The passage
      v4, 5. Although Peter uses Old Testament language here, he is describing, in very simple terms, the "narrow way" - the call of Jesus to "follow me". First, a person must "come" to Jesus. Second, they are then incorporated into the fellowship of believers - a community, a "spiritual house" (temple imagery). They are incorporated into the heavenly assembly gathered in the presence of God, eternally secure before him. Third, they are appointed priests to serve before the throne of God, "offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Peter does not define this service, but "faith expressing itself through love" is probably the sum of it. The rest of Peter's letter fleshes out this service acceptable to God.
      v6-8. Peter quotes three passages from the Old Testament to support the point he has just made, Isaiah 28:16, Psalm 118:22, Isaiah 8:14. One of the titles for the Messiah is "the Stone". Christ is the chief cornerstone of God's new building - the new Israel, the Temple, Jerusalem, the people of God. Those who link themselves to Christ, who "come" to Christ, who "trust in him, will never be put to shame." They will become "living stone", sharing in the life and the glory of the "precious cornerstone". For those who reject Christ, the stone will cause them to stumble and it will inevitably crush them. Those who reject the "message" (the word, gospel, and thus, Jesus) were "destined" (ordained by God) to do so, v8. The inevitable consequence of Israel's rebellion against God is judgement. This is not a predestined damnation of individuals, but rather judgment upon Israel. For the individual, those who "come" are saved, while those who "reject" are damned. This is so for Jews as well as Gentiles.
      v9. The new community, in union with the "precious cornerstone" (Jesus who is the true Israel, the remnant), consists of the true children of Abraham; the children of faith, both Jew and Gentile. As such, they bear the glorious titles that belong to God's people. As the people of God, we are called on to reflect the character of God in our Christian community. We are to be a "light unto the Gentiles"; we are to display the mercy of God. This is the same idea as "offering spiritual sacrifices", v5. In simple terms, we are to be what we already are in Christ.
      v10. Peter again employs Old Testament imagery. Israel was once no people, called out of the bondage of Egypt into the land flowing with milk and honey. The heathen too were without mercy, lost. Yet now, in the church, believers stand as God's children, "the people of God."

A light to the world
      Our passage for study focuses on Christ and on those who bathe in his glory.
      Jesus is the "precious cornerstone". Not only is he the Messiah, the anointed one who came to call together a new community in the presence of God, he is also everything that God's people should be. Jesus is the Godly line, the remnant of Israel, the true Israel; he is the "chosen by God", the elect one, the predestined Son of God; he is the prophet, priest and king; he is the perfectly obedient one; he is the "chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God". Wicked men had taken and crucified Jeus, but God raised him up. He lives, and in his life we can live also.
      So then, we who "come" to him, to this "living stone", we "who believe" in him, end up possessing all that Christ is. In him we possess the fullness of God's glory. This stone, for us, becomes "precious". We become the "chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God." All this is ours by coming to Jesus.
      Peter goes on to remind us to be the people we are in Christ. He calls on us to offer "spiritual sacrifices", to "declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." He calls on us to be the light we are in Christ.
      As Paul puts it in Romans 12:1, "I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy (as a consequence of Christ's death and resurrection enlivening you) to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service" (not "worship"). In summary, such service is "faith expressing itself through love." It is the great commission: nurture one another in the word, reach out to the lost through the proclamation of the gospel. Proclaim "the wondrous things he has done."

v5
      autoi wJV liqoi zwntes "you are like living stones" - Christ is the living stone of prophecy, and in him we are like that stone.
      oikodomeisqe (oikodomew) pres. ind. pas. "are being built" - are being built up.
      oikoV pneumatikoV "a spiritual house" - Possibly a spiritual family, but house, in the sense of temple is, better. It could mean "God's true temple", cf. John 2:17.
      iJerateumia aJgion "holy priesthood" - Holy, in that it is unlike the pagan priesthood, and a priesthood in that the gathered believers, the church, provides the way into the presence of the living God.
      anenegkai ( anaferw) aor. act. inf. "offering" - The infinitive is epexegetic, explaining the function of the priesthood. Here the function of a priest offering sacrifices to God
      pneumatikaV adj. "spiritual" - the sacrifices offered are figurative, such as prayer, praise, brotherly love, self-surrender...... as distinct from animal sacrifices
      euposdektoV adj. "acceptable" - Such offerings are not acceptable in themselves as they would always be compromised, but "through Jesus Christ", that is, under the canopy of his perfect sacrifice, they find acceptance. The ancients were always very concerned whether their sacrifices were acceptable to the gods.

v9
      genos eklekton "a chosen race" - generation, but better "people"
      basileion adj. "royal" - Possibly substantive and therefore "the Kings priesthood", as of belonging to Jesus.
      laoV eis perpoihsiV "a people belonging to God" - a people for possession. From Exodus 19:5, a peculiar, or special people. Israel was a people of God's special affection, and now that people were the followers of Christ.
      exaggeilhte (exaggellw) "that you may declare" - tell out, declare, advertise. A strong word. "Now you must tell of the wondrous things that he has done", CEV.
      taV aretaV "the praises" - the moral virtues, heroic deeds. Here, the gathering of a people from darkness into light. Although we may use the evidence of conversion to support the gospel, it is really God's own advertisement of his ongoing intention to gather a "peculiar" people to himself