"So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all 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. 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 Peter 2:1-5
The fear of the Lord is the emotive, joyful trembling of the child of God as he enters into and understands the wonder of the cross of Christ, which leads to responsible living.
"Praise the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his commandments!
His offspring will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed." Psalm 112:1-2
The fear of being abandoned or cast out is not the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is delightful, reverential joy.
CONSIDERATIONS:
1. You yourselves like living stones (v. 5a).
2. We are being built into a spiritual house.
“He constructs the one house from the whole number of the faithful. For though every one of us is said to be the temple of God, yet all are united together in one, and must be joined together by mutual love, so that one temple may be made of us all.” John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentary on 1 Peter
“The Cornerstone is called ‘living’ by virtue of his resurrection; the same resurrection life enlivens the stones that come to him and take their place in the new temple… These living stones are not lying about in idle isolation or disorder in Peter’s description. They are not heaped in a pile or scattered across a field. Christians are not individually temples of God in the image that Peter presents. They are each put in place in a spiritual house for the purpose of being a holy priesthood that offers acceptable sacrifices to God.” Baker Exegetical Commentary
Living stones become a temple based upon who we are in Christ.
A holy priesthood offers spiritual sacrifices, which is our reasonable service (Romans 12:1).
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Romans 12:1
"Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God." Hebrews 13:15-16
"Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body." 1 Corinthians 6:18
This is acceptable (pleasing, truly favorable) to God through Jesus Christ as we live out the gospel.
“There is required a new act (empowering) of the Holy Spirit by His grace given to us for Christian living. God inclines our hearts to duties in obedience principally by strengthening, increasing, and exciting the grace we have received… but we neither have nor ever shall have such a supply of spiritual strength as to do anything as we ought without renewed operations of grace (by the power of the Holy Spirit).” John Owen, The Holy Spirit, p. 491
I must continually taste the goodness/kindness of the Lord, which compels me to continually come to Him as one who is the living stone, the cornerstone who is chosen and precious.
1. As I keep coming to the living stone:
I understand that I am a living stone that reflects the reality of Jesus.
2. I am a vital component of a spiritual house of worship as a holy priest.
3. I am responsible to offer spiritual sacrifices which are acceptable (pleasing, truly favorable), to God through Jesus Christ.
Q. Why is He called “Christ,” meaning “anointed”?
A. Because He has been ordained by God the Father and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our chief prophet and teacher who perfectly reveals to us the secret counsel and will of God for our deliverance; our only high priest who has set us free by the one sacrifice of His body, and who continually pleads our case with the Father; and our eternal king who governs us b his Word and Spirit, and who guards us and keeps us in the freedom He has won for us. Heidelberg Catechism Question 31