Dear Friends,

I hope you can join us tonight for Bible study. Our Scripture is 1 Peter 2:4-10. Notes are attached. 

LIVING THE CHRISTLIFE

WAYNE BARRETT

SEPTEMBER 30, 2026

1 Peter 2:4-10

4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 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. 6 For it stands in Scripture:

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,

a cornerstone chosen and precious,

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone,”

8 and

“A stone of stumbling,

and a rock of offense.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you

may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once

you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you

have received mercy.

______________

v 4 – “As you come to him …”

This is a continuation.

more lit. “… if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good, to whom coming …”

“a living stone …”

Jesus is the “stone rejected by men”—and Peter will write further about that, but Peter also

emphasizes that Jesus is a living stone.

“According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope …”—1

Peter 1:3

“since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the

living and abiding word of God”—1 Peter 1:23

The Gospel is not just words, or a teaching, or a philosophy, or laws; it is a life—and our Lord

and Savior Jesus Christ is very much alive

“rejected by men …”

Jesus continues to me rejected by many … for all sorts of reasons

“in the sight of” – lit. para, with, alongside, near, etc.

“precious”—entimos, valued, honored, highly regarded

so more lit. “a living stone, rejected by men but, with God, chosen, valued”

But this stone is not a jewel, it is a building stone—it is the stone that the builders rejected. The image

here is that something is being constructed and that God, for his purposes as a builder, choses this stone

(Christ) and values it for the building he is constructing.

v 5 – “you yourselves …”

2

“you yourselves as [hos] living stones”

The very same term is used for us as for Christ in v 3 – living stones

“are being built up as a spiritual house”

Also, God does save and bless the individual, the emphasis here, as in much of the New

Testament, is on what God is doing with us jointly, the body of Christ, the people of God.

We must balance these perspectives in our own lives as well—who I am individually in Christ

and my place in and among the people of God.

“to be a holy priesthood”

We have the access of priests unto the Lord

We are to serve the Lord by offering spiritual sacrifices (as opposed to animal sacrifices)

cf. Rom. 12:1

“acceptable” – euprosdektos, well received

“through Jesus Christ”—under the new covenant, our spiritual sacrifices are well received by

God through—and only through—Jesus Christ.

There is no true “Christianity” which does not have the person and the authority and the

atoning work of Jesus Christ as its chief tenet.

v 6 – “For it stands in Scripture …”

citing Isaiah 28:16:

therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in

Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever

believes will not be in haste.’

v 7—“So the honor is for you who believe …”

“to you, then, who are believing [is] the preciousness” (YLT)

The value of the stone is only seen by and only benefits those “who are believing”

“but for those who do not believe …”

more lit. “but [to those] disbelieving”

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”—Psalm 118:22

v 8 – and “A stone of stumbling …”

“And he [the LORD of hosts] will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of

stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And

many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”—Is.

8:14-15

See also Rom. 9:30-33

“They stumble …”

more lit. “who stumble at the word, disobeying, to which also they were placed [or put].”

The end of this sentence is one that receives different interpretations … and we will not resolve

that debate tonight.

“‘Their disobedience is not ordained, the penalty of their disobedience is’ (Bigg). They rebelled

against God and paid the penalty.”—from Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament

cf. 2 Peter 3:9 – “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is

patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

v 9 – “But you are a chosen race …”

A wonderful and exalted view of what God has made us to be in Christ

3

the emphasis continues on who and what we are together

race – genos – kin, as in the “human race,” also translated born, country(-man), diversity,

generation, kind(-red), nation, offspring, stock.

“that you may proclaim …”

We are not a people without a purpose

We are, together, to proclaim the excellencies of God

“who called you out of darkness …”

“to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to

God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by

faith in me.”—Acts 26:18

v 10 – “Once you were not a people …”

This, too, is a continuation

more lit. “who once were not a people, but now [are] the people of God; those not having

received mercy, but now having received mercy.”

This is a stark contrast between lives before Christ and after coming (v 4) to Christ.

It is especially meaningful since most of Peter’s recipients were Jewish Christians. Most of these

claims would have been made by them before their coming to Christ—and Peter is

emphasizing how all of these attributes and attainments are only fulfilled in Christ.