BBCC Bible Study Notes
Built in Community – 1 Peter 2:4–10
October 6, 2024
I. Introduction / Review: Not at Home, But Not Alone
Suffering on the short journey of life reminds us that we belong to God, but we were made for more than this broken world. There is importance in shared experiences in suffering, and real danger in isolation during difficult times.
"We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world." (C.S. Lewis)
II. The Living Stone – Jesus Christ
Christ went before us in suffering. Jesus is the rejected but chosen cornerstone.
"As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him." (1 Peter 2:4, NIV)
III. Christians Together as Living Stones
Believers are being built into a spiritual house. Community is essential to the Christian journey.
"You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:5, NIV)
IV. The Church as God's Building Project
Christians are better together. God's design is for the church — the communion of the saints — for mutual support and encouragement. What do we do about this? Seek God through His Word and prayer. Connect with other believers for support and growth. Participate in church community beyond Sunday services.
Conclusion: Our Identity in Christ
Chosen people, royal priesthood, holy nation — called to declare God's praises.
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." (1 Peter 2:9–10, NIV)
BBCC Verse of the Week
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9, NIV)
Study & Discussion Guide – 1 Peter 2:4–10
We have some great devotionals in the lobby — pick one up and read devotionally each day. Use the notes below as a springboard to learning more about the Bible, and use the discussion questions to talk to others about what you're learning. Talk in the car on the way home, chat with folks during the week.
"As you come to him" indicates a daily personal relationship with Christ, beginning at but not limited to the time of conversion. As believers continue in fellowship with Christ, they "are being built up as a spiritual house" (v. 5). Just as his followers suffer persecution, Jesus also was rejected by men. Still, he is risen from the dead and hence is the living stone — the foundation of God's new temple. He is God's elect one, and as the exalted Lord he is honored above all. (ESV Study Bible)
The stone image is found in three OT passages (Ps. 118:22–23; Isa. 8:14–15; 28:16), all three of which are quoted in 1 Peter 2:6–8. When Jesus applied the rejected stone of Ps. 118:22 to himself, he was drawing on a well-established tradition in Judaism that identified the stone with the Messiah. In Isa. 28:16, the Lord places in Zion "a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed." In pre-Christian interpretation, the stone image of these three passages came to be understood as messianic. (Baker Exegetical Commentary)
The phrase "a chosen race" echoes Isa. 43:20–21, where God declares he will provide for "my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise." Peter directly applies this mandate to his Christian readers: "that you may proclaim the mighty acts of the one who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (2:9). As Peter later teaches, this declaration of praise is not simply verbal but a life lived righteously.
In biblical theology, Israel's deliverance from exile in Babylon is the typological forerunner of the greater deliverance achieved by Jesus Christ. Peter makes the radical claim that those who believe in Jesus Christ — whether Jew, Gentile, Greek, Roman, or whatever — though from many races, constitute a new race of those who have been born again into living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Here is the foundational cure for the evils of racism in human society. (Jobes)
Discussion Questions
1. Throughout this passage, how does Peter describe Christians?
2. Which descriptive word or phrase resonates the most with you, and why?
3. How does Jesus' life as a refugee, exile, and foreigner encourage you that you too belong to God?
For next week: Read 1 Peter 2:11–20 (John Leavitt)