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Scripture Reading: 1 Pet. 2:5, 9-10
In this message we shall consider 2:5, 9 and 10. Verse 5 says, “You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, into a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” In reading this verse we need to take care of grammar. Verse 4 is a modifier of the subject of the sentence in verse 5. The main part of the sentence in verse 5 is this: “You...are being built up a spiritual house.” Hence, the main thought here is that of the building. This thought continues the thought in verse 2 of growing unto salvation. This means that following salvation we have the building. Growing unto salvation is for the building. This indicates that here salvation involves not only transformation, but also includes being built up. As a totality, salvation in 1 Peter 2 indicates transformation for building up.
Salvation at the end of verse 2 is related to transformation for the building. Notice that at the end of verse 2 there is a comma, not a period. In verse 3 we have a condition related to drinking the milk of the word: “If you have tasted that the Lord is good.” Verse 3 concludes with a semicolon, and verse 4 ends with a comma. Therefore, the punctuation indicates that the main clause in the second part of the sentence is in verse 5. Actually, verse 5 is the direct continuation of verse 2. Verse 2 ends with the thought of growing unto salvation, which implies that salvation includes transformation. Then verse 5 continues by indicating that this transformation is for the building. For this reason we say that salvation in verse 2 is a matter of transformation for building.
I believe that we have touched the thought in Peter’s mind and heart as he was writing. In these verses Peter seems to be saying, “You believers have all been regenerated, and now you are as newborn babes. As newborn babes, you should hunger and thirst for the milk in the word so that you may grow unto salvation. This salvation is transformation for building up.” These must have been Peter’s thoughts as he was writing this Epistle.
Whenever we write a letter or article, we first have certain thoughts within us. Then gradually we write according to these thoughts. This was Peter’s situation when he wrote this Epistle. He had the thought that the believers had been regenerated to become newborn babes. Now they should long for the milk in the word. By the guileless milk in the word they could grow unto a salvation that was transformation for their building up. Having these thoughts within him, Peter went on to compose this Epistle.
On the one hand, Peter’s composition may not seem very good. But, on the other hand, spiritually speaking, Peter’s composition is excellent. If Peter had not written the way he did, not all of the points covered could have been included. However, because it is sometimes difficult to understand Peter, we need help to grasp the various points he covers in his writings. This is the reason we are having this Life-study.
I can testify that for more than fifty years I have been digging into the Word of God. In 1956 the Lord began to show me His building. First Peter 2 is a very important section in the New Testament related to God’s building. When I was in Manila in 1956, I began to see from 1 Peter 2 that salvation includes transformation and that this transformation is for the building.
Few Christians have a proper understanding of the building. Furthermore, many have not seen the matter of transformation. Before you came into the Lord’s recovery, did you ever hear a message on transformation? But in the recovery many messages have been given on the subject of transformation. In December 1962, I gave a conference on the all-inclusive Christ. Then in 1963 I began to speak in this country on transformation. That year I gave at least twenty messages on transformation. Although the light concerning transformation and building was given to me years ago, this light has never left me. Rather, it has always been with me. It took me years of study to see these things. Therefore, I can say that without the help rendered through these messages, you may find it difficult to understand what Peter is saying about salvation, transformation, and building.
Praise the Lord that regeneration has made us newborn babes! As newborn babes, we all should long for the guileless milk of the word. Then by this milk we shall grow unto salvation. This salvation is transformation, and transformation is the building. Feeding on Christ by the nourishing milk in the Word of God is not only for growing in life; it is also for building up. Growing is for building up.
In verse 5 Peter indicates that the believers are living stones. We, the believers in Christ, are living stones, like Christ, through regeneration and transformation. We were created of clay (Rom. 9:21). But at regeneration we received the seed of the divine life, which by its growth in us transforms us into living stones. At Peter’s conversion the Lord gave him a new name, Peter — a stone (John 1:42). When Peter received the revelation concerning Christ, the Lord revealed further that He also was the rock — a stone (Matt. 16:16-18). Peter was impressed by these two incidents that both Christ and His believers are stones for God’s building.
By our natural birth we are clay, not stones. Do you realize that you were made of clay? Gen. 2:7 says that man was made from the dust of the ground. Romans 9 reveals that we are vessels of clay. How, then, can we become stones? We become stones through the process of transformation.
When Peter first met the Lord Jesus, the Lord changed his name from Simon to Peter. Referring to the Lord Jesus and Peter, John 1:42 says, “Looking at him, Jesus said, You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas (which translated means a stone).” According to biblical principle, whatever the Lord speaks will be. Therefore, when the Lord called Peter a stone, that meant that he would certainly become a stone. Whatever the Lord says to us will be fulfilled. If He says, “You are gold,” then you will be golden. The Lord knew that when He changed Simon’s name to Peter, a stone, he would become a stone.
In John 1:42 Peter was told that he was a stone. Then sometime later, in Caesarea Philippi, in answer to the Lord’s question, “Who do you say that I am,” Peter, receiving the revelation from the Father, said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” To this the Lord Jesus replied, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church...” (Matt. 16:18). Here the Lord indicates that He is the rock upon which the church is built and that Peter is a stone.
No doubt, these two incidents, the one recorded in John 1 and the other in Matthew 16, were deeply impressed into Peter’s being. He could never forget those events. It must have been from these experiences that Peter obtained the concept of living stones for the building of the spiritual house, which is the church. When Peter wrote this portion of 1 Peter, he wrote it according to the impression these events made upon him.
First Peter 2:5 says that we, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house. However, we all are clay. How can we be built up? In order to be built up a spiritual house, we need to become stones. But how can we actually become living stones? We become living stones by coming to Christ as the living stone (v. 4).
We may use petrified wood as an illustration of transformation. In Arizona there is a place called the petrified forest, an area that contains much petrified wood. Petrified wood is wood that has been changed into stone. Over a long period of time, water has been flowing over wood and through it. By means of this flow of water, the substance of the wood is changed into stone. On the one hand, the element of wood is carried away; on the other hand, the element of stone is brought in to replace the element of wood. In this way the wood becomes stone.
The principle is the same with our experience of transformation. If we long for the milk of the word, this milk will be like a current of living water flowing within us. As we stay in this flow, the current will carry away our natural substance and replace it with heavenly, divine minerals. These minerals are actually Christ. Gradually, over a period of time, we shall be transformed or “petrified”; that is, we shall become precious stones.
If we would be transformed, every day we need to come to the Lord as milk. We have pointed out that the way to come to Christ as the living stone is to drink the guileless milk of the word. This means that we come to Christ by drinking Him. As we daily drink in the milk of the word, we shall be transformed.
Transformation cannot take place overnight. The petrified wood in Arizona required a very long time to be changed from wood into stone. If the petrified wood could speak, it might say, “It has taken me a long time of being in the current of water to be transformed from mere wood into petrified wood.” As one who has been in the Lord for more than fifty years, I can testify that transformation takes time. I assure you that you cannot be transformed in a few months or even in a few years.
When some hear a word concerning how long transformation takes, they may say, “I can’t wait so long. I quit.” Actually, this is not up to you, for it is your destiny to be transformed. Wood that is in the process of being petrified cannot stop the process. It is the destiny of this wood to be changed into petrified wood. We need to remember that, according to chapter one of 1 Peter, we were chosen according to the foreknowledge of God before the foundation of the world. God has chosen us. Also, in our experience, we have been “caught” by Him, and we cannot escape, no matter how hard we may try. Therefore, instead of trying to escape, we should simply rest in the flow of living water and allow this water to pass through us so that we may be transformed.
If others ask us what is happening in the Lord’s recovery, we should say, “We are simply allowing the water of life to flow through us. Daily we are drinking the milk of the word so that we may be transformed.” Let us allow this process of petrification, of transformation, to take place for forty or fifty years and then see what the outcome will be. It is by this process of transformation that clay becomes living stones.
According to 2:5, as living stones we are being built up a spiritual house. Although the nourishing milk of the word is for the soul through the mind, it eventually nourishes our spirit. Instead of making us soulish, it makes us spiritual, suitable for building up a spiritual house for God.
God’s goal in the believers is to have a house built up with living stones. He does not want separated and scattered stones, nor even a pile of stones merely gathered together. He wants stones built up with one another.
The spiritual house into which we are being built is God’s building. Eventually, this building will consummate in the New Jerusalem. In the New Jerusalem there will not be any clay, for all the clay will have been transformed into precious stone. This means that the New Jerusalem is built with precious stones. We are becoming the precious stones that will be built up into the New Jerusalem. Hallelujah, the building work is now going on! How is this work going on? It is being carried out by the process of petrification, transformation. This happens as we daily, even hourly, come to Christ as milk and drink Him in. Then we shall have the flow, the current, that transforms us from clay into stone for God’s building.
In verse 5 Peter speaks of both a spiritual house and a holy priesthood. “Spiritual” denotes the qualification of the divine life that lives and grows; “holy,” the qualification of the divine nature that separates and sanctifies. The house of God subsists mainly by the divine life; hence, it is spiritual. The priesthood subsists mainly by the divine nature; hence, it is holy.
The holy priesthood is the spiritual house. In the New Testament two Greek words are used for priesthood, both of which are translated priesthood. Hierosune, as in Hebrews 7:12, refers to the priestly office, and hierateuma, as in 1 Peter 2:5, 9, refers to the assembly of priests, a body of priests. The coordinated body of priests is the built-up spiritual house. Although Peter did not address his two Epistles to the church, nor did he use the term church in stressing the corporate life of the believers in this verse, he does use the terms spiritual house and holy priesthood to indicate the church life. It is not the spiritual life in an individualistic way, but that in a corporate way that can fulfill God’s purpose and satisfy His desire. He wants a spiritual house for His dwelling, a priestly body for His service. Peter’s view concerning the believers’ corporate service in coordination is the same as Paul’s in Romans 12. This service issues from three vital steps in the spiritual life: new birth (1 Pet. 1:2), growth in life by being nourished with Christ, and building up with the believers.
The spiritual house and the holy priesthood are synonymous terms. The spiritual house is for God’s dwelling, and the holy priesthood is for God’s service. According to 2:5, the building up of a spiritual house into a holy priesthood is for a particular function. This function is “to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Here we see that Jesus Christ is the channel through which the spiritual sacrifices are offered to God. Christ channels our offerings to God, and these offerings are the sacrifices presented to Him. Furthermore, what is offered to God must be something of Christ.
The spiritual sacrifices which the believers offer in the New Testament age according to God’s economy are Christ in all the varied aspects of His riches as the reality of all the sacrifices of the Old Testament types, such as the burnt offering, meal offering, peace offering, sin offering, and trespass offering (Lev. 1—5). Also these spiritual sacrifices include our praises and the things we do for God (Heb. 13:15-16; Phil. 4:18).
In 2:9 Peter goes on to say, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for a possession, so that you may tell out the virtues of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Race, priesthood, nation, and people are all collective nouns, referring to the believers corporately. As a race, the believers have been chosen; as a priesthood, a body of priests, we are royal, kingly; as a nation, we are holy; as a people, we are God’s possession, a possession particularly acquired and owned by God as His treasure. The chosen race denotes our lineage from God; the royal priesthood, our service to God; the holy nation, our community for God; and the people for a possession, our preciousness to God. This is all in the corporate sense. Hence, we need to be built together.
The words “chosen race” indicate our source. As a chosen race, we have our source in God. We are also a royal priesthood. “Royal” denotes the status of our priesthood, which is kingly, like that of Christ the King, our High Priest, typified by Melchisedec (Heb. 7:1-2, 25; Gen. 14:18). We are also a holy nation and a people for a possession. “Holy” denotes the nature of the nation. The Greek words rendered “a people for a possession” are an equivalent to a Hebrew expression. This is a reference to the Old Testament, and the Hebrew expression implies a particular treasure. We are God’s particular treasure, His special and precious possession. In Titus 2:14 Paul speaks of “a people for His own possession.” This also may be rendered “peculiar people.” This is an expression borrowed from the Old Testament (Deut. 7:6); 14:2; 26:18), and it denotes a people privately possessed by God as His peculiar treasure (Exo. 19:5), His own possession. First we are a chosen race, then a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people for a possession. As God’s particular treasure, we are His people who are precious to Him.
We are such a race, priesthood, nation, and people so that we may tell out the virtues of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. The Greek word rendered “tell out” also means proclaim abroad. First we must be born anew and grow in life, and then be built up and serve corporately. Now we need to proclaim abroad, to tell out. To serve corporately is to satisfy God by offering up Christ as spiritual sacrifices; to proclaim abroad is to benefit others by showing forth the virtues of the One who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.
The virtues in verse 9 are excellencies, excellent and glorious virtues (2 Pet. 1:3). These refer to what God is and has, and the marvelous light of God consummates in His glory. To and by His virtue and glory God has called us.
The virtues here are excellent attributes, acts, and behavior. God has many virtues. For example, He is merciful. To be merciful is a virtue. God is also loving. He even loves sinners. This love is another of God’s virtues. All the excellent divine attributes are the virtues of God. We need to tell out, to proclaim abroad, these excellent virtues.
In his writings Peter emphasizes the matter of virtue more than Paul does. Peter says in 2 Peter 1:3 that we have been called by the virtue and the glory of God. He says not only that we have been called to God’s glory and virtue; he says that we have been called by His glory and virtue.
When the Lord Jesus was on earth, Peter and the other disciples saw His virtues. At least once, on the mount of transfiguration, they saw the Lord’s glory. Seeing Christ’s virtues was a daily occurrence. Whatever the Lord did was an excellent act full of virtue. Christ’s excellencies are great in number. Every day the Lord Jesus manifested His virtues, and Peter saw this. Later, Peter wrote that we have been called by the Lord’s virtue and glory. This indicates that Peter himself had been attracted by the virtue and glory of the Lord. Furthermore, he was called to this virtue and glory. Therefore, he is one with the Lord in virtue and in glory.
The apostles proclaimed the virtues of the Lord. They preached them, they taught them, and they announced them. Whatever the apostles preached and taught was a telling out of the virtues they had seen and enjoyed. It was a proclaiming abroad of the virtues in which they had participated. This is what it means to tell out God’s excellencies. Today we need to follow the apostles to tell out the excellent virtues of the Lord.
According to verse 9, we should proclaim abroad the virtues of the One who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Darkness is the expression and sphere of Satan in death. Light is the expression and sphere of God in life. God has called us, delivered us, out of Satan’s death-realm of darkness into His life-realm of light (Acts 26:18; Col. 1:13).
In verse 10 Peter concludes this section: “Who once were not a people, but now are the people of God; who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” This word from Hosea 2:23 was quoted by Paul in Romans 9:24-27, referring first to the Gentiles and then to the remnant of Israel, because not all are Israel who are out of Israel (Rom. 9:6). Here Peter, quoting this word, refers to those who received this Epistle, the scattered Jewish believers. They once were out of Israel, but were not Israel. Hence, they were not God’s people in the New Testament sense. Now, after they were called by God, they became God’s people, God’s particular possession, as a treasure to God. They obtained God’s mercy, which they had not obtained before.
When I was young, I was bothered by the verses that indicate that the Jewish people were not the people of God. I wondered how it was possible for them, being Jews, not to be God’s people. If we read Hosea 2, Romans 9, and this verse from 1 Peter, we may be confused, for the same quotation from Hosea is used to denote the Gentiles and the Jews in the flesh. The Gentiles were not God’s people and they had not obtained His mercy. But the same word refers to the Jews in the flesh. In Romans 9 Paul says that not all are Israel who are of Israel. This refers to Jews who had not believed in the Lord Jesus, to Jews in the flesh. But in the sight of God, Israel in the flesh is not the genuine Israel. Only when the Jews believe in the Lord Jesus do they become the real people of God. Before believing in Him, they did not obtain His mercy, but after believing, they have obtained the Lord’s mercy. Now, after much study and digging into the Word, I have seen that the word in Hosea is used in the New Testament to denote both the Gentiles and Israel in the flesh. Israel in the flesh actually was not the genuine people of God, the people who had obtained the mercy of God. But now through believing in the Lord Jesus, they have become the people of God, and they have obtained His mercy.
