1 Peter 2 Study Notes
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2:1-3 As newborn infants, believers are to avoid acts of dissention and feed on the pure milk of the word. Spiritual “milk” is a metaphor that refers to the divine sustenance drawn from the gospel. The statement you have tasted that the Lord is good (cp. Ps 34:8) means they had found God to be gracious. This realization begins at conversion.
hierateuma
| Greek pronunciation | [hee eh RAH tyoo mah] |
| CSB translation | priesthood |
| Uses in 1 Peter | 2 |
| Uses in the NT | 2 |
| Focus passage | 1 Peter 2:5,9 |
Hierateuma (priesthood) first appears in written literature in the Greek OT (Ex 19:6; 23:22). If Israel obeyed God, she would be his treasured possession (Ex 23:22) and would function as a royal priesthood through which God would dispense his blessing to the whole earth (Ex 19:5-6; 23:22). In the NT, Peter makes direct reference to Ex 19:6 and 23:22 and applies the fulfillment of this OT concept of royal priesthood to the church (1Pt 2:9), which now exists to serve God by worshiping him through her words and deeds. She is being built into a spiritual temple where believers perform the role of a holy priesthood by offering “spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1Pt 2:5). The church also serves God through the proclamation of the praises that belong to Him (1Pt 2:9).
2:4-10 Jesus is called the living stone and the cornerstone, but also the rejected stone and the stone to stumble over. Peter assured his readers that they are God’s valuable possession—living stones built into a spiritual house. They are part of a living temple that is the corporate people of God, his unique possession. A chosen race (v. 9; cp. vv. 4,6; Is 43:20) seems to refer to the corporate unity of believers. In Christ, believers of all races are unified. They are also a royal priesthood—a collective company of priests—who offer up spiritual sacrifices to God (v. 5). Believers have been called out of darkness and into his marvelous light. The transfer from darkness to light is a common NT description of conversion (Ac 26:18; 2Co 4:6; Eph 5:8).
2:11-4:19 In this section Peter explained further how his readers might maintain their distinctiveness as holy aliens and temporary residents in this fallen world.
2:11-12 Peter commanded his readers to live honorably as holy strangers and exiles so that even hostile Gentile residents of the earth might come to glorify God.
2:13-17 Peter exhorted his readers to be subordinate and respectful to every human authority because of the Lord. He commanded them to submit to governmental and civil authority, acting as free people. The foolish people refers to the Gentiles mentioned in v. 12.
2:18-25 Peter charged household slaves to submit to their masters by doing good, even though they might suffer unjustly. Such behavior brings favor with God. While doing so they are to remember the example of Christ, who suffered unjustly while submitting to God’s will. The phrase by his wounds (cp. Is 53:5) refers to the death of Christ and not to the flogging he suffered at the hands of Roman soldiers (Jn 19:1). By his death believers are healed spiritually.