I Peter 2:4-12 - Chosen

1 Peter 2:4-12

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁴ You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.

⁵ And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. ⁶ As the Scriptures say, “I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”

Peter continues his epistle, encouraging followers of Christ to see themselves as being chosen to be made in the image of Christ. Just as God chose His Son, Jesus, to be the foundation stone of the Temple, He is also transforming us into the stones that support the spiritual Temple of God. We are based on a firm foundation, and now we ourselves must be made firm in our faith, unshakable. We are representing God to the world, and He needs us to be trustworthy.

The point Peter is trying to drive home is that we have not been casually selected by just anybody to be a part of a house. We have been chosen by God to be part of His Temple. He wants to purify us and make us holy as His Son is holy. People can depend on Jesus, they know what He represents. They are looking for examples of that character of Jesus that is so vastly different from what the world represents. God has designed His Temple to be solid. If we choose to follow after Jesus, to be remade in His image, then we must purpose to reflect the very image of God.

⁷ Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him,” The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.”

⁸ And,” He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.

For those who choose not to believe in Jesus, or to follow after Him, there is another destiny ahead for them. Rather than being built into the Temple of God, they will be eternally separated from God. He will not have those who are willfully disobedient in His Kingdom. Even though He has chosen us, the final choice of our obedience and allegiance is up to us. Our choice will determine our destiny.

⁹ But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

Peter reminds believers that we are chosen by God to represent Him to those who do not yet know Him. In order for His Holy Spirit to live within us we must crucify the human self, the desires of our earthly nature, and allow ourselves to be transformed into the image of Christ. This is not something we can do in and of ourselves. It is a daily surrender of what we want in exchange for what God's desires are for us. That kind of surrender will only come through listening to God through His Word, and communing with God through prayer. The more time we spend with Jesus, the more we are going to look like Him, act like Him.

¹⁰ “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.”

When we come to Christ we give up our aimless being, and we become distinctively different. We take on a new look, one that resembles the holiness of God. This only comes about because of God's mercy, for we can do nothing to earn salvation and sanctification. We simply have to believe and grow in our faith daily, and God will remake us into His people, His vessels, conduits of His love flowing out to others.

¹¹ Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. ¹² Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

As a child of God, a believer in Christ, we are no longer citizens of this earth, but our allegiance belongs to Heaven. We should no longer desire the evils of this world, but long after the integrity of Christ. Since the world is watching us, we must live so that they see goodness, kindness, honesty, and purity. Our lifestyle must point them to Jesus. For that reason alone, we are chosen.

Now the question is, what do we choose?

I choose Jesus, I choose truth, I choose purity, I choose faith. Thank you, Father, for first choosing me!