A Spiritual House

Saturday, November 03, 2012, 7:46 a.m. – the Lord woke me with the song “Jesus Paid it All” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read 1 Peter 2:1-12 (NIV 1984):

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 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. For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,

    a chosen and precious cornerstone,

and the one who trusts in him

    will never be put to shame.”

Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected

    has become the capstone,”

and,

“A stone that causes men to stumble

    and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, 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.

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Pure Spiritual Milk

When a sentence begins with the word “therefore,” we have to look back at what was just said previously. “Therefore” means “because of” or “as a result of”, and in this context is referring to what was said at the end of chapter one. Because we, who are in Christ Jesus through faith, have been born again of the Spirit of God through the living and enduring word of God, and because the people and things of this earth will perish but the word of the Lord stands forever, we should rid ourselves of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, etc.

In other words, if we live our lives to please ourselves or others, and/or if we live our lives mostly for the gratification and pleasures this world has to offer us, we should know that all that is going to perish. We should also know that Jesus gave us new birth into a living hope; a new life in Christ Jesus free from slavery to self and sin, and he set us free to love, worship, honor and obey him. So, we should abstain from sinful desires, which war against our soul, and we should live honorably before all people, so that even if they accuse us of wrongdoing, they may see our good deeds done in the Spirit of God and glorify God when Jesus Christ returns to judge the world and to gather his elect to be with him forever.

We were born again of the Spirit through the word of God. The word of God presented to us the gospel of salvation, it convicted our hearts of sin, and it called upon us to turn from (repent of) our sins and to follow (obey) Jesus Christ with our lives. Because we have been set free from slavery to sin, and because we have been given this hope of eternal life with God, we should live as though we have been set free, and we should live for what has eternal value and what will last forever, not for the things of this world, which will pass away.

In Ephesians four we learn that we should put off our flesh with all its evil desires and we should be transformed in heart and mind by the working of the Spirit of God within us, and we should put on our new lives, created to be like Christ in true righteousness and holiness. We should put off stealing, and we should work with our hands and give to those in need. We should put off lies, and we should tell the truth, etc. When we come to Jesus Christ by grace through faith, we don’t put on Christ over our old self, but we put off the old self and we become someone else – a new creature in Christ Jesus.

If we try to stop doing the things we did before but we don’t put on Christ and his righteousness in place of our old way of living, we will probably go right back to where we were before. So, if we want to rid our lives of deceit, we need to begin telling the truth. If we want to rid our lives of hypocrisy, we need to begin being honest and real. We do this in the power and working of the Spirit of God within us. And, we need to desire, seek after and put on the word of God through time spent in the word and through obedience, so that we can grow up in our salvation and become mature in Christ Jesus.

Living Stones

Some buildings are built with wood, some with brick and some with stones, or with a combination of any of these or other materials. In this scenario we have a picture of Christ’s church, the Body of Christ, as a spiritual building not built with human hands but with the Spirit of God. Jesus Christ is our cornerstone and the capstone of the building, and he is the living Stone.

In other words, Jesus Christ is God. He is the top, the first, the most important, the foundation, the beginning, the center, the support, and the keystone of this building. Without him as our Lord and Savior, we will collapse. He created all things and he holds all things together. He is to be number one in our lives, and have the most central place in all that we think, do and say, and he is to be the boss, our support (emotionally and spiritually), and from him all else should flow in our lives. So many people have this inverted. We need to understand what Peter was saying here. Jesus is to be the King of our hearts and lives and everything else in our lives should come out from that relationship with him, not the other way around.

Like living stones, we are being built (by Christ Jesus; by the Holy Spirit) into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood. Human priests once made intercession and sacrifice for the sins of the people and they were the ones who went into God’s holy presence on behalf of the people. They were God’s servants. Yet, when Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, the veil that stood between us and the “Holy of Holies” was torn in two, for Jesus’ blood sacrifice had paid for our sins once for all. Now, through faith in Jesus Christ, we can enter into God’s holy presence, for the “Holy of Holies,” i.e. his temple now dwells in our hearts. So, we have all become priests and can enter into God’s holy presence in confession, adoration, thanksgiving and supplication on a daily basis, moment by moment. And, he is in the process of making us all holy (set apart from this world and for God and his service).

We don’t bring animal sacrifices into God’s presence, for Jesus’ blood was sacrificed for our sins, once for all. The sacrifices we bring to God are broken and contrite hearts (see Ps. 51:17) and our lives as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God (see Ro. 12:1-2), no longer conformed to the pattern of this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds. This is our spiritual act of worship, and the true meaning of worship, too, I believe.

Declare His Praises

We were chosen by God to be holy (set apart) and to declare the praises of God/Jesus Christ, who called us out of darkness (sin) into his wonderful light (truth; forgiveness) – “Once I was blind, but now I see!” We are to be lights for the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who don’t know him. We are to be Christ’s witnesses and we are called to go and make disciples (followers) of Christ of all nations… teaching them to obey all that Jesus Christ commanded us. We need to be living for Jesus Christ, and we need to be telling others about Jesus, too, instead of just keeping him to ourselves. Many people don’t know Jesus and they are headed straight to hell. The best way I know to love others is to tell them about this lifesaving grace God has offered us through his Son, so that they, too, can be set free from slavery to sin and can enter into the presence of God and his salvation.

Jesus Paid It All / Elvina M. Hall / John T. Grape

… your sins… they shall be as white as snow… Isaiah 1:18

I hear the Savior say, “Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in Me thine all in all.”

For nothing good have I whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white in the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

And now complete in Him my robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side, I am divinely blest.

Lord, now indeed I find Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots and melt the heart of stone.

When from my dying bed my ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,” shall rend the vaulted skies.

And when before the throne I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down all down at Jesus’ feet.

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.