Having declared that the word of the Lord endures forever, and that His word endures forever, and that this word is the good news of Jesus Christ, Peter focuses on behaviors of perfect unity with the Lord, first by exposing behaviors of disunity from God:
“So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation – if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Pet 2:1-3).
Behaviors of disunity include:
- Malice
- Deceit
- Hypocrisy
- Envy
- Slander
These behaviors belong to your previous life before being born again in Jesus and could be characterized as behaviors of an “adult infant” screaming for spiritual milk from its mother who never wanted this baby and rejects it.
But metaphors can only go so far, and we are not rejected babies but rather adults who make our own choices:
“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 2:4-5).
The metaphor switches from a baby satisfied by mother’s milk to a stone, which is jarring at first. Are you calling me a worthless rock?
Hardly.
That kind of stone is dead, but a living stone has a mission more important than anything we could have ever dreamed. We do not stand alone. We are the chosen building blocks of a spiritual house set on the unmovable foundation of Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Together, in perfect unity, we are built up to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual – not physical – sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus:
“For it stands in Scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’ They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do” (1 Pet 2:6-8; Isa 28:16; Ps 118:22; Isa 8:14).
“Stumbling” is a great metaphor for disunity from God. But now embrace Peter’s contrast with perfect unity in Christ:
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy’ (1 Pet 2:9-10).
We who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior are now a holy nation, spread around the world, hopefully in perfect unity. This brings us straight into behaviors that honor God:
“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” (1 Pet 2:11-12).
Believers in Christ are a holy nation chosen long ago by God. The “Gentiles” are now the unbelievers who are ripe for conversion through the never-ending love of God. It is our conduct and example that will lead them to Jesus.
Hurry back for Peter’s description of behaviors that ultimately affirm our faith to unbelievers.