Peter begins chapter 2 with “Therefore,” harkening his audience to their salvation as a result of hearing the gospel message. Since they were saved by grace through faith, they need to live righteously. Since they have been justified, they now need to be sanctified. Peter elaborates on this truth – that we are the Body of Christ – with the imagery of living stones, and he urges the people of God, who were once not the people of God – we all experienced a conversion of sorts – to live rightly for the glory of God. Then Peter exhorts his audience to submit to those in authority over them, especially if/when those people are unbelievers. This submission may include suffering or persecution, but it is more commendable to God to suffer unjustly than to be punished justly for behaving improperly. This topic will continue into the next chapter, but Peter ends this chapter as he frequently does – by pointing to Jesus as our mentor and motivation to persevere in suffering. Let’s take a look.
1) V1-5 – 1Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4As you come to Him, the living Stone – rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to Him – 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Because we have been saved from our sin by grace through faith in God, because He raised Jesus from the dead according to His word, we must strive for holiness. Because we are justified, we must be sanctified. Peter says to get rid of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. Let’s look at these particular sins individually. First, malice is evildoing with intent. When we talk about malice, we’re talking about the motive of the heart. Accidents happen, but acts done out of malice are not accidents; they are intentional, spiteful, and sinister sins. Second, deceit is trickery. And again, something done in deceit is planned out ahead of time. It wasn’t a spur of the moment action. Think back to Rebekah and Jacob plotting together to trick Isaac into blessing his younger son instead of Esau. That was deceit. Hypocrisy is arguably the sin that most in the church struggle with most. We show up on Sunday and everything is great in our lives. But Monday through Friday is miserable, and we live it up on the weekend in licentiousness, only to show up again Sunday morning in a seemingly holy stature. Or think of the pastor who regularly talks against homosexuality and finds himself engaging in those kinds of heinous acts when he thinks no one is watching, only to be found out and ridiculed for his sin. That’s the kind of hypocrisy that does so much damage to the church on the inside and keeps people from coming to church who are on the outside. Envy is covetousness and jealousy, and again, it’s an internal thing. In materialistic America, it’s hard not to try to keep up with the Joneses. And it’s hard to guard against the desires of the flesh when they are seemingly so easy to come by quickly – but the price is great down the road. Finally, slander is another sin that wells up from within the heart and comes out through our words, tearing others down instead of building them up. And perhaps this thought of tearing down and building up that tends to come along with slander leads Peter to move on and talk about growing up, which he does in v2.
Crave milk. Peter knows that babies need milk to grow, and so Christians need the basic gospel message – hard as it is – repeated over and over again in order to “grow up in [their] salvation.” After tasting that the Lord is good (imagery from Psalm 34 that Peter refers to a couple times in this letter), we ought to continue drinking Him up, coming to Him as the living water (v4; John 4; 7) to be built up into a “spiritual house” (v5). Peter refers to Jesus as “the living Stone,” rejected by humans but chosen by and precious to God the Father. All humans reject Christ. What about those who receive Him? Some humans receive Him, but only after regeneration by the Holy Spirit (logically speaking, as it may be simultaneous, chronologically speaking). Apart from God’s intervention by His Spirit, none receive Christ; all reject Him. But even this was precious to God, because His plan, now in action, has always been to exalt Jesus as the living Stone and build around Him with other living stones, a Temple for His dwelling place. And so God makes His elect into a holy priesthood, fit for His holy presence; we are to be living stones, building blocks in whom and with whom He will dwell. The building is not finished yet, and we can’t fathom what it will be like; but we press on in hope, enduring suffering for choosing holiness.
2) V6-12 – 6For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame’ [Isaiah 28:16]. 7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’ [Psalm 118:22], 8and, ‘A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall’ [Isaiah 8:14]. They stumble because they disobey the message – which is also what they were destined for. 9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. 10Once 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. 11Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12Live 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.
Peter uses the Old Testament here to explain his previous analogy, something he needs to do given the pagan Gentile background of his audience. In v6-8, he quotes from Isaiah twice and Psalm 118 to show that Jesus was the cornerstone (the apostles and prophets were the foundation; Ephesians 2:20; Revelation 21:14) for the house of God and that people would fail to trust in Him as their savior. But do not be surprised by this, Peter says, for those who stumble over Jesus, failing to obey the simple message of the gospel – believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved – do so because that is what they were destined for (v8). It’s not a popular message, that the opposite of election is reprobation; that although some are the elect of God, others are the reprobates, those left in their condition of slavery to sin without the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. It’s quite true that they could come to Christ if they would, but remember, none are willing. All humans reject Him apart from the Holy Spirit. And there are some theological traditions that try to account for this. They do so by blaming the sinful people rejecting Christ – and rightly so! We don’t blame God for the fact that people reject Jesus! We blame those who reject Him for rejecting Him, and we strive to persuade them not to reject Him – even using words if appropriate. But the dead won’t come to life by our words. Only the Spirit of God can make the dry bones live (Ezekiel 37). Jesus said, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me… No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:37,44).
Thankfully we come to the “But” of v9. Peter’s audience is not made up of those who stumble over Jesus and disobey the gospel command to believe in Him; rather, his hearers are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.” God owns everything; He created everything! But some of His creation is set apart for His special purpose (Romans 9:21-24), even us! And our purpose is simple – to “declare the praises of Him who called [us] out of darkness into His wonderful light” (v9).
Peter closes out this passage reminding his audience, Gentiles, that once they were not included in God’s people, but now they are. He has been merciful to them, and therefore, they ought to live righteously, abstaining from sinful desires. And there’s another motive for holy living that Peter gives in v12. “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.” The reason we are to live good lives is that the pagans will glorify God when Jesus returns. Now it is true that we are trying to exalt Jesus and God’s forgiving mercy and transforming grace, so that people will repent and believe during their lifetimes, but that’s not what Peter’s talking about here. He is saying that at the end of time, those who saw us living as Christians will glorify God for the work He did in us and for His justice in wrath with them. Believe it or not, God is glorified by executing perfect justice on the objects of His wrath, and they will glorify Him for that in some kind of way. Paul’s instruction to the Philippians has a similar feel to Peter here. He says on that day, “Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11). And he goes on to add in v12-13, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” Peter will say even more words to this when we come to the first chapter of his second epistle.
3) V13-20 – 13Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor. 18Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. 19For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. 20But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
With this command to “submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority,” Peter begins a new section that continues into chapter 4. He has mentioned suffering to his audience, and now he will elaborate on what that looks like, especially in light of the various relationships we have with one another. First, Peter talks about submitting to the governing authorities, because, as Paul said, “there is no authority except that which God has established” (Romans 13:1). Our motive here, found in v15 – silencing the ignorant talk of foolish people – is aligned with what Peter said in v12 above. V16 lines up with Paul’s teaching from Galatians 5:1,13: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery… You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” Finally in v17, Peter gives 4 short commands: respect everyone, love believers, fear God, and honor the ruler.
In v18-20, Peter talks about how slaves can enduring suffering for God’s glory. Regardless of how their master treats them, slaves are to submit to them out of reverence of God. Suffering in innocence due to reverence of God is commendable; but suffering justly for wrongdoing is nothing more than justice.
4) V21-25 – 21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. 22‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth’ [Isaiah 53:9]. 23When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. 24‘He Himself bore our sins’ in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by His wounds you have been healed.’ 25For ‘you were like sheep going astray’ [Isaiah 53:4-6, Septuagint], but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Peter concludes this chapter, but not this section, by providing the motive for enduring persecution. Of course, Jesus is our motive. He suffered like no other, providing an example for you to follow; furthermore, He suffered “for you.” Jesus did nothing wrong. There was no just cause for His suffering, but He endured it by trusting His Father in Heaven, who says, “Vengeance is Mine… I will repay” (Deuteronomy 32:41). Peter’s language is beautiful in v24, where he describes the doctrine of substitionary atonement perfectly. “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross.” But Peter doesn’t stop there. He tells his audience why Christ did this: “So that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.” Peter mingles quotes from Isaiah 53 in his teaching, which is such a great prophecy of the atonement, I don’t see how Jewish people escape the meaning. Peter ends the chapter with an image of repentance in v25, calling Jesus “the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
Footnotes
- 2:6 Isaiah 28:16
- 2:7 Or cornerstone
- 2:7 Psalm 118:22
- 2:8 Isaiah 8:14
- 2:22 Isaiah 53:9
Bible text from Gospelcom.net. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.