Living Stones: The Nature and Work of the Church

Peter begins with the response that comes from being found in Christ. Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander no longer fit those who have been bought with blood, adopted by the Father, and brought into a new life. Like a husband and wife live differently because their relationship has changed, Christians live differently because their nature and belonging have changed.

Peter sets Christ before the church as the chosen and precious cornerstone. Christ was rejected by men, yet God made him the foundation of everything. Honor belongs to those who believe because the Father sees them in the righteousness of Jesus. Shame and condemnation remain for those who reject Christ and trust in their own merit, works, and righteousness instead.

Peter calls the church a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people for God’s own possession. God owns all creation, but the church is his redemptive possession. Those who were once not a people have now become God’s people. Those who had not received mercy have now received mercy. Orphans now have a Father, foreigners now have a people, and those brought out of darkness now live in marvelous light.

The nature of the church is that God has made a people alive. The church is not merely a Sunday gathering or a loose collection of religious people. The church is the bride of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit, the saints, the elect, the new humanity, and living stones being built into a spiritual house. The old is gone, and the new is here.

The work of the church flows out of that new nature. The church is called to spiritual oversight through qualified elders, to administer baptism and the Lord’s Supper, to equip saints for ministry, to facilitate fellowship as God’s family, and to live on mission. That fellowship gives a small foretaste of the kingdom to come, while mission expands the borders of God’s temple as people come to Christ.

Christians do not do the work of the church in order to become God’s people. God changes their nature first, and then their conduct, affections, ambitions, and pursuits begin to change because the source has changed. Christ has transferred his people from a dark household into the household of God. The church exists only because Christ is the cornerstone, and living stones stand only because they are built on him.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Belonging changes the way Christians live. Identity in Christ is not an abstract label. Those who have been purchased, adopted, and brought into God’s people are called to live in view of what is now true. Holiness grows from belonging, not from trying to earn a place in the family. [03:05]
• 2. Christ gives believers honor, not shame. The cornerstone was rejected by men but chosen and precious before God. Those who trust Christ receive honor because the Father sees them through the righteousness of his Son. Self-righteousness rejects that gift and leaves a person resting on a standard that cannot save. [05:43]
• 3. The church is God’s redemptive possession. God possesses all creation, but the church belongs to him in a special redemptive way. Mercy turns those who were not a people into God’s people, and grace brings outsiders into the household of God. This belonging gives the church both an identity and a purpose. [10:32]
• 4. Nature comes before the church’s work. The church does not perform spiritual work in hopes of becoming alive. God makes his people alive first, and the work of oversight, sacraments, fellowship, ministry, and mission flows from that new nature. Effort without this foundation becomes striving, but work rooted in Christ becomes faithful response. [21:08]
• 5. Living stones depend on the cornerstone. The royal priesthood and holy nation do not exist apart from Jesus. Christ holds the whole spiritual house together, and every believer’s identity is contingent upon his finished work. The call to live fully is therefore not a call to earn approval, but to live from approval already given in Christ.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:25] - The Church and Ecclesiology
• [01:31] - Put Away the Old Way of Life
• [03:26] - Living in Light of a New Identity
• [04:54] - Christ the Chosen Cornerstone
• [06:05] - Honor for Those Who Believe
• [07:28] - The Stone of Stumbling
• [09:02] - A Chosen Race and Royal Priesthood
• [11:04] - From Orphans to God’s People
• [12:04] - Identity, Belonging, and the Church
• [14:13] - The Nature of the Church
• [16:08] - The Work of the Church
• [20:26] - Mission and Expanding Temple Borders
• [21:08] - Nature Before Work
• [27:49] - Approved in Christ, Built on the Cornerstone

Bible Reading

1 Peter 2:1-10
“So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: 'Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.' So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,' and 'A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.' They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” [01:31]

2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” [14:13]

Romans 3:10-12
“as it is written: 'None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” [24:54]

Observation questions

1. In 1 Peter 2:1–3, what specific attitudes and actions are believers told to put away, and what desire is meant to replace them? [01:31]
2. What images and titles does Peter use in 1 Peter 2:4–10 to describe Christ and the people who belong to him? [09:01]
3. According to 1 Peter 2, what is the connection between coming to Christ as the living stone and believers being built together as living stones? [02:05]
4. In 1 Peter 2:9–10, what changes are described in the condition and belonging of God’s people? [11:13]

Interpretation questions

1. Why does Peter begin with putting away sins such as deceit, envy, and slander before describing the church as a spiritual house? What does this suggest about how personal holiness affects life among God’s people? [03:05]
2. Peter says that believers receive honor through Christ while those who reject him stumble. Why is trusting in personal goodness, effort, or righteousness unable to give a person lasting honor before God? [06:18]
3. What does it mean for the church to be God’s “redemptive possession,” rather than merely a group of individuals whom God created? How does this shape the way believers should understand their connection to one another? [10:32]
4. If believers are made alive and become a new creation before they do the work of the church, how does this protect the church from treating ministry, service, or church attendance as a way to earn God’s approval? [21:01]

Application questions

1. Which of the attitudes named in 1 Peter 2:1—malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, or slander—most easily shows up in relationships at home, work, online, or in the church? What would putting it away look like in one specific relationship this week? [03:05]
2. Christ gives honor to those who believe in him. Where is there a temptation to look for honor through achievement, approval from others, appearance, or religious performance instead of resting in Christ’s righteousness? [05:43]
3. Believers were once not a people but are now God’s people. When has the church felt like a genuine spiritual family, and what is one practical way this group can help someone experience belonging rather than isolation? [11:25]
4. The church is more than a Sunday gathering; it is God’s people being built together into a spiritual house. How might this change the way each person approaches gathering, serving, receiving care, and building friendships within the church? [14:38]
5. God’s family is called to love, encourage, forgive, and admonish one another. Which of those practices feels most natural, and which one is most difficult? What might faithful growth in that difficult area look like? [26:05]
6. The work of the church includes fellowship and mission, giving a small foretaste of God’s coming kingdom and inviting others into Christ’s life. Who is one person or place where God may be calling a believer to bring encouragement, hospitality, or a clear witness to Jesus? [20:17]
7. Living faithfully does not earn God’s approval; it flows from approval already given in Christ. How would daily obedience look different if it began with rest in Christ rather than fear of failing God? [28:00]