Off the Shelf Sunday School--1 Peter 2

Building On Christ (2:7-8)

Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe; “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for.

 1.  Jesus is the cornerstone or capstone of the spiritual house—believers rest on him as the foundation. Also, like stones of a house we lean or rely on each other.  

Jesus Christ was the stone that would have completed Israel had Israel's  leaders accepted Him as their Messiah, Israel's keystone. Instead, the Israelites cast the stone aside by rejecting their Messiah. God then proceeded to make this stone the foundation of a new edifice that He would build, namely, the church. Israel's rejected keystone has become the church's foundation stone. (Expository Notes of Doctor Thomas Constable, https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dcc/1-peter-2.html)   

2.  Peter says some people are destined to stumble. In other words, these people are not given grace to understand and believe in Jesus. This is the doctrine of election (Acts 13:48; 1 Cor 15:10-11; Rom 11: 5-10; Eph 1:4; Phil 1:29). People choose to believe in Jesus because he first chooses them (Jn 15:16; Rom 8:28-30). Without the call or grace of God, humans are spiritually dead and in a state of rebellion against God. (Eph 2:1-10)

Summary Affirming the Blessings In Christ (2:9-10)

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

1.  Peter points out that Christians (the Church) have the same privileges as the nation Israel: both are chosen people (Dt 7:6); a royal priesthood and a holy nation (Ex 9:6) belonging to God. Both are descendants of Abraham. Israel in a literal sense and the Church in a spiritual sense. Both are to be the means through which God’s message of salvation reach those in spiritual darkness. In the Old Testament, God dwelt in the temple and drew people to himself through the prophets, sacrifices and miracles. In the New Testament, God dwells within Christians and draws people to himself by their transformed lives which brings his presence to the nations. (Is 42:6-7; Mt 28:19-20)

2.  The Church consists of people “called out” by God to receive grace and mercy from among many nations and cultures and so it was not a nation like Israel. It is a spiritual nation made holy by the blood of Jesus and sharing in his identity. (Hos 2:23)

Mission As Light Bearers (2:11-12)

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

1.    Because Christians are adopted citizens of God’s heavenly kingdom, there is tension as our thinking and desires increasingly are at odds with the world. Peter sums this up by referring to Christians as aliens and strangers in the world. However, the customs of the world are in many ways working upon the sinful desires of the human nature waging war against the desires of the indwelling Holy Spirit. (Rom 8:5-14; Gal 5:17-22)

2.    What are some of the sinful desires of the human nature? (Eph 5:3-4; 2 Tim 3:2-4)   What are the consequences of following these sinful desires? 

Following sinful desires conforms Christians to the customs of the world so that they appear to be  hypocrites. They quench the transforming work of the Holy Spirit and bring dishonor upon God and his Church. (Eph 4:30-32;1 Jn 2:15-16) We must take our standards of behavior, not from the culture in which we live, but from our “home” culture of heaven, so that our life always fits the place we are headed to, and where we belong rather than the temporary lodging in this world.

3.    The accusation of doing wrong may be a reference to the persecution of Christians started by Nero around this time because of slanderous accusations. Christians were falsely accused of starting a great fire in Rome and of indulging in human sacrifice and cannibalism as part of the communion rites of religious ceremonies. 

4.    How do good deeds bring glory to God? (Mt 5:16)

5.    A day of reckoning is coming when Jesus will return to judge sinful conduct and to rule as king over a new heaven and earth. (Rev 20:11-15; Phil 2:10-11)Off