1 Peter 2
“Living Stones” Who Suffer Well
In this section, Peter continued to explain the unique identity of Christians and how they were to live out in their beliefs in various contexts. “Growing up” into their faith meant living patient lives of love and endurance.
Grow Up into Salvation
Vs. 1 - Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.
Vs. 2 - Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that you may grow up into your salvation, if you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Chapter 2 begins with Peter’s continued exhortation to pursue hope and holiness (separation) because of the great mercy received from God. He urged these Christians to continue growing into mature followers of Jesus through a steady diet of truth and quoted David’s exhortation in Psalm 34:8 to taste the goodness of God as motivation in this pursuit.
Peter has just been talking about the word of God which abides forever (1 Peter 1:23-25). It is the word of God which is in his mind; and we think that what he means here is that the Christian must desire with his whole heart the nourishment which comes from the word of God, for by that nourishment he can grow until he reaches salvation itself. In face of all the evil of the heathen world, the Christian must strengthen his soul with the pure food of the word of God. - William Barclay
Living Stones
Vs. 4-5 - As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God— you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
There is a great amount of Jewish history and temple language in this section as Peter continued to describe how believers could “grow up into…salvation” (2). The whole biblical story involves God’s desire to dwell with the people He created for Himself - in the garden, in the tabernacle and temples, and now through His Holy Spirit. Peter used very specific temple language here to figuratively describe every believer as a stone that God was building together as a “spiritual house” for this purpose. God’s people have now become His house and holy priesthood, and their lives of faith are the “spiritual sacrifices” He desires (Romans 12:1-2).
A Stone of Stumbling
Stone
Vs. 6 - “For it stands in Scripture: See, I lay a stone in Zion”
Peter then referenced several old testament Messianic “stone” metaphors from Isaiah 8 and 28 and Psalm 118 to describe, like the prophets before him, how Jesus was the rejected stone that God has used as the foundation (cornerstone) of the great spiritual house He is building.
Psalm 118:22 - The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
Isaiah 28:16 - Therefore the Lord God said: “Look, I have laid a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will be unshakable.
Ephesians 2:19-22 - So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.
These Messianic metaphors of the Christ as “cornerstone” can be found all throughout scripture and are meant to illustrate the redemptive plan of God for His people.
Peter clarified two relationships of the believer in these verses. (1) He rests on Christ as a building rests on its foundation. (2) Furthermore he relates to every other believer as the stones of a building under construction relate to one another. We need each other, should support each other, and should work together to build the church in the world. - Thomas Constable
Stumbling
Vs. 7 - So honor will come to you who believe; but for the unbelieving
Vs. 8 - They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this.
The Messianic metaphor of Jesus as a “stone” was also used by Isaiah and the apostles to describe how some people would “stumble” over Him in unbelief. Some would trust; others would “trip.” Jesus came to be a Rock of safety for His people but became a Stone of stumbling when they rejected him.
Isaiah 8:14-15 - He will be a sanctuary; but for the two houses of Israel, he will be a stone to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Many will stumble over these; they will fall and be broken; they will be snared and captured.
1 Corinthians 1:23-24 - But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God
It is interesting to note that Peter explained that those who did not accept Jesus as the Messiah had “stumbled” both because of their choice and because of God’s election. Similar to Paul in Romans 9, Peter seemed comfortable with the tension of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility when describing how unbelievers were both destined and disobedient.
God’s People
Chosen
Vs. 9 - But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession,
Many in Israel had failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, but Peter wrote to both Jew and Gentile believers who had accepted the “Stone” in Zion. And he described them here with language borrowed from Moses (Exodus 19) and Isaiah (Isaiah 43), descriptors that had mostly been reserved for Jews.
United
Vs. 10 - Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Peter also referenced Hosea’s prophecy, related to the names of his children, to illustrate the mysterious way that God had gathered a people for Himself of both Jews and Gentiles who had received His mercy by grace through faith.
Hosea 1:8-10 - After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said: Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people, and I will not be your God. Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And in the place where they were told: You are not my people, they will be called: Sons of the living God.
That Peter used these mostly Jewish terms to describe a mostly Gentile church reveals how clearly the apostles came to understand that God, in His grace, had always been forming a people of faith, believing Jews and Gentiles, through whom He could display His greatness and mercy to the world.
Peter concludes the first major section of his epistle (1 Peter 1:3 to 1 Peter 2:10) by drawing the lines for a confrontation. Two groups are differentiated: (1) unbelievers and (2) you who believe’-on the basis of their contrasting responses to Jesus Christ, the “choice and precious Stone.” The former are on their way to ’stumbling’ and shame, the latter to ’honor’ and vindication. The theological contrast between these two groups, with its consequent social tensions, will absorb Peter’s interest through the remainder of his epistle. - Michaels
Live Properly
Vs. 11 - Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul.
Peter urged his audience toward “growing up into” their salvation (2) and leaving behind “sinful desires” that he acknowledged would continue to “wage war” against them (11). Striving to follow God in this way would demonstrate the greatness and graciousness of God to unbelievers around them.
Part of the suffering Peter’s original readers were experiencing was due evidently to slander from unbelieving Gentile pagans. Peter urged his readers to give their critics no cause for justifiable slander. - Thomas Constable
Barclay explains his understanding of the persecution of Christians at this time.
They were accused of cannibalism. This accusation took its rise from a perversion of the words of the Last Supper, "This is my body. This cup is the new covenant in my blood."
The Christians were accused of damaging trade. Such was the charge of the silversmiths of Ephesus ( Acts 19:21-41).
They were accused of "tampering with family relationships" because often homes were, in fact, broken up when some members of the family became Christians and others did not.
They were accused of turning slaves against their masters, and Christianity indeed did give to every man a new sense of worth and dignity.
They were accused of "hatred of mankind," and indeed the Christian did speak as if the world and the Church were entirely opposed to each other.
Above all they were accused of disloyalty to Caesar, for no Christian would worship the Emperor's godhead.
Such were the charges which were directed against the Christians. To Peter there was only one way to refute them and that was so to live that their Christian life demonstrated that they were unfounded. When Plato was told that a certain man had been making certain slanderous charges against him, his answer was: "I will live in such a way that no one will believe what he says." That was Peter's solution. - William Barclay
A Call to Submission (1 Peter 2:13-3:12)
This section of the letter clarifies what it means to function obediently as God’s people in a hostile world. It contains one of the tables of household duties in the New Testament (1 Peter 2:13 to 1 Peter 3:7; Ephesians 5:21 to Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 3:18 to Colossians 4:1). - Thomas Constable
To better understand the relevance of this section of the letter, it may help to remember Peter’s primary purpose for writing. Most commentators agree that Peter wanted to encourage Christians facing persecution under Roman Rule in the early 60s AD to “grow up” (2:2) into their calling as “exiles” in a culture that misunderstood them. And here we see how Peter believed that was to be done - by following Jesus’ example and living in a posture of surrender to God and submission to one another.
Surely Peter was greatly impacted by Jesus' own humble ministry, how He had crossed a city to heal a child and a lake to meet a woman at a well in the heat of the day. Surely Peter vividly remembered Jesus washing his own feet to teach His disciples that the greatest among them would be a servant. And to some degree, Peter had witnessed the greatest “sufferings of Christ” (5:1). His short life was lived in humility, service, and sacrifice.
And it was to this kind of submission that Peter called all Christians living in a hostile environment. He did not call them to fight but rather to faithfulness. Their dedication to God was to be demonstrated by their commitment to one another, their love for God by their love for one another (John 13:35).
All Authority
Vs. 13 - Submit to every human authority because of the Lord
Vs. 17 - Fear God. Honor the emperor.
Would these instructions to both “fear God” and “honor the king” have been confusing to Peter’s audience?
Peter looks at the duty of the Christian within the different spheres of his life; and he begins with his duty as a citizen of the country in which he happens to live. Nothing is further from the thought of the New Testament than any kind of anarchy. Jesus had said, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's" ( Matthew 22:21).
Paul was certain that those who governed the nation were sent by God and held their responsibility from him, and were, therefore, no terror to the man who lived an honorable life (Rom 13:17). In the Pastoral Epistles, the Christian is instructed to pray for kings and all in authority ( 1 Timothy 2:2).
The instruction of the New Testament is that the Christian must be a good and useful citizen of the country in which his life is set. The New Testament view is perfectly logical and just. It holds that a man cannot accept the privileges which the state provides without also accepting the responsibilities and the duties which it demands. He cannot in honor and decency take everything and give nothing.
It remains to say that the Christian has a higher obligation than even his obligation to the state. While he must render to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, he must also render to God the things which are God's. He must on occasion make it quite clear that he must listen to God rather than to men (Acts 4:19; Acts 5:29). There may be times, therefore, when the Christian will fulfill his highest duty to the state by refusing to obey it and by insisting on obeying God. By so doing, at least he will witness to the truth, and at best he may lead the state to take the Christian way. - William Barclay
Slaves
vs. 18-19 - Household slaves, submit to your masters with all reverence not only to the good and gentle ones but also to the cruel.
To understand the real meaning of what Peter is saying we must understand something of the nature of slavery in the time of the early church. In the Roman Empire there were as many as 60,000,000 slaves, Slavery began with Roman conquests, slaves being originally mainly prisoners taken in war, and in very early times Rome had few slaves but by New Testament times slaves were counted by the million.
It was by no means only menial tasks which were performed by slaves. Doctors, teachers, musicians, actors, secretaries, stewards were slaves. In fact, all the work of Rome was done by slaves. Roman attitude was that there was no point in being master of the world and doing one's own work. Let the slaves do that and let the citizens live in pampered idleness. The supply of slaves would never run out.
Into this situation came Christianity with its message that every man was precious in the sight of God. The result was that within the Church the social barriers were broken down. Suppose both master and servant became Christians; there arose the danger that the slave might presume upon the new relationship and make an excuse for shirking his work, assuming that since he and his master were both Christians, he could get away with anything. But Peter is quite clear. The relationship between Christian and Christian does not abolish the relationship between man and man. The Christian must, indeed, be a better workman than anyone else. His Christianity is not a reason for claiming exemption from discipline; it should bring him under self-discipline and make him more conscientious than anyone else. - William Barclay
Vs. 21 - For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
Peter also acknowledged that some of his readers may find themselves in more challenging scenarios of suffering unjustly. And surely there were instances when these Christians needed to escape abuse or neglect. But Peter spoke here of patience in suffering as a demonstration of the radically changed life.
He pointed to Jesus as the greatest example of patient endurance by quoting Isaiah’s most well-known Servant Song (Isaiah 53). Peter had witnessed the fulfillment of this prophecy. He watched from a distance as the Innocent suffered for the ungodly. And Church history reveals that Peter eventually followed the example of his Lord and was martyred for his faith.
Vs. 23 - the one who judges justly.
The reasons Peter provided for submitting to unjust leaders, cruel masters, and persecution?
Endurance brings favor with God. (20)
To suffer for righteousness is to follow the example of Jesus. (21)
God will judge righteously in the end. (23)
