THE TEMPLE OF GOD

THE TEMPLE OF GOD:

AN EXEGESIS OF 1 PETER 2:4-10

Who are we as a people? There is possibly nothing more important to a group of people than their identity and unity. The same applies to us as a Christian community who have been united by Christ through His death, burial, and resurrection. Our understanding of who we are affects how we act. But what words should we use to describe our relationship with God, one another, and the world? There are many words and metaphors to choose from: the Church, the way, the body of Christ, the family or household of God, and the bride of Jesus. In this paper, I want to highlight the way that Peter describes the people of God in 1 Peter 2:4-10 since he is the man who was introduced to the kingdom of God at Caesarea Philippi in Matthew 16 and was not only present but played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Church in Acts 2.

COMING TO CHRIST: THE LIVING STONE (VERSE 4)

COMING TO CHRIST

Peter calls us to “come” to the “Lord,” who is then identified as “good” (1 Pet. 2:3-4). As such, the “Lord” is then associated with the “living stone” who is Jesus Christ. Here, Peter assumes that those who desire life will ultimately “come” to Christ. All who come to Christ for life receive it on the basis of His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of God. Coming to Christ is understood as a way of conversion or belief in Jesus as Lord. Thus it “expresses the idea of drawing near with intention both to stay and to enjoy personal fellowship.”[1] 

JESUS, THE LIVING STONE

Jesus is described as the “living stone” because He is “unlike the inert, lifeless stones of the earth.” As such, “he is a stone of energy, vitality, and life” who has been “raised from the dead” and now “lives to die no more.” Thus, since Jesus is living and the origin of life, he may be viewed now as “the source of life to his followers.”[2] Because Jesus lives and reigns as the risen Lord, we may now have life through Christ. As the “living stone,” Jesus stands as the precious cornerstone and foundation for the New Temple.

THE REJECTED LIVING STONE

While humans have “rejected” the living stone, God has considered Him as “chosen” and “precious.”  While on earth, Jesus was regarded by humanity “as unworthy/unfit and therefore to be rejected” (BDAG) They disapproved of Jesus because He did not fit their image of the Messiah who would redeem His people and restore the New Temple. Isaiah foresaw the Suffering Servant’s rejection, which was ultimately fulfilled in the lifetime of Jesus by the religious leaders of His day, along with those who rejected the Risen Lord in these last days (Is. 53:3).

THE EXALTED SON OF THE FATHER

The Son is honored by God the Father because He is “chosen” and “precious” in His “sight.” Jesus is elevated by the Father at His resurrection and ascension when He is rewarded the status He once possessed before His humiliation. “God contradicted men’s verdict, and declared His acceptance of Jesus as the Christ, by exalting Him.”[3] 

TEMPLE-LIVING STONE IMAGERY

“The image shifts from coming to a temple to becoming part of the temple. They are also themselves as living stones (because they have come to the living stone, their status coming from his), as it were, being built into a ‘spiritual house,’ a new or renewed temple. But then there is another shift in the imagery, for they become ‘a holy priesthood’ offering spiritual sacrifices (rather than animal sacrifices or incense) by means of Jesus the Anointed One (rather than on their own) to God, which sacrifices are acceptable.”[4]

CHURCH OF CHRIST: THE LIVING STONES OF THE HOLY TEMPLE (VERSE 5)

THE TEMPLE OF GOD

Peter’s primary metaphor for the Church is the Temple. In the Bible, there is a deep Temple theology that permeates the redemptive story. In Genesis, the Garden of Eden is seen as a Temple where God’s holy presence is quite evident. After the fall of humanity, there is a need to return to the Garden-Temple. Throughout the wilderness wanderings, there was a portable Temple called a “Tabernacle” that the Israelites used, and it was later established in Shiloh. When the people of God would travel with the Tabernacle, they would transport the ark of the Covenant, which represented God’s holy presence in the Tabernacle. Later, Solomon constructed the Temple in Jerusalem, where God’s people recognized God’s presence and would worship. After the Babylonians destroyed the Temple of Solomon, Ezra returned to restore and rebuild the Second Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. Prior to the Temple’s destruction, the presence of Jesus in the incarnation, where He “dwelt among us,” is best understood as Him “tabernacling” among us and being “God among us” (John 1:14).[5] As such, when Jesus ascends to heaven and establishes His church, He is establishing the Temple of God where He continues to be present. In the Book of Revelation, the need to return to the Garden-Temple is fulfilled when Christ transfers the Temple of God on Earth into the New Heavens and New Earth.

LIVING STONES OF THE LIVING STONE

In the Old Testament, the Temple is at the center of worship and represents the presence of God. In the New Testament, the Church is the assembly of worshippers who represent the presence of God since the Spirit lives in the Church. The Church, as the Temple of God, derives its life from the builder and living stone Jesus Christ. Since Jesus is the living stone and the Church receives its life from Christ, it is quite fitting that the Church would be described as the “living stones.” Ferguson says, “Individuals in the church are ‘living stones’ in whom the divine presence dwells and so must conduct themselves accordingly. The church as the temple is where believers experience the presence of God.”[6] Christians are the “living stones” of Jesus, the true “living stone.” Since Jesus is the “living stone” on the basis of His resurrection, Christians are then the “living stones” based on their own resurrection. [7]  As Beale suggests, “Because believers are identified with Christ as the ‘living [foundation] stone’ of the temple, they also are ‘living stones’ in the temple. The specific reference to ‘living’ shows that the ‘living’ resurrected Christ represents his people, so they are ‘living’ resurrected beings as well. Accordingly, the church not only forms part of this temple but also continues the role of true Israel.”[8] Since we do not worship in a physical Temple like our spiritual ancestors before us, we may miss the beauty of this metaphor. Once we recognize the importance of the Temple in the Old Testament, we will see its relevance in the New Testament. “The temple was significant because it was the place where God chose to dwell in the midst of his people and where God met with them…like the stones in the temple, God’s people are intimately connected with one another, and each stone is vital to holding together the entire building.”[9] Every stone/Christian matters because they build up the Church-Temple. To summarize Peter’s understanding of the Church as the Temple of God and Living Stones of the Living Stone, Beale and Kim note that “Our mission as the true temple is to extend his dwelling place throughout the earth by our witness until that temple is completed. The new temple begins with Christ as the foundation ‘stone’ and continues to be ‘built up as a spiritual house’ (1 Pet. 2:4-6) until it is consummated at the end of history.”[10]

SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES

Peter shifts metaphors where the Church is viewed as a spiritual structure to a spiritual priesthood. Since Christians are described in a manner only fitting for priests and they are later designated the collective title “royal priesthood,” then it appears that Peter understands the Church simultaneously as a people and a place since they are seen as the Temple of praise and the priests that worship in the Temple to praise.[11] These sacrifices offered by priests in the “spiritual house” are to be “spiritual.” Throughout Peter’s letter, the apostle emphasizes the necessity of holiness or Godly living because it is our way of offering “spiritual sacrifices” to a holy God (1 Pet. 1:15, 17-18; 2:12, 14-15, 20; 3:1, 6, 16-17; 4:19). These holy sacrifices are called “spiritual” by Peter simply because they are “made possible through the power of the Holy Spirit.”[12] The only “acceptable” sacrifices that we can offer to God are those which are “spiritual.” As Stibbs notes, “What is pleasing to God is the spiritual worship of willing, rational and moral obedience or freely-chosen personal devotion.”[13] 

THE TRINITY

Liebengood suggests that the three persons of the Trinity are “working in unity of purpose and presented as the ground, means and the end” of the divine missions. If this is the case, then “the Spirit empowers the people of God to offer their lives as pleasing sacrifices, which are offered to God (the Father, ‘through Jesus Christ,’ whose sacrificial death enables union with the life of God and models a life which is pleasing to God.”[14]

CHRIST THE CORNERSTONE: THE PRECIOUS STONE (VERSES 6-8)

Peter grounds his argumentation in the Old Testament to apply these realities to his Gentile audience since these realities are now fulfilled through Christ for those who enjoy the benefits of the New Testament. Peter references three “stone citations” to refer to Jesus as the precious “cornerstone” and the rejected “stone of stumbling.”

GOD REWARDS THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN HIS PRECIOUS CORNERSTONE (ISAIAH 28:16)

“Peter understands Christ to be the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isa. 28:16, in common with NT insistence that Christ himself is the stone rejected by the builders but given the place of foundational importance by God.”[15] Peter’s identification of Jesus originates with Jesus (Matt. 21:42-44; Mark 12:10-11; Luke 20:17-18), and Peter later employs this in his early preaching (Acts 4:11-12). Peter employs this citation here to distinguish between the two reactions to the “chosen and precious cornerstone,” that is, those who believe or trust Christ and those who reject and stumble on Christ. Furthermore, Peter included Isaiah’s stone imagery as a form of encouragement “for those who may have suffered major physical dislocation, and who certainly have suffered social rejection.” Here, Peter’s use of Isaiah 28:16 “would reassure them that their painful situation did not reflect the displeasure of God. Far from it: God’s plan includes a division of people around his Son, this cornerstone rejected by so many, and the most important thing, both for this life and for the life to come, is to be living stones along with him in the temple of which he is the cornerstone.”[16]

GOD DESIRES WHAT MAN REJECTS (PSALM 118:22)      

Peter understands the differences in opinions concerning the identity of Jesus since there are those “who believe” that Jesus is the “precious” cornerstone while others “do not believe” and are put to shame for their disbelief. Those who reject Jesus are rejecting His work to reconstruct the true Temple and thereby relinquish their place in the kingdom of priests in the heavenly Temple. Ultimately, this text serves Peter’s vision of Jesus as the cornerstone of the Temple of God since it “directly contributes to the argument for Jesus’ vindication.”  Even though Jesus may be “rejected” by the “builders,” this does not change the fact that Jesus truly “has become the cornerstone.” Just because someone does not “believe” or acknowledge Jesus is the “cornerstone” does not mean He ceases to be the “cornerstone.”[17] If the chief cornerstone, Christ, was rejected by men, then those who identify with Christ will surely be rejected as well. Those who reject Jesus also risk losing their salvation; in other words, “to reject the stone is to jeopardize one’s salvation.”[18]

GOD OFFENDS THOSE WHO TRIP OVER TRUTH (ISAIAH 8:14)

As a stumbling block to those who disbelieve, Jesus is here compared to a rock that lies in the road where people will trip and fall as they pass by it. “Once He is revealed, inescapably stands in the way of those who refuse to respond to the testimony about Him.”[19] Peter’s description of Jesus here is very fitting since “the stone is set there by God’s purpose so that, if people refuse to build on it, it will become the means of their ruin.”[20] In Isaiah’s context, it is the God of Israel, Yahweh, who is speaking to the prophet and reveals Himself as the “Lord Almighty” who is to be regarded as a “holy” being and “holy place. Additionally, the Lord identified Himself as the “stone” and “rock” that causes “people” to “stumble” or “fall” (Is. 8:11-15). So, when Peter applies this text to Jesus, he is, in effect, identifying Him with the God of Israel. Interestingly, “Peter does not quote the ‘positive’ parts of Isa. 8:14, though doubtless he presupposes them because similar positive emphases have been made in the previous two or three verses. In other words, he fully recognizes that some do sanctify Christ in their hearts and fully put their trust in him; he does not need to repeat the point. But those who do not are not making a morally neutral decision; Christ remains the cornerstone regardless of what they do, but now he becomes, for them, ‘a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.’”[21]

PETER’S USE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

According to Carson, Peter’s primary concerns for using this and every Old Testament text is (1) “that God himself had anticipated and predicted the sufferings of the Messiah, which were no accident and should have been no surprise” and (2) “that God himself had anticipated and predicted the rejection of the Messiah, as well as his triumph, so that these were no accident and should be no surprise.”[22] These allusions to Scripture “stand” because they find their fullest meaning in Christ in His exalted state. As such, these passages are meant to elevate the honor of Jesus through the stone imagery. Stibbs suggests that “Peter quotes the prophetic Scriptures to show first that Christ’s unique position as the chief corner-stone of the new building was foreseen and foreordained of God, and then that both the profit to be gained by all those who believe in Him, and the fact that to the unresponsive who disobey the word the same Christ is like the one desirable stone which foolish builders have thrown out, or like a stone which causes some to trip over it, have also been clearly foretold.”[23] Ferguson notes that “these stone passages from the Old Testament are tied together by a complex of ideas associated with the experience of Jesus.” With this in view, we may now clearly see why this accurately portrays Christ and His church. “He was rejected by the Jewish leaders. Many of the people stumbled and were offended at him because he did not conform to their expectations of the Messiah. Consequently, he was put to death. However, God had a different evaluation: God raised Jesus from the dead, making him the cornerstone of a new spiritual building.”[24] As Peter reflects on these Old Testament texts “he is giving his readers a distinctive identity that is bound up tightly with God’s mercy to them in Christ Jesus, and with their response in obedient faith and holiness. One of the effects, of course, was to make them sufficiently different as a ‘people’ or ‘race’ or ‘nation’ that first-century pagan society would not belong in resenting them.”[25]

CALLED FOR CHRIST: GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE, ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, HOLY NATION, POSSESSION (VERSE 9)

TEMPLE-CHURCH

In verse 9, Peter describes the Temple of God as God’s (1) chosen people, (2) royal priesthood, (3) holy nation, and (4) special possession. “The words “chosen,” “royal,” and “holy” are adjectives that describe collectively the nature of the relationship of Christian believers to the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.”[26] These descriptions illuminate our understanding of what it means to be a Temple-Church. Thielman helpfully summarizes Peter’s purpose for describing the Church’s privilege status when he wrote, “Peter tells his audience that they belong to a group of people, scattered throughout the world, whom God has chosen to be his special people.”[27]

CHOSEN PEOPLE

Earlier, Peter identified Jesus as one who was “chosen” by God, and now Peter says that those who identify with Jesus are His “chosen people.” In Isaiah 43:20-21, the people of Israel are described by God as “my chosen race.” So, Peter is identifying the New Temple as the New Israel. In other words, according to Peter, “the church of Jesus Christ, like Israel of old, was chosen.”[28] They are God’s “chosen people” because they were “chosen by God according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood” (1 Pet. 1:1-2). When God chooses a group of people, this is what is called “corporate election.” Election is God’s choice of people for salvation. As Ferguson notes, “It is not said in scripture that God has chosen Christians individually. He has chosen those in Christ; he has not chosen who will be in Christ. God elects a community, and the community he chooses now are those in Christ.”[29] The elect are those who are in Christ since election is only possible through union with Christ. “All who are in Christ are included in his election.”[30] Since the Christian community is “a chosen race,” they ought to be viewed not according to their ethnic background but their association with Christ. “The church transcends earthly racial boundaries, and believers are a spiritual ‘race’ untied by faith in Christ, the rejected cornerstone.”[31] Israel was identified as God’s chosen people, and now God’s election is extended to Gentiles, who can now be included in the sphere of God’s mercy and grace. The same applies to us, we are God’s chosen people who possess the “riches of God’s mercy.” Since we are the “chosen people” of God, we ought to be set apart for God as a holy people. We are this “chosen race,” which should make us stand out in a world that is wicked and unholy. But since we are “chosen” by God, we can rest assured that we are saved. Those who are elected by God are His people and thereby enjoy the grace of God. Seven facts about election:[32] (1) God elects, (2) God elects a community, (3) God now elects in Christ, (4) Election is for service, (5) Election means separation and consecration, (6) Election has a conditional element, (7) Election is an assurance.

ROYAL PRIESTHOOD

Peter continues to draw from the metaphor for the Church being a Temple. “As a community, Christians are not only a building but a body of functioning priests within the temple.”[33] While the “royal priesthood” under the Law of Moses was exclusively set aside for those who were from the Levitical priesthood, Christ, as our High Priest, has introduced a new order where all of God’s people may offer sacrificial worship for the glory of God as a community of royal priests since “God’s chosen sanctuary is His people.”[34] Significantly, this priesthood is described in an honorable fashion by the designation “royal.” This priesthood is unlike the previous ones because of its relationship with the Kingly Priest Jesus. Additionally, Peter’s understanding is that they are as Christians they are not only to be viewed as priests but kings as well. This is due to “its faithful consecration to God, the King of the universe, therefore makes its priesthood a royal service.”[35] It is significant that now, not only are there no longer any restrictions on what tribe one is from to be a part of this priesthood (the Levites), but the privileges of this royal priesthood are extended to the Gentiles as well.[36] Ferguson notes that “the usage” of “priesthood” in 1 Peter “is collective,” that is, it refers to “the community of Christians, not the individual Christian” in priestly terms. As such, when the Church is described as a “priesthood,” it is significant that the New Testament authors do not use the term “priest” to describe a Christian. Instead, this is best understood as “a priesthood belonging to, and in the service of, the King,” that is, Christ.[37] In addition, “as a royal priesthood, believers are representing the King, and this priesthood is to be understood as ambassadorial, of mediating God’s presence to the world.”[38] Since Christ is seen as our High Priest, we may assume that we are now included in Jesus's priestly work as members of the royal priesthood. Since we are participating in Christ’s work as priestly ambassadors, we now experience the benefits of God’s presence and salvation.

HOLY NATION

When 1 Peter 2:9 is compared with Exodus 19:6, the designations of the “people of Israel” as the “kingdom of priests” and “holy nation” where the collective body of people are described in these terms.[39] It is quite clear that Peter is drawing his understanding of the Church from the Old Testament to designate the people of God under the New Testament as the New Israel with a superior election, priesthood, nation. Peter’s allusion to Exodus 19:6 emphasizes “the status of Christians, not their function.”[40] The holiness of the Christian community is compliance to God’s command to “be holy as I am holy” (1 Pet. 17). The Church is holy because it is like God.[41] This is clearly seen through our manner of worship. As Beale wrote, “We become like that which we worship.”[42] If we worship idols that we create after our own images and in our likeness, then we worship ourselves and the world. But if we worship the God of the Bible who is holy, then we will be more like God who is holy. If we are ever to be holy, we must follow the instructions of our holy God from His holy word. “The designation of believers as a holy nation reinforces the concept of obedience and sanctification.”[43] When we obey God, God will consecrate or sanctify us by making and molding us into something that is holy. We need to follow God’s instructions. “To be holy unto God is to honor and love what he loves, which demands specific moral entailments.”[44] “The church is set apart spiritually from the world, transcending earthly national boundaries.”[45] We are a universal Church that is set apart for God as the city of God. We are sojourners and strangers on earth because we are citizens of heaven. It is for that reason that we must not be of the world while we live in the world. Woods notes that Christians constitute a “holy nation” (1) “because the company to which they belong is a monarchy with Christ as King,” and (2) because it is “dedicated to a sacred purpose.”[46] 

GOD’S POSSESSION

God’s people are God’s possession. We belong to God because God the Father “redeemed” us through Christ’s’ “precious blood” (1 Pet. 1:18-19). He has given us a new name, status, and purpose by calling us to Him. Since we are His holy possession, we are to be set apart for Him since we have been set apart by Him. “To Peter, it is already the case that the Christian community belongs to God as a unique possession (cf. νῦν δὲ λαὸς θεοῦ, v 10); what still awaits is its final vindication against the unbelieving and disobedient.”[47] It is a comfort to know that we already belong to God now not only as our Creator but as our Redeemer and that we will be “God’s possession” as we stand in His holy presence in heaven. [48] This ought to motivate us to live for God now since our lives are not our own, but they belong to God.

CHOSEN BY CHRIST: THE PEOPLE OF GOD’S MERCY (VERSES 9-10)

Peter applies the mercy of God promised by Hosea (1:6, 9-10; 2:23)[49] to the Gentiles who are no longer alienated from God but have been reconciled to God through Christ so they, too, may be called “God’s people.” In essence, Peter is taking what Hosea wrote to Israel and applying it to the Church as a whole, that is, both Jews and Gentiles. “Formerly unpitied and the objects of aversion and wrath, they had, by their conversion to Christ, become the objects of compassion and pity. This change in attitude on the part of God toward them was due to their renunciation of the evil which had characterized them and to their acceptance of the truth in Christ.”[50] Peter sees something in Hosea that no one had ever seen before, namely, that God considers them to be God’s people, that is, “the end-time restored people of God.”[51] Here, we are reminded of our profane past to recognize the beauty of our present. We were lost in the dark and without the mercy of God. But now we are in the light and enjoy the grace of God. We were once without an identity but now are “God’s people.” We are truly blessed to be the Temple of God since God has transferred us from “darkness into his marvelous light” and “have received mercy” through Jesus Christ, the “living stone” of the “living stones.”

THE RELEVANCE OF GOD'S PEOPLE BEING GOD'S TEMPLE

What is the significance of being God’s Temple? (1) God dwells with us as His people in His Temple. “Because it has been established as a temple in which the fullness of Christ the Lord dwells through the Holy Spirit, the church is to be oriented toward the glory of God.”[52] (2) God’s people are the presence of God as the Temple of God. “The mark of the true church is an expanding witness to the presence of God.”[53] As the Temple of God, it is clear that the Lord is present in His Church and that the Church is responsible for expanding what we once enjoyed in Eden to the ends of the Earth. (3) God’s presence is a comfort to those who suffer. Even when we suffer, we may be comforted by the knowledge that God is with us and for us and that we ultimately belong to God. As Christians, we recognize that we are simply pilgrims in a world of suffering who have a Savior who can identify with us in our suffering and offer us hope and peace through our trials and tribulations. (4) As God’s Temple-People, we are saved by God and can rest upon the presence of God as a sign of our salvation and look forward to our future glory where we will be in the heavenly Temple of God (1 Pet. 1:3-5).

END NOTES

[1] Stibbs, The First Epistle General of Peter, 98.

[2] Woods, A Commentary on the New Testament Epistles, 57.

[3] Stibbs, The First Epistle General of Peter, 99.

[4] Davids, A Theology of James, Peter, and Jude, 132.

[5] “Christ is the temple toward which all earlier temples looked and that they anticipated (cf. 2 Sam. 7:12-14; Zech. 6:12-13). Christ is the epitome of God’s presence on earth as God incarnate, thus continuing the true form of the old temple, which actually was a foreshadowing of Christ’s presence throughout the OT era.” (Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology, 632)

[6] Ferguson, The Church of Christ, 129

[7] “The mention of ‘living’ refers to Christ as ‘living’ in the sense of being a living, resurrected person, and the saints’ identification with him indicates their resurrection status even now.” (Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology, 327)

[8] Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology, 741.

[9] Barcley, “1 Peter,” 467.

[10] Beale and Kim, God Dwells Among Us, 122.

[11] “Just as the Old Testament priests sacrificed on behalf of the people to bring them to God, so the New Testament priests sacrifice on behalf of the nations to bring them to God. This priestly ministry comes through their witness to Christ’s redemptive work, the mediating priest par excellence.” (Beale and Kim, God Dwells Among Us, 121)

[12] Ferguson, The Church of Christ, 225

[13] Stibbs, The First Epistle General of Peter, 100.

[14] Liebengood, “Participating in the Life of God,” 84.

[15] Carson, “1 Peter,” 1026.

[16] Carson, “1 Peter,” 1026.

[17] Carson, “1 Peter,” 1027.

[18] Jobes, 1 Peter, 153.

[19] Stibbs, The First Epistle General of Peter, 103.

[20] Marshall, 1 Peter.

[21] Carson, “1 Peter,” 1029.

[22] Carson, “1 Peter,” 1030.

[23] Stibbs, The First Epistle General of Peter, 100.

[24] Ferguson, The Church of Christ, 51.

[25] Carson, “1 Peter,” 1032.

[26] Jobes, 1 Peter, 114.

[27] Thielman, Theology of the New Testament, 573.

[28] Morgan and Schreiner, Salvation, 61.

[29] Ferguson, The Church of Christ, 84-85.

[30] Ferguson, The Church of Christ, 82. “The church is the people of God in Christ Jesus. It is the people of God because of now being in Christ.” (91)

[31] Köstenberger, Handbook on Hebrews through Revelation, 116.

[32] Ferguson, The Church of Christ, 89-90

[33] Ferguson, The Church of Christ, 126

[34] Stibbs, The First Epistle General of Peter, 100.

[35] Jobes, 1 Peter, 113.

[36] “What was unthinkable in Judaism is fundamental to Christianity; proselytes become priests.” (Stibbs, The First Epistle General of Peter, 110)

[37] Stibbs, The First Epistle General of Peter, 103.

[38] Forbes, 1 Peter, 48.

[39] “The significance of this phrase is twofold: (1) Israel’s experience at Sinai is the birth of the nation, the defining moment when Israel became God’s ‘son.’ The application of this phrase to the church, comprising Christian Jews and Gentiles, indicates that the church constitutes the true Israel of God. (2) This quotation defines the missional nature of the church. Israel is supposed to be the means by which all the nations are to have a relationship with God. they are the bearers of God’s glory to the world.” (Beale and Gladd, The Story Retold, 417)

[40] Ferguson, The Church of Christ, 222

[41] Vos describes divine holiness as “God’s determination toward himself,” that is, the “attribute of God by which He seeks and loves Himself as the highest good and demands as reasonable goodness from the creature to be consecrated to him.” (Reformed Dogmatics, 1:30) Horton says that “God’s holiness is a marker not only of God’s driving passion to make the whole earth his holy dwelling. Although God alone is essentially holy, he does not keep holiness to himself but spreads his fragrance throughout creation. god is holy in his essence; people, places, and things are made holy by God’s energies.” (Horton, The Christian Faith, 269)

[42] Beale, We Become What We Worship.

[43] Jobes, 1 Peter, 114.

[44] Wellum, Systematic Theology, 649.

[45] Köstenberger, Handbook on Hebrews through Revelation, 116.

[46] Woods, A Commentary on the New Testament Epistles, 63.

[47] Michaels, 1 Peter, 110.

[48] “The holy and priestly character that people of the covenant of Christ collectively exemplify defines what it means for them to be God’s special possession in a way that the rest of humanity is not.” (Jobes, 1 Peter, 114)

[49] “The Church is beginning to fulfill Hosea’s eschatological restoration prophecies about Israel.” (Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology, 742)

[50] Woods, A Commentary on the New Testament Epistles, 64.

[51] Beale and Gladd, The Story Retold, 417-418.

[52] Allison, Sojourners and Strangers, 107.

[53] Beale and Kim, God Dwells Among Us,165.