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First Peter, part 6

Having set forth the view that believers in Christ were (collectively) the new temple of God as well as the priesthood under Christ, we should note that Peter did not call believers “the third temple.” This is because the second temple yet stood in Jerusalem, for it had not yet been destroyed by the Romans (as Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24:2).

Nonetheless, the apostle understood that believers had become the true temple that God had begun to inhabit with His presence on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. 1 Peter 2:6-8 says,

⁶ For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” ⁷ This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “The stone which the builders rejected, this became the very corner stone,” ⁸ and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.

Peter weaves together three Old Testament prophecies to explain the two opposite responses to Christ. Isaiah 28:16 – the precious cornerstone in Zion; Psalm 118:22 – the stone rejected by the builders; and Isaiah 8:14 – the stone of stumbling.

This composite quotation forms a compact theology of Christ as the foundation stone of God’s temple.

Peter cites Isaiah 28:16 to show that God Himself laid the foundation. The Greek word for cornerstone is ἀκρογωνιαῖος (akrogōniaios)—the stone placed at the corner that aligns the entire structure. In Peter’s context, believers are “living stones” being built into a spiritual house. Christ is therefore the foundation of the new temple and the reference point that determines the alignment of every other stone.

The promise attached to this cornerstone is, “he who believes in Him will not be disappointed,” or put to shame. He will not lose face when this disputed view is proven in the end. Faith in Christ prevents the believer from ultimate disgrace when the earthly temple is destroyed. Hence, when the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., the believers in Christ were not devastated, for their temple was spiritual.

If the Jews succeed in building another physical temple in Jerusalem in the latter days, it will have no effect on those who believe in the spiritual house that Peter described. But those who have been deluded into thinking that God will again inhabit a physical temple in Jerusalem will no doubt suffer from a certain level of shock and despair, along with the Zionists who have always hoped for such a temple.

The Temple Dispute

Obviously, the two temples (physical and spiritual) are disputed, each side appealing to the divine court for justification. Which one is the true seat of religious government? Peter acknowledges this dispute by quoting Psalm 118:22,

²² The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone.

Peter interpreted this as a prophecy of Christ’s rejection (Isaiah 53:3; John 1:11). His view was substantiated by the types of shadows. Joseph was rejected by his brethren and, at the suggestion of Judah, was sold for 20 pieces of silver (Genesis 37:28). Again, Absalom rejected the rule of his father David and usurped his throne (2 Samuel 15:10)—until the return of David, which foreshadowed Christ’s return.

In fact, all of the prophets were types of Christ, each in their own way, yet they were rejected, persecuted, and often executed for speaking the truth that upset the religious leaders.

Jesus Himself applied Psalm 118:22 to Himself in Matthew 21:42, followed by a “therefore”:

⁴³ Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing the fruit of it. ⁴⁴ And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.

Jesus paired two different “stones” in the coming judgment. The first was the stone that the builders rejected; the second was the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, which was to crush the Babylonian image and scatter its dust (Daniel 2:35). In essence, the foundation stone of the true spiritual temple is to bring judgment upon the governments of men that remain in opposition to Him. That includes any rival temple.

God is Our Sanctuary

When speaking of the believing remnant, Isaiah 8:13-15 says,

¹³ It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread. ¹⁴ Then He shall become a sanctuary; but to [the unbelievers in] both the houses of Israel [i.e., Israel and Judah], a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, and a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁵ Many will stumble over them, then they will fail and be broken; they will even be snared and caught.

To those who reject “the Lord of hosts,” they were to treat Him as “a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over.” Hence, Peter quotes verse 14 to show that Christ’s rejection was foretold by the prophets. Some believed in Jesus Christ; the majority did not. So Peter writes, “but for those who disbelieve… a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”

In the temple (“sanctuary”) of God, Christ is the foundation stone, the reference point for the entire structure made of living stones. Many stumble over it, because they do not share the same revelation that Jesus and His apostles taught. Those who stumbled over this stone in Jesus’ day found it to be an obstacle for generations to come.

The Chosen Race

1 Peter 2:9 says,

⁹ But you are a chosen race [genos eklekton, “race, stock, family line that is chosen or elect”], a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

This language comes from Isaiah 43:20, 21, where God speaks of “My chosen people,” or“My elect.”

Though Peter was addressing ex-Israelites of the dispersion, he was not speaking of ethnicity but of a spiritual lineage. These were believers, children of God. Believers form a new family descended from God through the new birth (1 Peter 1:3, 23). They were not begotten by mortal, corruptible seed but by the immortal seed of the word of God. They had returned to God through the provision of the New Covenant through its Mediator and by the work of the Holy Spirit.

Thus Peter presents the church as God’s new covenant people, gathered from many nations but united as one chosen family.

The apostle Paul confirmed Peter’s gospel in Romans 11:1-7, where he shows how the remnant of grace was chosen, while the other fleshly Israelites were blinded. In verse 7 Paul says,

⁷ What then? What Israel [as a whole] is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen [eklektos] obtained it, and the rest were hardened [or “blinded,” KJV].

Paul made it clear that only a tiny remnant of those Israelites were actually “chosen.” Hence, it is NOT accurate to say that “The Jews are God’s chosen people,” if we define a Jew in biological or fleshly terms. No one is chosen by virtue of biological descent from Abraham, or else God would be building a spiritual temple made of Israelite and Jewish unbelievers. This cannot work, because such people are carnal, claiming Abraham as their father, while failing to “do the deeds of Abraham” (John 8:39). Jesus said in John 8:42, “If God were your Father, you would love Me.” It follows, then, that because they did not love Christ, God is not their father. They have not been begotten by the heavenly Father but invoke their earthly parents to claim to be chosen.

One cannot have it both ways. Either one’s birth through fleshly parents gives us status with God or one’s spiritual birth makes us “elect” in the eyes of God.

This is, in fact, the great dispute.