*Our Holiness Matures in Union with Christ
Our Holiness Matures in Union with Christ I Peter 2:1-10
It would seem logical that our degree of holiness would show maturity in our union with Christ. The closer we draw to Christ the holier our lives become. In this chapter, Peter begins by laying out some steps to follow that will help us to grow in our relationship with Christ, and therefore our holiness in general.
Peter, much like Paul, puts forth a theological precedence, then follows up with a practical application. Unlike Peter, Paul writes half of his book then turns to the practical applications of his theology. In Ch. 1:1-10, Peter gives us a great theological treatise on our salvation. But with verse 11 he begins to discuss the practical application of that salvation. He continues here in ch. 2.
Let us explore the steps he recommends to us that we might grow in Christ and therefore mature in holiness.
I. Growing Up to Salvation (Vv. 1-3)
A. Put away some things. (V. 1)
1. Put Away: refers to the changing of one’s clothing. An old set of garments is put off or put away in order that a new set of garments may be put on. Christian conversion means making some changes. It is more than just a change in wardrobe, instead it is a change in lifestyle.
--Malice= wickedness, includes all the wicked ways of the Christless world.
Expressed in both word and deed. James used the same word: (Jas 1:21)
21Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”
--deceit/guile= deceitfulness, trickery of the man who is out to deceive others to attain his own ends, the vice of the man whose motives are never pure.
Manipulating people for selfish gain.
--hypocrisy/insincerity= a man who all the time is acting a part and concealing his real motives. A hypocrite is a man whose alleged Christian profession is for his own profit and prestige and not for the service and glory of Christ.
--envy= jealousy, the sinister attitude of resentment toward another person who has excelled or been particularly blessed.
--evil speaking/slander= It is almost always the fruit of envy in the heart, and it usually takes place when the victim is not there to defend himself.
--These are part of the sins of the spirit in contrast to what we recognize as sins of the flesh (murder, adultery). The faults selected here broadly represent types of behavior incompatible with brotherly love and they are not part of the dress code for the Christian (1:22).
B. Put on the yearning for a new heart. (Vv. 2-3)
As the birth of a baby promises growth to maturity, so newborn babes in the spiritual realm are to grow to maturity.
Newborn= the youngest of type of infant, translates what is in 1:3 & 1:23 but has a prefix which emphasizes the newness of the experience, “just now born.”
All of the things which had characterized their lives before that birth are to be put off as one would put off an old or soiled garment.
As ‘just now born’ babies hunger for their mother’s milk, so these newborn babies are to hunger for the pure spiritual milk which their Father supplies.
Spiritual= (Rom. 12:1) reasonable, logical. The newborn babe longs for the food which is logically related to his growth requirements. In the spiritual realm, that logical food is spiritual in nature.
Pure= undiluted. The spiritual milk which God supplies for his growing babies is whole milk of the most nourishing kind. This referred to God’s Word. Just as the newborn has a strong drive to eat in order to grow, the new convert must nourish his fledgling Christian life on God’s Word so that they might grow.
The word indicates ‘increase in stature.’
Paul reminds us in Eph. 4:14-15:
14 “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ”
The direction of our Growth: Move from being babes in the faith to become more mature adult persons in the Christian faith.
Grow thereby/up to salvation= Salvation is used in 3 ways in the NT. First, it refers to the initial experience of receiving Christ as our savior. It can also refer to the final consummation of salvation, our going to heaven. Here it refers to the process of growing in Christian maturity and describes the kind of growth of which Peter writes. It is not a growth which is related to physical life, but rather to spiritual life.
The physical person grows to a point then stops growing, but the spiritual person is never to stop growing. Our goal should be as Paul says to the Ephesians: (Eph 4:13)
“till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
If indeed you have tasted= Once the child of God has tasted His food, his hunger can never be satisfied with substitutes. The word taste means more than to just take a sip. Peter meant that they had known fully an experience of God through Jesus Christ. They had found that taste to be most pleasant. God was, and still is, kind and good.
We often say of a new food we come to love and enjoy, “I just can’t get enough of that.” This is what Peter meant. We should be at a point in our lives where we just can’t get enough of our Lord. We should desire to know Him more and more.
II. Put yourself as one of God’s chosen. (Vv. 4-8)
A. Come to the Living Stone (2:4, 6-7)
Peter moves from the feeding habits of Children to the building of a house of Worship. To make this change he picks up on one of Jesus’ parables. (Matt. 21:42) In the parable of the vineyard and the tenants, Jesus identified himself as the chief cornerstone. He used Psalm 118:22 which Peter also used in his letter. Peter is trying to show us what God intended for life together in the church to be. Peter also used Isaiah 28:16.
The idea was that Christ had been rejected by man, but as it turns out, He is the most important. These Christians have discovered that. They were to continue following Him.
Peter is saying, “Since you have tasted the kindness of the Lord, keep on coming to Him.”
B. Become Living Stones (2:5, 8)
Not only did Peter see Jesus as a living stone, the chief cornerstone; he also saw the Christians in Asia Minor as being living stone which were to be built into a spiritual house. The church is not a building; it is people, the people of God who have come to know Jesus Christ as their savior.
Two task for the Christian:
Holy priesthood= bridge builders between other people and God.
Offer up spiritual sacrifices= Believers are to bring themselves to God. They offer up their work and worship as expressions of love and obedience to God.
V. 8= We must note that for those who come to Christ, He becomes a firm foundation and a source of great strength. For those who reject Him, he becomes a stone of judgment.
III. Becoming God’s Won People (2:9-10)
A. Chosen for a Purpose (V. 9)
2:9 As “living stones” (v. 5), believers are placed in a new and significant relationship to Jesus, the “chief cornerstone” (v. 6):
(1) They are members of a “chosen generation,” i.e., an elect race.
(2) Furthermore, all believers are “priests,” a word indicative of privilege in access to God but also of ministry to others in Christ’s name. This priesthood is a royal priesthood as a result of the relationship of sonship which the believer possesses.
(3) As a member of an elect race, the believer is also a part of a “holy nation.”
(4) The designation “special people” may be rendered more literally, “a people to be around,” stressing that God’s people are a possession of God Himself.
(5) The function of this believing community is to “proclaim the praises” of God. The doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is a significant N.T. revelation. The old dispensation featured a Levitical priesthood, offering sacrifices for the people, interceding with God in their behalf, and on the Day of Atonement entering before God with sacrificial blood for the people.
The new dispensation makes each believer a royal priest.
This means: (1) every believer has immediate access to God in Jesus Christ; (2) the approach to God has been made forever open by a perfect sacrifice in Jesus; (3) the saints of God have the privilege and responsibility of interceding for one another before God; and (4) each Christian has the responsibility of a meaningful priesthood, representing God to the people in witnessing and teaching.
Priesthood of Believers
2:9. Every believer has the privilege and responsibility of direct access to God. Illustration: In the Old Testament the family of Aaron was designated as a priesthood to God. In the New Testament that priesthood becomes the birthright of every Christian. Like their Old Testament counterparts, believer-priests have the privilege of access to God. Application: With privilege comes a twofold responsibility—sacrifice and intercessory prayer. The sacrifices of the believer are his body (Rom. 12:1, 2), his praise to God (Heb. 13:15), his substance (Rom. 12:13), and his service (Heb. 13:6). The Christian ought also to pray on behalf of others (Col. 4:12). (First Reference, Job 42:10; Primary Reference, 1 Pet. 2:9; cf. 1 Cor. 9:19.)
A. From Nobodies to Somebodies (V. 10)
The kind of holiness which Peter envisions for every child of God is one which moves toward maturity in union with the preeminent Son of God, Jesus Christ.
2:10 The term laos (Gk.), translated “people,” is always reserved in the N.T. for God’s people. The term ethne (Gk.) is used for all other peoples. In Rom. 9:25, Paul, like Peter, also appeals to Hos. 1:9, 10; 2:23 to stress the universal motif of God’s mercy. Peter, however, emphasizes the eschatological blessedness which his readers now enjoy as a result of believing in Jesus Christ.