithful service alike to all. This is their due, considering your relations to each other.

1 Peter 2:19—For this is thankworthy.

That is to say, this kind of a service meets the appro­bation of God, whether the master is satisfied or not. Service rendered for conscience’ sake, although grief and suffering are endured wrongfully, God will approve.

1 Peter 2:20—For what glory is it?

If one is guilty of faults and is punished, the punish­ment is just, and, while the suffering is borne patiently, no credit is due for the patience. But where one renders con­scientious service, and is then buffeted and bears his punish­ment with patience, this is acceptable to God.

1 Peter 2:21—For even hereunto were ye called.

Suffering for well-doing, when Peter wrote, seems to have been the experience of all, and it was to be expected. Believers had been warned, and are now warned, that suffer­ing may arise at any time for the cause of Christ. Evil and good are in antagonism. Persecution may arise. Even so Christ suffered, and he is our great example. He has left his example with us, and left it that we should follow in his footsteps. That is, bear patiently suffering, when inflicted for doing right.

1 Peter 2:22—Who did no sin.

His conduct was without a fault.

1 Peter 2:22—Neither was guile found in his mouth.

No false word was by him uttered, hence he suffered without cause. The sufferings endured by Christ he did not deserve.

1 Peter 2:23—Who, when he was reviled.

When reviled by the Jews no words of resentment were by him used. When he was crucified, he did not threaten his persecutors, but meekly committed his cause to God, who judges a righteous judgment.

1 Peter 2:24—Who his own self bare our sins.

The apostle is still considering the example left by Christ. He died for our sins. He did not die for his own sins, for he had none, but he bare ours on the cross. Our burden of sin was by him borne. A sacrificial offering was made, and thereby we have an opportunity, by his gracious provisions, to become dead to sin. We believe the gospel. We are baptized into his death, coming forth new creatures. We live new lives. We live and pursue a righteous course marked out by him by whose stripes the means were pro­vided, by which we are healed of the wounds and bruises of sin and of its dominion.

1 Peter 2:25—For ye were as sheep going astray.

That is, formerly led astray by the evil, but now are, as it were, found, and have returned from wandering by coming to Christ.

1 Peter 2:25—The Shepherd and Bishop.

He is the good Shepherd. This he has proven by his death. A good shepherd careth for his sheep. Of this we are assured, for he said of himself, "I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11-14), and Paul calls him "that great Shepherd of the sheep" (Hebrews 13:20). Bishop, one that watches over the flock, and who will guide and defend it. None other could be depended upon with so much certainty as the one who died for them. No greater proof could be given.

Commentary on 1 Peter 2:18-25 by Burton Coffman

1 Peter 2:18 --Servants be in subjection to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.

In subjection to your masters ... Peter’s instructions here are in full harmony with Paul’s instructions to the Ephesians and the Colossians (Ephesians 5:6 ff; Colossians 3:22 ff). "The sacred writers use language of studied moderation, carefully avoiding any expressions which might be regarded as exciting to violence or revolutionary outbreaks."^[47] Of course, Christianity was squarely opposed to the institution of slavery; but there were considerations of the most weighty nature that forbade any such thing as a campaign against it. Such an attack would have intensified the persecutions coming upon the church; and equally important is the fact that any overt championship of the cause of the slaves would have promptly inundated the church with a whole army of unregenerated persons, seeking not Christ, but their freedom from slavery. It was Christ’s purpose to change the world, but not with dynamite; the holy faith acts as leaven.

But also to the froward ... Peter took into account the two kinds of slavemasters, the good and the bad, cautioning the slaves to give loyal and true service to both kinds, because that was God’s will. Up to here, Peter had only vaguely mentioned the suffering coming upon the church, but in this he passed to "a class who were (already) sufferers indeed, the slaves of the household."^[48] "Froward is an archaic English word that has a literal meaning of crooked, perverse, unreasonable, or cross-grained."^[49] Even such wicked masters were to be honored and faithfully served by the Christians who were slaves.

^[47] B. C. Caffin, op. cit., p. 74.

^[48] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 1044.

^[49] Elmer C. Homrighausen, The Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. XIII (New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1957), p. 117.

1 Peter 2:19 --For this is acceptable, if for conscience toward God a man endureth griefs, suffering wrongfully.

If for conscience toward God ... "This comes from a Greek phrase which means awareness of God.^[50]The point of its inclusion here is that of forbidding the notion that patient suffering is in itself pleasing to God, which is not the case at all, "unless it is grounded on consciousness of God’s presence."^[51]

Endureth griefs ... This is a reference to the cruel, and even inhumane, sadistic treatment the slaves of that era often received from their masters. They had no legal rights whatever; they could be beaten, maimed, burned with fire, or tortured in any manner that a wicked imagination might suggest. Griefs indeed! No class of people on earth ever suffered any more than the unhappy slaves who constituted the working capital of the ancient pagan world. What an achievement for Christianity that such a scourge was finally banished.

^[50] Raymond C. Kelcy, op. cit., p. 59.

^[51] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 408.

1 Peter 2:20 --For what glory is it, if, when ye sin, and are buffeted for it, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye shall take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

This is another verse in this epistle which carries the true hallmark of consonance with the teachings of Jesus Christ, who in the Beatitudes blessed, not those who were persecuted, but those who were persecuted "for righteousness sake" (Matthew 5:10), there being no honor for those who, through their own sins, might have been persecuted. Matthew 5:11 also carries the same qualification regarding the blessing of those who are reproached "falsely."

1 Peter 2:21 --For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps:

This and the following four verses are some of the noblest Scripture in all the Bible. In these five verses, there are no less than six references to Christ as the Suffering Servant, as depicted in Isaiah 53. It is just what should have been expected from the apostle who so boldly identified Jesus as "God’s Servant Jesus" (Acts 3:13).

Hereunto were ye called ... Christ suffered vicariously for all people; and it is incumbent upon his followers that they should not shrink from any duty because of any suffering that might be incurred. There is also the thought here that, just as slaves were obligated to obey their masters, so Christians are also obligated to obey Christ.

Leaving you an example ... "The word from which `example’ comes is found nowhere else in the New Testament";^[52] and the meaning of it is very similar to words translated "figure" in Acts 7:44 and "pattern" inHebrews 8:5. The word is [@hupogrammos], and means "a writing copy,"^[53] that is, a pattern for a copybook. This is therefore a valuable witness for existence of a heavenly pattern, not merely for the building of the church and the ordering of its worship, government and program, but also for the behavior and life-style of Christians as well.

^[52] David H. Wheaton, op. cit., p. 1242.

^[53] W. E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, 2(Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1940), p. 54.

1 Peter 2:22 --who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

The absolute sinlessness of our Lord is affirmed by this. Jesus, despite the perfection of his life, suffered; and the thought. for the slaves is that even if they could be sinless, there would still be occasions of suffering. And how shall the soul endure such injustice? By remembering that the Sinless One also suffered for us.

1 Peter 2:23 --who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

This is a further deployment upon the sacred page of the beautiful and sinless character of the Saviour. Any person familiar with the Passion of Jesus can visualize what Peter related here. In fact the very words Peter wrote seem to have a suggestion of eyewitness testimony; and this is natural, coming from Peter who was indeed an eyewitness of those very things.

Committed himself unto him that judgeth righteously ... Interestingly enough, the Douay Version translates this, "Committed himself to him that judgeth unrighteously," making the meaning to be that Jesus submitted himself to the judgment of Pilate. While true enough, in a sense, the thought is better in our version; because, although Jesus submitted to Pilate’s judgment, he did so in the full realization that Pilate had no power but from above (John 19:11). Of interest also is the marginal reading "his cause" instead of "himself that was committed. As a matter of fact, Jesus committed both himself and his cause to God.

1 Peter 2:24 --who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed.

See under 1 Peter 2:25 for a list of references here to Isaiah 53. Scripture could not state more plainly the great redemptive offering of Christ for our sins on the cross. There was a time when Peter himself resented this (Matthew 16:22), but how gloriously he had learned his lesson.

In what way did Christ bear our sins? He bore the consequence of our sin, which is death itself; he suffered separation, though briefly, from the presence of God; he was numbered with transgressors; and they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death. He endured a lifetime of exposure to the outrageous opposition of evil and unscrupulous men. How have we died to sins? See note 1, at end of chapter.

By whose stripes ye were healed ... What kind of holy medicine is this, in which the physician pays the price and the sufferer receives the healing! Jesus, of course, was chastised literally; his precious body was marked with the stripes that redeemed us.

1 Peter 2:25 --For ye were going astray like sheep; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

The two titles, Shepherd and Bishop, are here applied to the Lord Jesus Christ. One can only marvel that a scholar like Barclay would ascribe these titles as being referred here to God. He said, "These are two precious names for God."^[54] Jesus himself said, "I am the good shepherd" (John 10:14), appropriating the title in such a manner as to affirm his Godhead, without giving the Pharisees any excuse for charging him with sedition. Furthermore, no other title of Jesus our Lord ever so completely captured the hearts and imaginations of the primitive church in exactly the same manner as did this one:

There is no symbol upon which the early church seems to have dwelt with more delight than that of Christ as the Good Shepherd, bringing home to the fold the lost sheep. It was engraved on gems; it furnished the legends of seals; it gives today an almost fabulous value to fragments of broken glass; it was painted upon the chalice of the Holy Communion; and it was carved upon the tombs of the martyrs in the catacombs!^[55]

There can really, therefore, be no other way of understanding these two magnificent titles than as being ascribed here to the blessed Saviour.

Bishop ... This word has none of the ecclesiastical overtones that afterward became associated with the word, indicating a date around the middle of the first century, and denying the success of those who have vainly attempted to remove 1Peter from its rightful historical place.

One of the truly great things in these remarkable last five verses of the chapter is the correspondence of the whole paragraph with the Suffering Servant portion of Isaiah. We are indebted to Hunter for this analysis of it."^[56]

1 Peter 2 Isaiah 53

1 Peter 2:21, Christ suffered Isaiah 53:4, He bears our sins. for us.

1 Peter 2:22, He did no sin, Isaiah 53:9, He did no sin, nor neither was guile found in his was guile in his mouth. mouth.

1 Peter 2:23, When reviled, he Isaiah 53:7, He opened not his reviled not again. mouth.

1 Peter 2:24 a, Who his own self Isaiah 53:12, He bare the sins bare our sins, etc. of many.

1 Peter 2:24 b, By whose stripes Isaiah 53:5, By his stripes were we are healed. we healed.

1 Peter 2:25, For ye were as Isaiah 53:6. All we like sheep sheep going astray. have gone astray.

Note 1. In 1 Peter 2:24, Peter mentioned the fact of Christians "having died unto sins"; and there are a number of things which are included in the meaning: (1) There is preeminently the fact that Christ paid for us the penalty of death, which was due; and, the penalty having already been paid, it is legally true that all Christians are dead to sin. Although his words here do not seem to be stressing this aspect of it, the whole context of the passage with its emphasis upon what Christ has done for us allows this meaning to come through. (2) Christians are also dead to sin as far as their purpose is concerned. The first impulse of the regenerated heart is the resolution to live above sin. Therefore, as regards the purpose of Christians toward sin, they are dead to sins. (3) As Macknight pointed out, from the viewpoint of the pagan world in which they lived, and in large measure the viewpoint of our own age, Christians are not available for the practice of sensuality, immorality and drunkenness expected of them in the secular society; and as far as that godless society is concerned, they are dead, being, to all practical purposes, dead to the popular practice of evil. (4) One thing that is not meant is any implication that Christians are no longer tempted by sin. Even Christ was tempted; and there is no state of sanctification or holiness which may be attained by a child of God that can free him from the temptations to which all flesh is heir.

^[54] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 215.

^[55] W. A. Snively, Biblical Illustrator, 1Peter (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1938), p. 242.

^[56] Archibald M. Hunter, op. cit., p. 118.

"THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER"

Chapter Two

OBJECTIVES IN STUDYING THIS CHAPTER

1) To note what is necessary in order to grow spiritually

2) To reflect upon our privilege and duties as God’s special people,

living as sojourners and pilgrims in a world not our home

3) To review our duty to submit to governmental authorities, and to make application of the instructions to slaves in our lives as employees

SUMMARY

Having described how they were born again by the incorruptible Word of God, Peter admonishes his readers to put aside sinful attitudes and to grow spiritually with an infant-like longing for the Word (1 Peter 2:1-3).

He then depicts Jesus as a living stone, and Christians as living stones. The latter are being built up as a spiritual house and holy priesthood in order to offer spiritual sacrifices through Christ. As foretold in the Scriptures, Jesus is the chief cornerstone that is precious to those who believe, while a stone of stumbling to those who are disobedient. Christians are called on to proclaim the praises of God as they are now a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people who have now obtained mercy (1 Peter 2:4-10).

As the people of God, Christians are sojourners and pilgrims in this world. Their duties as such involve abstaining from fleshly lusts, and keeping their conduct honorable among the Gentiles (nations) through good works designed to glorify God. They are to honor and submit to governmental authorities, and honor all people while loving the brethren and fearing God (1 Peter 2:11-17).

Christian slaves are told to submit to their masters, even when they are harsh and cause them to suffer grief wrongly. Peter reveals that such submission is commendable before God and follows the example of Jesus whose own suffering delivered us from sin (1 Peter 2:18-25).

OUTLINE

I. A CALL TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH (1 Peter 2:1-3)

A. WHAT TO LAY ASIDE (1 Peter 2:1)

1. All malice, all deceit

2. Hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking

B. WHAT TO DESIRE (1 Peter 2:2-3)

1. The pure milk of the word

a. As newborn babes

b. That you may grow thereby

2. If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious

II. OUR PRIVILEGE IN CHRIST (1 Peter 2:4-10)

A. AS LIVING STONES (1 Peter 2:4-8)

1. Coming to Christ as to a living stone

a. Who was rejected by men

b. Who is chosen by God and precious

2. We as living stones are being built up as a spiritual house

a. To be a holy priesthood

b. To offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through

Jesus Christ

3. Christ is the precious cornerstone

a. As foretold in Isaiah 28:16

1) God would lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect,

precious

2) He who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame

3) Precious to those who believe

b. As foretold in Psalms 118:22 and Isaiah 8:14

1) A stone rejected by the builders, which has become the

chief cornerstone

2) A stone of stumbling and rock of offense to those who are

disobedient

3) To which they were appointed

B. AS PEOPLE OF GOD (1 Peter 2:9-10)

1. They are now:

a. A chosen generation

b. A royal priesthood

c. A holy nation

d. His own special people

2. They are now:

a. To proclaim the praises of God, who called them:

1) Out of darkness

2) Into His marvelous light

b. The people of God, who once were not the people of God

1) Who had not obtained mercy

2) But now have obtained mercy

III. OUR DUTIES IN CHRIST (1 Peter 2:11-25)

A. AS SOJOURNERS (1 Peter 2:11-12)

1. To abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul

2. To have conduct honorable among the Gentiles

a. That when they speak against you as evildoers

b. They may glorify God in the day of visitation

c. Because of your good works they observe

B. AS CITIZENS (1 Peter 2:13-17)

1. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake

a. To the king as supreme

b. To governors as those sent by the king

1) For the punishment of evildoers

2) For the praise of those who do good

2. For this is the will of God, as bondservants of God

a. That by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of

foolish men

b. As free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice

3. Therefore:

a. Honor all

b. Love the brotherhood

c. Fear God

d. Honor the king

C. AS SERVANTS (1 Peter 2:18-25)

1. Submissive to your masters with all fear

a. Not only to the good and gentle

b. But also to the harsh

2. For this is commendable before God

a. If because of conscience before God one endures grief,

suffering wrongfully

b. What credit is there when beaten for your faults, you take

it patiently?

c. If when you do good and suffer, yet take it patiently, that

is commendable

3. For we were called to Follow in the steps of Jesus our example

a. Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth

(Isaiah 53:9)

1) When He was reviled, did not revile in return

2) When He suffered, He did not threaten

3) He committed Himself to Him who judges righteously

b. Who bore our sins in His own body on the tree

1) That we, having died to sins, might live for

righteousness

2) By whose stripes you were healed

3) You were like sheep going astray, but have now returned

to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls

REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE CHAPTER

1) What are the main points of this chapter?

- A call to spiritual growth (1 Peter 2:1-3)

- Our privilege in Christ (1 Peter 2:4-10)

- Our duties in Christ (1 Peter 2:11-25)

2) What must we lay aside to grow spiritually? (1 Peter 2:1)

- All malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking

3) How should we long for the Word if we want to grow spiritually? (1 Peter 2:2)

- As newborn babes desire milk

4) What should motivate us to desire the Word with such longing? (1 Peter 2:3)

- If we have already tasted that the Lord is gracious

5) What kind of stone is used to describe Jesus? (1 Peter 2:4)

- A living stone

- Rejected by men, but chosen by God and precious

6) What two metaphors are used to describe Christians? (1 Peter 2:5)

- Living stones, being built up as a spiritual house

- A holy priesthood, offering up spiritual sacrifices to God through

Christ

7) What prophecy foretells the laying of a chief cornerstone in Zion?

(1 Peter 2:6)

- Isaiah 28:16

8) What is Jesus to those who believe in Him? To those who do not

believe? (1 Peter 2:6-8)

- The chief cornerstone, elect, precious

- A stone of stumbling, a rock of offense

9) What is the appointed end of those who do not believe and are

disobedient? (1 Peter 2:8)

- They stumble

10) How are Christians described by Peter? What is their duty? Why?

(1 Peter 2:9-10)

- A chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own

special people

- To proclaim the praises of Him who called them out of darkness into

His marvelous light

- They are now the people of God who have obtained mercy

11) What is our duty as sojourners and pilgrims in this world? Why?

(1 Peter 2:11-12)

- Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul

- Conduct ourselves honorably among the Gentiles

- That they might glorify God in the day of visitation because of our

good works

12) What is our duty toward the governments of men? Why? (1 Peter 2:13-15)

- Submit to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake

- That by doing good we might silence the ignorance of foolish men

13) How are we use our freedom in Christ? (1 Peter 2:16)

- Not as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God

14) What four admonitions summarize our duties to others? (1 Peter 2:17)

- Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king

15) What is the duty of servants to their masters? (1 Peter 2:18)

- Be submissive with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but

also to the harsh

16) What is commendable before God? (1 Peter 2:19-20)

- To endure grief, suffering wrongfully though doing good, because of

conscience toward God

17) To what have we been called? (1 Peter 2:21)

- To follow in the steps of Christ, who suffered for us and left us

an example

18) How did Jesus suffer wrongly and bear it patiently? (1 Peter 2:22-23)

- He committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth

- When reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did

not threaten

- He committed Himself to God who judges righteously

20) What good did Jesus accomplish by suffering such abuse? (1 Peter 2:24-25)

- He bore our sins in His own body on the tree

- Making it possible for us to die to sin and live for righteousness

(by His strips we were healed)

- Like sheep gone astray, we have now returned to the Shepherd and

Overseer of our souls

THE SPIRITUAL HOUSE OF LIVING STONES

1 Peter 2:1-25.

1. What should new-born babes in Christ put away or lay aside? Ans. 1 Peter 2:1.

2. What should they desire? Ans. 1 Peter 2:2.

3. How is eternal salvation attained? Ans. 1 Peter 2:2.

4. Identify and describe the "living stone". Ans. 1 Peter 2:4.

5. Of what is God’s spiritual house on earth composed? Ans. 1 Peter 2:5.

6. Why are the people of God called a "holy priesthood"? Ans. 1 Peter 2:5.

7. What has been laid in Zion? Ans. 1 Peter 2:6; Isaiah 28:16.

8. What stone did the builders reject? Ans. 1 Peter 2:7; Psalms 118:22.

9. On what do the disobedient stumble? Ans. 1 Peter 2:8.

10. Describe the people of God. Ans. 1 Peter 2:9.

11. What should they show forth in their lives? Ans. 1 Peter 2:9.

12. What were they before they became God’s servants? Ans. 1 Peter 2:10.

13. From what should they abstain? Ans. 1 Peter 2:11.

14. What effect do the good works of Christians have on unbelieving critics? Ans. 1 Peter 2:12.

15. To whom must children of God be obedient? Ans. 1 Peter 2:13-14.

16. What is the divinely appointed work of civil government? Ans. 1 Peter 2:14; Romans 13:3-4.

17. Why should Christians be obedient to civil rulers when their laws do not conflict with the law of the Lord? Ans. 1 Peter 2:15-16.

18. Discuss the four duties of 1 Peter 2:17.

19. What is the duty of servants to their masters? Ans. 1 Peter 2:18.

20. When is suffering praiseworthy? Ans. 1 Peter 2:19-20.

21. Who is our example and how did he bear his suffering? Ans. 1 Peter 2:21-23.

22. What did his sufferings and death accomplish for us? Ms. 1 Peter 2:24.

23. What is he to our souls? Ans. 1 Peter 2:25. `

Questions by E.M. Zerr On 1st Peter 2

1. Laying aside all what?

2. What manner of babes are they?

3. By what had they been begotten?

4. This would suggest what kind of milk?

5. Had they already tasted this milk?

6. This should cause what attitude toward it?

7. Is such attitude naturaJ?

8. For what purpose is this milk?

9. State the kind of stone they came unto.

10. What other stone had given life?

11. By what men was this last stone rejected?

12. How are Christians used as stones?

13. What kind of sacrifice should they offer?

14. What scripture is here quoted?

15. Where was this Sian?

16. State the purposes of this stone.

17. To whom only is he precious?

18. What kind of stone is he to others?

19. Whose fault is it so?

20. How were these a chosen generation?

21. Contrast royal priesthood with former one.

22. Who purchased them as a people?

23. Whose possession would that make them?

24. Is this why they are peculiar to him as a people:

25. For what use did Christ purchase them?

26. What were these people according to the flesh?

27. State the advantage of right kind of walk.

28. State proper conduct toward the governmeut.

29. By what may we silence foolish ignorance?

30. How are we free and servants at same time?

31. Honor and fear whom?

32. Love what?

33. Would this be restricted to ’’home congregation"?

34. State the command to servants.

35. Any exceptions as to kind of masters?

36. What would get credit of being thankworthy?

37. How must we suffer to be approved of God?

38. Is suffering justly worthy of praise?

39. Toward whom must our conscience be pure?

40. To what experience have we been called?

41. What example do we have left to us?

42. In what sense can we follow his steps?

43. How did Jesus meet temptation to sin?

44. What was not found in his mouth?

45. How did he treat his revilers?

46. To whom did he commit his cause?

47. What did he bear on the tree?

48. State what part of his being bore the,e.

49. That we might do what?

50. How can his stripes heal us?

51. In what condition were those people formerly?

52. To whom have they returned?