Wherefore laying aside all malice. 1 Peter 2:1-3 Malice laid aside John Rogers. I. THAT REGENERATION AND THE LOW OF SIN CANNOT STAND TOGETHER, it must needs be accompanied with a new life. Do vines bear brambles? II. THAT THERE IS NO PERFECTION HERE TO BE ATTAINED, for even the best have sin dwelling, though not reigning, in them. III. THAT IT IS NO EASY THING TO BE A CHRISTIAN. IV. THAT UNDER THOSE CORRUPTIONS HERE NAMED ALL OTHERS ARE INCLUDED. V. THAT MOST OF THOSE HERE MENTIONED ARE INWARD CORRUPTIONS WHICH WE MUST AS WELL AVOID AS THE OUTWARD. ( John Rogers. )

Benson Commentary 1 Peter 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 1 Peter 2:1-3 . Wherefore — Since the word of God is so excellent and durable in itself, and has had such a blessed effect upon you as to regenerate you, and bring you to the enjoyment of true Christian love; laying aside — As utterly inconsistent with that love; all malice — All ill- will, every unkind disposition; or all wickedness, as ?????? may be properly rendered, all sinful tempers and practices whatsoever; and all guile — All craft, deceitful cunning, and artifice, every temper contrary to Christian simplicity; and hypocrisies — Every kind of dissimulation; and envies — Grieving at the prosperity or good, temporal or spiritual, enjoyed by others; and all evil speakings — All reproachful or unkind speeches concerning others; as new-born babes — As persons lately regenerated, and yet young in grace, mere babes as to your acquaintance with the doctrines, your experience of the graces, your enjoyment of the privileges, and your performance of the duties of Christianity; desire — ??????????? , desire earnestly, or love affectionately, or from your inmost soul, the sincere — The pure, uncorrupted milk of the word — That is, that word of God which nourishes the soul as milk does the body, and which is free from all guile, so that none are deceived who cleave to it, and make it the food of their souls; that ye may grow thereby — In Christian knowledge and wisdom, in faith, hope, and love; in humility, resignation, patience, meekness, gentleness, long-suffering, in all holiness and righteousness, unto the full measure of Christ’s stature. In the former chapter the apostle had represented the word of God as the incorruptible seed, by which the believers, to whom he wrote, had been born again, and by obeying which they had purified their souls; here he represents it as the milk by which the new-born babes in Christ grow up to maturity. The word, therefore, is both the principle by which the divine life is produced in the soul, and the food by which it is nourished. Some critics, following the Vulgate version, render ??????? ?????? ???? , the unadulterated rational milk. But the context evidently shows that our translators have given us the true meaning of the apostle. By adding the epithet, ?????? , unadulterated, or pure, the apostle teaches us that the milk of the word will not nourish the divine nature in those that use it, if it be adulterated with human mixtures. If so be, or rather since, ye have tasted — Have sweetly and experimentally known; that the Lord is gracious — Is merciful, loving, and kind, in what he hath already done, and in what he is still doing for and in you. The apostle seems evidently to allude to Psalm 34:8 , O taste and see that the Lord is good: where see the note. Not only think and believe, on his own testimony, or on the testimony of others, that he is good, but know it by your own experience; know that he is good to you in pardoning your sins, adopting and regenerating you by his grace, shedding his love abroad in your heart, and giving you to enjoy communion with himself through the eternal Spirit. 1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 1 Peter 2:3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 1 Peter 2:4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, 1 Peter 2:4 . To whom coming — With desire and by faith; as unto a living stone — Living from eternity; alive from the dead; and alive for evermore: and a firm foundation, communicating spiritual life to those that come to him, and are built upon him, making him the ground of their confidence and hope for time and for eternity. The apostle alludes to Isaiah 28:16 , where the formation of a Christian church, for the spiritual worship of God, is foretold under the image of a temple, which God was to build on the Messiah as the foundation-stone thereof. See the note there. There is a wonderful beauty and energy in these expressions, which describe Christ as a spiritual foundation, solid, firm, durable; and believers as a spiritual building erecting thereon, in preference to that temple which the Jews accounted their highest glory; and St. Peter, speaking of him thus, shows he did not judge himself, but Christ, to be the rock on which the church was built; disallowed — ????????????????? , rejected indeed of, or by, men — First and primarily by the Jews and their rulers, as not answering their carnal and worldly expectations, nor suiting their way of building; that is, not to be made use of for the carrying on and promoting of their worldly projects and interests. By representing Christ as being rejected of men, the apostle intimated that he was the person spoken of Psalm 118:22 ; The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner; a passage which our Lord himself, in his conversation with the chief priests and elders, referred to as a prophecy which they were about to fulfil by rejecting him; but whose exaltation, notwithstanding all they could do to prevent it, should assuredly take place. See on Matthew 21:42 . But the Jews, or, added to them, the Turks, heathen, and infidels, are not the only people that have rejected, and do reject Christ; but all Christians so called, who live in known sin on the one hand, or who expect to be saved by the merit of their own works on the other, reject him; as do also all hypocrites, formalists, lukewarm, indolent, worldly-minded professors, and all those backsliders who, having begun in the Spirit end in the flesh, and draw back unto perdition, instead of continuing to believe, love, and obey, to the saving of their souls, Hebrews 10:38-39 . But chosen of God — From all eternity, to be the foundation of his church; and precious — Of unspeakable dignity and worth in himself, in the sight of God, and in the eyes of all true believers. 1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5 . Ye also — Believing in him with a loving and obedient faith, as lively — Greek, ?????? , living, stones — Quickened and made alive to God by spiritual life derived from him, are built up — Upon him, and in union with each other; a spiritual house — Spiritual yourselves; and a habitation of God through the Spirit. For, according to his promise, he lives and walks in every true believer, 2 Corinthians 6:16 ; and collectively considered, as a holy society, or assembly, uniting together in his worship and service, you are the house, or temple, of the living God, ( 1 Timothy 3:15 ; 1 Corinthians 3:16 ; Ephesians 2:20-21 ,) in which he manifests his presence, displays his glory, communicates his blessings, and accepts the prayers and praises, alms and oblations, of his people; a holy priesthood — Not only God’s temple, but the priests that serve him in that temple; that is, persons dedicated to and employed for God. Thus, Isaiah 61:6 , it is foretold that, in the days of the Messiah, the people of God should be named the priests of the Lord, and the ministers of our God; as also Isaiah 66:21 . Christians are called a priesthood, in the same sense that the Israelites were called a kingdom of priests, Exodus 19:6 . The apostle’s design, in giving these titles to real Christians, is partly to show that they are dedicated to God in heart and life, and also that in the Christian church or temple, there is no need of the mediation of priests to present our prayers to God. Every sincere worshipper has access to the Father through Christ, as if he were really a priest himself. The apostle says, a holy priesthood, because genuine Christians are very different characters from the generality of the Jewish priests, who, though the posterity of Aaron, and dedicated externally to, and employed in, the service of God, were remarkably unholy, yea, very vicious characters; whereas the true disciples of Christ are really holy in heart and life. To offer up spiritual sacrifices — Not merely their prayers and praises, but their souls and bodies, their time and talents, with all their thoughts, words, and actions, acceptable to God through the mediation of Jesus Christ — The great High-Priest over the house of God, whose intercession alone can recommend to the Father such imperfect sacrifices as ours. 1 Peter 2:6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. 1 Peter 2:6-8 . Wherefore also — To which purpose; it is contained in the Scripture — In Isaiah 28:16 , the passage before referred to. Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner-stone — To support and hold together the whole building. This, as explained Ephesians 2:21 , signifies the union of Jews and Gentiles in one faith, baptism, and hope, so as to form one church or temple for the worship of God through the mediation of Christ. And he that believeth on him — With a lively faith, a faith productive of love and obedience; shall not be confounded — In time or in eternity. To you therefore who believe — With such a faith; he is precious — Highly esteemed by you, and of infinite advantage to you. Or, as we read in the margin, he is an honour. The clause may also be rendered, To you who believe in this honour; the honour of being built on Christ, the foundation, or chief corner-stone of the new temple of God. But unto them which be disobedient — Who disbelieve and disobey the gospel, the words of the psalmist are accomplished; the stone which the builders disallowed — Namely, the Jewish chief-priests, elders, and scribes, called builders, because it was their office to build up the church of God among the Jews. See on Psalm 118:22 . But they rejected the stone here spoken of, and would give it no place in the building; the same is made the head of the corner — And all their opposition to it is vain. It is not only placed at the foot of the corner, to support the two sides of the building erected upon it, but at the head of the corner, to fall upon and grind to powder those that reject it; and, as the same prophet elsewhere speaks, a stone of stumbling, and rock of offence — Namely, to the unbelieving and disobedient. Thus Simeon, ( Luke 2:34 ;) This child is set for the fall as well as the rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be spoken against; a prediction awfully fulfilled. Even to them which stumble, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed — This translation of the clause seems to imply that those who are disobedient were appointed to be so; but the original does not convey that sense, but is literally rendered, Who, disobeying the word, stumble, to which also they were appointed: that is, those who disobey the word are appointed to stumble, namely, at the stone of stumbling here spoken of, according to the prediction of Isaiah, Isaiah 8:14-15 ; He shall be for a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling, &c ., to both the houses of Israel; that is, to those that are unbelieving and disobedient; and many among them shall stumble and fall, and be broken, and snared, and taken. This is what God has appointed, that they who reject Christ shall stumble at him, and fall into misery and ruin: or, that he who believeth not shall be damned: the unalterable decree of the God of heaven. Or the words may, with equal propriety, be rendered, Unto which stumbling they were disposed; those who disbelieve and disobey the gospel; being, through blindness of mind and perverseness of will, disposed to reject Christ, stumble at him, and fall into eternal ruin. 1 Peter 2:7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 1 Peter 2:8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. 1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 1 Peter 2:9-10 . But ye — Who have been born again of incorruptible seed, and have purified your souls by obeying the truth, &c., ( 1 Peter 1:22-23 ,) and have tasted that the Lord is gracious, ( 1 Peter 2:3 ,) and are built up upon him as lively stories; ye, who bear this character are a chosen generation — ???????? ????? , an elect race; all such, and such only, have that title, and other titles of a similar import, in the New Testament. See on Ephesians 1:3-7 ; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 . A royal priesthood — Kings and priests unto God, Revelation 1:6 . As princes, you have power with God, and victory over sin and Satan, the world and the flesh: as priests, ye are consecrated to God for the purpose of offering spiritual sacrifices; a holy nation — Under Christ, your King; a peculiar or purchased people, as ???? ??? ??????????? is rendered in the margin; that is, a people who, being purchased by the blood of Christ, and dedicated to, and accepted of, God, are taken into covenant with him, and are his in a peculiar sense. See on Titus 2:14 ; that ye should show forth — In your spirit and conduct, in all your tempers, words, and works; the praises — ??? ?????? , the virtues, that is, the perfections; the wisdom, power, goodness, truth, justice, mercy, the holiness, the love; of him — Christ, or the Father, in and through Christ; who hath called you out of darkness — Out of that state of ignorance and error, sin and misery, in which you lay formerly involved; into his marvellous light — The light of knowledge, wisdom, holiness, and happiness, into which you are now brought. Which in time past were not a people — (Much less the people of God,) but scattered individuals of many nations. This is a quotation from Hosea 2:23 , where the conversion of the Gentiles is foretold, as the Apostle Paul informs us, Romans 9:25 . Upon which passages see the notes; which had not, formerly, obtained mercy — Namely, the pardoning, saving mercy of God; but now — In consequence of repentance, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; have obtained mercy — Are forgiven, accepted, and made God’s children. 1 Peter 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 1 Peter 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; 1 Peter 2:11-12 . I beseech you, as strangers — Or sojourners; and pilgrims — Who have no inheritance on this earth, but are travelling to the heavenly country. The former word, ???????? , properly means those who are in a strange house, a house not their own: the second, ??????????? , those who are in a strange country, and among a people not their own. We sojourn in the body; we are pilgrims in this world; abstain from fleshly lusts — Or carnal desires; from inordinate desires of any thing in this country. “The settled inhabitants of a country are anxious to acquire riches, to purchase lands, and to build houses. But they who stay but a few weeks in a country, or who only travel through it, are commonly not solicitous to secure to themselves accommodations which they are so soon to leave. In the same manner, believers, being only sojourners on earth, and travellers to a better country, ought not to place their happiness in the enjoyment of those objects by which carnal desires are gratified, and which are peculiar to this earthly state, but in securing themselves possessions in the heavenly country, the proper habitation of the righteous.” — Macknight. Which carnal desires, though pleasant to the senses, war against the soul — Against the health, the strength, the liberty, the purity, the usefulness, the comfort of the soul. Having your conversation — Your whole behaviour; honest — Greek, ????? , amiable, excellent, commendable, and honourable, pious and virtuous in every respect. But our language sinks under the force, copiousness, and beauty of the original expressions; among the Gentiles — Your heathen neighbours, who narrowly watch you; that whereas they speak against you as evil-doers — As seditious persons and atheists, because ye do not worship their false gods, and because you join yourselves with what they presumptuously call the impious sect of Christians; they may by your good works — Your unblameable, useful, and holy conduct, your obedience to the just laws of the state, your submission to magistrates, and your patience and meekness when unjustly punished; which they shall behold — Shall be eye-witnesses of; may not only lay aside their blasphemous reproaches and bitter enmities, but may exchange them for commendations and praises, and so may glorify God — By owning his grace in you, being induced to believe and obey the truth, and to imitate your example; in the day of visitation — During the season in which the gospel is preached among them, whereby they are visited with the offers of pardon and salvation. It is well known that the patience, fortitude, and meekness with which the first Christians bore persecution for their religion, and the forgiving disposition which they expressed toward their persecutors, made such an impression on the heathen, who were witnesses of their sufferings, that many of them glorified God by embracing the gospel. 1 Peter 2:12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. 1 Peter 2:13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 1 Peter 2:13-15 . Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man — Greek, ???? ????????? ?????? , to every human constitution of government, under which you are placed by Divine Providence, and which is formed instrumentally by men, and relates to you as men, and not as Christians. Macknight translates the clause, Be subject to every human creation of magistrates; observing that “the abstract word creation is put for the concrete, the person created; just as governments and powers are put for persons exercising government and power. The phrase, human creation of magistrates, was formed by St. Peter with a view to condemn the principles of the zealots, who maintained that obedience was due to no magistrates but to those who were appointed by God, as the Jewish kings had been.” Whether to the king — That is, to the emperor; as supreme — For though at Rome the name of king was odious, the people in the provinces gave that name to the emperor, John 19:15 ; Acts 17:7 . When this epistle was written, Nero was emperor. Or to subordinate governors — Or magistrates, in the different provinces of the empire. “From this we learn that it is the duty of Christians, residing in foreign and even in infidel countries, to obey the laws of those countries in all things not sinful, without considering whether the religion of the magistrate and of the state be true or false.” That are sent by him — Commissioned by the emperor from Rome; for the punishment of evil-doers — The Roman governors had the power of life and death in such conquered provinces as those mentioned 1 Peter 1:1 . There is, therefore, the exactest propriety in the apostle’s style. And for the praise of them that do well — For protecting and rewarding them who give due obedience to the good laws of the state. For so is the will of God — As I assure you by inspiration; that by well-doing — By your due subjection to magistrates, and the performance of all other Christian duties; you may put to silence — ?????? , may bridle in, or restrain by a bridle or a muzzle, (so the word signifies,) the ignorance — The calumnies proceeding from the ignorance of foolish men — Of men destitute of the fear of God, who blame you because they do not know you, affirming that your religion makes you bad subjects. 1 Peter 2:14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. 1 Peter 2:15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 1 Peter 2:16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 1 Peter 2:16-17 . As free — In the noblest sense, in consequence of your relation to Christ, and your interest in the merit of his death; (see on John 8:32 ; 1 Corinthians 7:22 ; Galatians 5:1 ; Galatians 5:13 ;) as sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, and therefore heirs of God; and not using your liberty as a cloak of maliciousness — ?????? , of wickedness. Though you are indeed made free from the dominion of sin and Satan, the world and the flesh, yet not from subjection to magistrates; therefore use not your liberty so as, under pretence thereof, to be guilty of disobedience to governors, or any other wickedness: but act in all things as the servants of God — Observing all his laws, and performing all the duties he requires. Honour all men — As being made in the image of God, intelligent, free, and immortal beings; bought by the blood of his Son, and designed for his eternal kingdom. Love the brotherhood — All true Christians. Fear, reverence, and obey, God. Honour the king — Whom God has set over you. Pay him all that regard, both in affection and action, which the laws of God and man require. Perhaps no finer and stronger instances of the laconic style are to be found anywhere than in this passage. It is remarkable that the apostle requires Christians to honour the Roman emperor, though a great persecutor, and of a most abandoned character. 1 Peter 2:17 Honour all men . Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. 1 Peter 2:18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. 1 Peter 2:18-20 . Servants — ?? ??????? , household servants, be subject to your masters — Though heathen, in all things lawful; with all fear — Of offending them or God; not only to the good — The tender, kind; and gentle — Mild, easy, forgiving; but also to the froward — The ill-natured and severe. “In this verse,” as Macknight justly observes, “the apostle establishes one of the noblest and most important principles of morality, namely, that our obligation to relative duties does not depend either on the character of the persons to whom they should be performed, or on their performing the duties they owe to us, but on the unalterable relations of things established by God.” For this is thankworthy — An acceptable thing to God. Greek, ????? ??? ????? ; literally, this is grace; that is, a grand proof of true grace; if a man for conscience toward God — From a pure desire of pleasing him; endure grief — Severe treatment; suffering wrongfully — The apostle here refers to those punishments which, according to the customs of that age, tyrannical masters were allowed to inflict on their servants, however contrary to justice and mercy such punishments might be. For what glory — Or praise; is it if, when ye be buffeted — Corrected or beaten; for your faults — For acts of manifest disobedience; ye shall take it patiently — Since the punishment being just, it ought in reason to be borne. But if when ye do well — Do your duty conscientiously; and suffer for it — As if you had neglected it; ye take it patiently — Receive it in a meek and quiet spirit; this is acceptable, or this is grace, with God — His eye, which always observes every individual of his people, and all their actions, is pleased with such a disposition and behaviour, though exhibited in the lowest ranks of human life. 1 Peter 2:19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 1 Peter 2:20 For what glory is it , if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it , ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 1 Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 1 Peter 2:21-23 . For even hereunto — Namely, to suffer wrongfully, and to bear such treatment with patience and meekness; are ye Christians called; because Christ — Whose followers you profess to be, pure and spotless as he was; suffered for us — Not only hard speeches, buffetings, and stripes, but deep and mortal wounds, even the ignominious and painful death of crucifixion; leaving us — When he returned to heaven; an example of suffering patiently for well-doing; that ye should follow his steps — Of innocence and patience. Who did no sin — And therefore did not deserve to suffer any thing; neither was guile — Any insincerity, or dissimulation, or the least mis-spoken word, found to drop from his mouth — This is an allusion to the words of Isaiah, concerning the Messiah, Isaiah 53:9 ; neither was any deceit in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled — As he frequently was, being called a Samaritan, a glutton, a wine-bibber, a blasphemer, a demoniac, one in league with Beelzebub, a perverter of the nation, and a deceiver of the people; he reviled not again — In any one instance: he did indeed once say to the Jews, Ye are of your father the devil, and the works of your father ye will do. This, however, was not a reviling speech, but a true description of their character, and a prediction that they would murder him; and when he suffered — All kinds of insults and tortures, till they ended in his death on the cross; he threatened not the vengeance which he had it in his own power to have executed; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously — The only solid ground of patience in affliction. In all these instances, the example of Christ was peculiarly adapted for the instruction of servants, who easily slide into sin or guile, reviling their fellow-servants, or threatening them, the natural result of anger without power. 1 Peter 2:22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 1 Peter 2:23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 1 Peter 2:24-25 . Who his own self — In his own person, and by the sacrifice of himself, and not of another, ( Hebrews 9:28 ,) bare our sins — That is, the punishment due to them; in his afflicted, torn, dying body on the tree — The cross, whereon chiefly slaves or servants were wont to suffer. The apostle alludes to Isaiah 53:12 ; He bare the sins of many. “The phrase, bearing sin, is often used in the Old Testament. It signifies sometimes the making atonement for sin, Leviticus 10:17 ; sometimes the suffering punishment for sin, Leviticus 22:9 ; Ezekiel 18:20 ; and sometimes the carrying away sin from the sight of God; as the scape-goat is said to do, Leviticus 16:22 . The apostle uses here the first person, our sins, to show that Christ bare the sins of believers, in every age and country; and to make us sensible how extensive the operation of his death is in procuring pardon for sinners.” That we, being dead to sins — Or, as ???? ????????? ???????????? is more literally rendered, freed from sins — That is, from the guilt and power; from which, without an atonement, it was impossible we should be delivered. By whose stripes ye were healed — Of your spiritual disorders: evils infinitely greater than any which the cruelty of the severest masters can bring upon you. See on Isaiah 53:5 . “By changing his discourse from the first to the second person, the apostle addressed those slaves who might be beaten unmercifully by cruel masters; because, of all the considerations by which they could be animated to patience, the most powerful was, to put them in mind of the painful stripes with which Christ was beaten, when he was scourged by Pilate’s order, ( Matthew 27:26 ,) and to tell them, that with these stripes the wounds in their souls, occasioned by sin, were healed; wounds far more painful and deadly than those inflicted on them by their froward masters.” For ye were as sheep going astray — From their pastures, their shepherd, and his flock, and exposed to want and the danger of being lost in the wilderness, or destroyed by wild beasts; ye were wandering out of the way of truth and duty, of safety, holiness, and happiness, into the by-paths of error and sin, of guilt and misery — paths leading to certain destruction. But are now returned — Through the influence of divine grace; unto the Shepherd — The great Shepherd of the sheep, brought again from the dead, through the blood of the everlasting covenant; and Bishop — the kind Observer, Inspector, and Overseer; of your souls — Who has graciously received you under his pastoral care, and will maintain that inspection over you which shall be your best security against returning to those fatal wanderings. “Though in this passage the apostle addressed his discourse immediately to servants or slaves, yet, by giving titles to Christ which marked his relation to men of all ranks and conditions, he hath intimated that his exhortation to suffer unmerited evils patiently, is intended for all who profess the gospel.” 1 Peter 2:25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary 1 Peter 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 25 Chapter 5 CHRISTIAN BROTHERHOOD: ITS CHARACTER AND DUTIES 1 Peter 1:22-25 ; 1 Peter 2:1-3 THAT holy lives have been lived in solitude none would venture to dispute, and that devout Christians have found strength for themselves and given examples to the world by withdrawal from the society of their fellows is attested more than once in the history of Christendom. But with lives of such isolation and seclusion the New Testament exhibits little sympathy. To whatever preparation the Christian is exhorted, it is never with a view to himself. Though not of the world, he is to be in the world, that men may profit by his example. The prayer of the Lord for His disciples ere he left them was, not that they might be taken out of the world, but protected from its evils. Christ’s intention was to found a Church, a communion, a brotherhood, and all His language looks that way: "One is your Master, and all ye are brethren"; "So let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." And of like character is the teaching of the Epistles: "Be kindly affectioned in love of the brethren"; { Romans 12:10 } "Let brotherly love continue". { Hebrews 13:1 } We are in no way surprised therefore when St. Peter turns from his exhortations to personal sobriety, obedience, and holiness, and addresses the converts on the application of these virtues, that through them they may bind in closer bonds the brotherhood of Christ: "Seeing ye have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another from the heart fervently." Obedience is the sole evidence by which the believer can show that God’s call has wrought in him effectually. His election is of the Father’s foreknowledge, his sanctification is the gift of the Holy Spirit, and it is the sprinkling of the blood of Christ which makes him fit for entry into the house of the Father. In the Christian, so called and so aided, there must be a surrender of himself to the guidance of that spirit which deigns to guide him. The law in his members must be mortified, and another and purer law accepted as the rule of his life. This law St. Peter calls "the truth because it has been made manifest in its perfection in the life of Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Of this example St. Paul testifies as the truth which is in Jesus." He therefore who would cherish the Christian hope will purify himself even as Christ is pure. The way and means unto such purification is obedience. This first and most needful step the Apostle believes, from his knowledge of their lives, that these Asian converts have taken in earnest, and thus have attained to a love of their brethren which differs utterly from the love which the world exhibits, which is true, sincere, unfeigned. But the believer’s life is a life of constant progress. Daily advance is the evidence of vitality. All the language which Scripture applies to it proclaims this to be its character. It is called a walk, a race, a pilgrimage, a warfare. The Christian all his life through will find himself so far from what Christ intends to make him that he must ever be pressing forward. Hence, though they have attained to a stage of purification, have put off in some degree the old man, the Apostle’s exhortation is "Press forward"; "Love one another from the heart fervently." The English word describes a warmth and earnestness of love which is deep-seated and true, but the original expresses more than this, more of the sustained effort to which St. Peter is urging them. It points to incessant striving, to a constancy like that of the prayers of the Church for the Apostle himself when he was in prison, a prayer made unto God without ceasing. So steadfast must be the Christian love; and such love the purified, undistracted heart alone can manifest, a heart which has been released from the entanglements of earthly ambitions and strivings, whose affections are fully set on the things above. Such souls must be filled with the Spirit; a steadfastness like this comes only of the new birth. And of this the converts are reminded in the words which follow: "having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God." It is true they are but at the outset of their Christian course: but if any man be in Christ, he is made a new creature. And in this connection the word of God might be taken in a twofold sense. First, the Word who was made flesh, in whom was light; and the light was the life of men. Through His resurrection God has begotten men again to a life which shall know no corruption. But the figure which the Apostle presently employs of the withering grass and the falling flower carries our mind rather to Christ’s explanation of His own parable. The seed is the word of God, which liveth and abideth. And throughout the New Testament the life-possessing and life-giving power of the Gospel is made everywhere conspicuous. When it was first proclaimed, we read again and again, "The word of God grew mightily and prevailed"; { Acts 12:24 } and the figurative language used to describe its character shows how potent is its might. It is the sword of the Spirit; { Ephesians 6:16 } "It is quick and powerful". { Hebrews 4:12 } By it Christ foiled the tempter. It makes those strong in whom it abides. { 1 John 2:14 } It is free, and not bound. { 2 Timothy 2:9 } St. Paul calls it "the power of God unto salvation," { Romans 1:16 } "the word of truth, the gospel of salvation" { Ephesians 1:13 } and says, "It comes, not in word only, but in power". { 1 Thessalonians 1:5 } This is the incorruptible seed of which St Peter speaks. And his words force on our thoughts that for such a seed a fitting ground must be prepared, if the new life of which it is the source is to bear its due fruit. This preparation it is which the Apostle is anxious to enforce, the purifying and cleansing of the seed-plot of men’s hearts. They must not be hardened so as to forbid it access, and leave it for every chance enemy to trample on or carry away; they must not be choked with alien thoughts and purposes: the cares of life, the pleasures of the world. Such things perish in the using, and can have no affinity with the living and abiding word of God, which, even as He, is eternal and unchanging. And herewith is bound up a very solemn thought. The word may be neglected, may be choked, in individual hearts; but still it liveth and abideth, and will appear to testify against the scorners: "He that rejecteth Me and receiveth not My words hath one that judgeth Him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of Myself". { John 12:48 } But for those who accept the message of the word and live thereby St. Peter’s language is full of comfort, especially to those who are in like affliction with these Asian Christians. For them the acceptance of the faith of Jesus must have meant the rending asunder of earthly ties; the natural brotherhood would be theirs no longer. But they are enrolled in a new family-a family which cannot perish, whose seed is incorruptible, whose kinship shall stretch forward and be ever enlarging through all time and into eternity. For they, like the word by which they are begotten again, will live and abide for evermore. And confirming this lesson by the prophecy of Isaiah, { Isaiah 40:6-8 } the Apostle thus links together the ancient Scriptures and the New Testament. But in so doing he shows by his language how he regards the latter as more excellent and a mighty advance upon the former. The margin of the Revised Version helpfully indicates the difference of the words. In Isaiah the teaching is styled a saying. It was the word whereby God, through some intermediary, made known his will to the children of men. But under the Gospel the word is that living, spiritual power which is used as synonymous with the Lord Himself. The word of good tidings has now been spoken unto men by a Son, the very image of the Divine substance, the effulgence of God’s glory, and now possesses a might quick even to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. This is verily the living word of God. { Hebrews 4:12 } And we of today can see what ground there was for the Apostle’s faith and for his teaching, how true the prophetic word has been found in the events of history. "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth: but the, word of the Lord abideth forever." When we cast our thoughts back to the time when St. Peter wrote, we see the converts who had accepted the word of God a mere handful of people amid the throngs of heathendom, the religion which they professed the scorn of all about them, to the Jews a stumbling-block, to the Greeks foolishness, and its preachers in the main a few poor, untrained, un-influential men, of no rank or conspicuous ability. On the other hand, worshipping crowds proclaimed the greatness of Diana of the Ephesians, and the power of the Roman Empire was at its height, or seemed so, with the whole of the civilized world owning its sway. And now that world’s wonder, the temple at Ephesus, is a pile of ruins, and over the Roman power such changes have passed that it has utterly faded out of existence; but the doctrines of the Galilean, who claimed to be the Incarnate Word of God, are daily extending their influence, proving their vitality to be Divine. But though in his language he has seemed to mark the superiority of the Gospel message, the Apostle is deeply conscious that the office of the preacher has much, nay, its chief character, in common with that of the prophet. Hence he proceeds to call the Gospel message, now that it is left to the lips of Evangelists and Apostles to proclaim, a saying like that of Isaiah. In this way he links the New Testament to the Old, the prophet to the preacher. Both spake the same word of God; both were moved by the same spirit; both proclaimed the same deliverance, the one looking onward in hope to the coming Redeemer, the other proclaiming that the redemption had been accomplished. "This is the telling" (the saying) "of good tidings which was preached unto you." Here Peter seems to allude to a preaching earlier than his own, and to none can we attribute the evangelization of these parts of Asia with more probability than to St. Paul and his missionary colleagues. But there was no note of disagreement between these early ambassadors of Christ. They could all say of their work, "Whether it were I or they, so we preached, and so ye believed." Having spoken of the seed, the Apostle now turns to the seed plot which needs its special preparation. It must be cleared and broken up, or the seed, though scattered, will have small chance of roothold. But here St. Peter recurs to his former metaphor. He has spoken { 1 Peter 1:13 } of the Christian’s equipment, how with girded loins he should prepare himself for the coming struggle. He now speaks of what he must lay aside. He has been purified, or made to long after purification, through his obedience to the truth, so that he can with earnest desire seek to make known his love to the brethren; and the word of God is powerful to overcome such dispositions as are destructive of brotherly love. Hence it is to no hopeless, unaided conflict that the Apostle urges his converts when he writes of their "putting away therefore all wickedness, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings." It is a formidable list of evils, but St. Peter’s words treat them as forming no part of the true man. These are overgrowths, which can be stripped away, though the operation will many a time be painful enough; they have enveloped and enclosed the sinner, and cling close about him, but the sanctification of the Spirit can help him to be unclothed of them all. They are the forces which make for discord. The word of good tidings began with "peace on earth, good will towards men." Hence those who hearken to the message must put away everything contrary thereto. First in the Apostle’s enumeration stands a general term, wickedness, those which follow it being various forms of its development. We learn how utterly alien this wickedness is to the spirit of Christ when we notice the employment of the word to describe the sin of Simon: "Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right before God". { Acts 8:22 } Such a man had no comprehension of the source of the Apostolic powers; the sacred things of God were unknown to one who could treat such gifts as merchandise. And it is full of interest in the present connection to observe that what our English Version there renders "matter" is really, as the margin (R.V.) shows, "word." It was the word of God which was mighty in the first preachers, which was growing and prevailing as they testified unto Christ, and in this "word" a heart like Simon’s could have no share. He was no fit member of the fellowship of Christ. Guile was the sin of Jacob, a sin which brake the bond of brotherhood between him and Esau, and wrought so much misery in the whole of Jacob’s family history. Guile was not found in Nathanael. The searching eye of Jesus saw that the sin of the "supplanter" was not in him. Hence he is pointed out as an example of the true Israel, that which the race of Jacob was intended to become. That hypocrisy is a foe to brotherhood our Lord makes evident as he reproaches the Pharisees for this sin. "I thank Thee that I am not as other men are, nor even as this publican," are words which could never rise to the lips of him whose heart was purified by the Spirit of God; and envy brings hatred in its train. It was by envy that Saul was incited to seek the death of David; it was from envy that Joseph’s brethren sold him into Egypt; through envy a greater than Joseph was sold to be crucified, { Matthew 27:18 } and this sin led to war in heaven itself. From evil-speaking these Asian converts themselves had to suffer, and would know by experience its mischievous effects. They were spoken against as evil-doers, as the Apostle notes twice over. { 1 Peter 2:12 } This evil adds cowardice to its other baneful qualities, for it takes advantage of the absence of him against whom it is directed, and is that vice which in 2 Corinthians 12:20 is described as backbiting, a rendering which the Revised Version leaves undisturbed, while those who indulge in it are called backbiters. { Romans 1:30 } St. James has much to say in its dispraise: "Speak not one against another, brethren. He that speaketh against a brother or judgeth his brother speaketh against the law, and judgeth the law." { Jam 4:11 } Such a one is intruding into the prerogative of God Himself, and passing sentence where he can have no sure knowledge of the acts which he judges. "Evil-speaking," says one of the Apostolic Fathers, "is a restless demon, never at peace. So speak no evil of any, nor take pleasure in listening thereto." By good works St. Peter instructs his converts to live down such cowardly slanders, that those who revile their good manner of life in Christ may be put to shame thereby. Purity will overcome iniquity, innocence gain the day against deceit. But the transformation to which the Apostle exhorts them must be verily to become a new creation, and so he goes on to speak of their condition as one akin to that of newborn babes. These, by natural instincts, turn away from all that will hurt them, and seek only what can nourish and support. To such right inclinations, to such simplicity of desire, must the Christian be brought. He has been born again of the word of God. From this he is to seek his constant nurture, as instinctively as the babe turns to its mother’s breast. This is able to save the soul, { Jam 1:21 } but it cannot be received unless the vices which war against it be put away, and a spirit of meekness take their place. They seek other and less pure food for their support. Christians are to long for the spiritual milk which is without guile. This food for babes in Christ is the word, which is taken by the Spirit and offered a nurture for the soul. But there must be a longing for, a readiness to accept, what is offered. For the spiritual appeals to the reason of man, and though offered, is not forced on him. The Spirit takes of the things of Christ and shows them unto us. And the purification, the clearing off and putting away corrupt dispositions, about which the Apostle speaks so earnestly, applies an eye-salve to the inward vision which helps us to see things in their true light, and so to long for what is really profitable food without guile, which does not disappoint the hope of those that seek it. "That ye may grow thereby unto salvation." It is called the word of salvation. "To you," says St. Paul to the men of Antioch, { Acts 13:26 } is the word of this salvation sent forth; and through it is proclaimed the remission of sins. The healthy condition of the life of the soul is evidenced by these two signs: longing for proper food and growth by partaking thereof. For there is no standing still in spiritual life, any more than in the natural life. Where there is no growth, decay has already set in; if there be no waxing of the powers, they have already begun to wane. To the natural human growth there must needs come this waning; the body will decay: but the spiritual increase can continue, must continue, until the stature of the fullness of Christ be attained, till we come to be made like unto Him when we see Him as He is. Watch, then, strive and pray for growth, "if ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious." The true food once found and appreciated, the joy of this support will be such that no other will ever be desired. Hence St. Peter adopts, or rather adapts, the words of the Psalmist { Psalm 34:9 } who tells of the blessedness of trusting in the Lord. The angels of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him and setteth them free. This is the initial stage: the deliverance from the power of evil. Then come the desire and longing for the true strength. "O taste and see that the Lord is gracious; blessed is the man that findeth refuge in Him." The joy of such a refuge can come even to those who are suffering after the fashion of the Asian converts. But the Psalmist’s words are full of teaching. God’s training is empirical. Spiritual experience comes before spiritual knowledge. Well does St. Bernard say of this lesson, though his words pass the power of translation, "Unless you have tasted you will not see. The food is the hidden manna; it is the new name which no one knows but he who receives it. It is not external training, but the unction of the Spirit, which teaches; it is not knowledge ( scientia ) which grasps the truth, but the conscience ( conscientia ) which attests it." 1 Peter 2:4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Chapter 6 THE PRIESTHOOD OF BELIEVERS 1 Peter 2:4-10 LEAVING the exhortation to individual duties, the Apostle turns now to describe the Christian society in relation to its Divine Founder, and tells both of the privileges possessed by believers, and of the services which they ought to render. He employs for illustration a figure very common in Holy Scripture, and compares the faithful to stones in the structure of some noble edifice, built upon a sure foundation. Such language on his lips must have had a deep significance. He was the rock-man; his name Peter was bestowed by Christ in recognition of his grand confession: and Jesus had consecrated the simile which the Apostle uses by His own words. "Upon this rock I will build My Church" { Matthew 16:18 } words which were daily finding a blessed fulfillment in the growth of these Asian Churches. A rock is no unusual figure in the Old Testament to represent God’s faithfulness, and its use is specially frequent in Isaiah and the Psalms. "In the Lord Jehovah is an everlasting rock," { Isaiah 26:4 } says the prophet; again he calls God "the rock of Israel"; { Isaiah 30:29 } while the prayers of the Psalmist are full of the same thought concerning the Divine might and protection: "Be Thou my strong rock and my fortress" { Psalm 31:2 } "Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I"; { Psalm 61:2 } "O God, my rock and my Redeemer". { Psalm 19:14 } But the language of the New Testament goes farther than that of the Old. Strength, protection, permanence-these were attributes of the rock of which Isaiah spake and David sang. The life-possessing and life-imparting virtue of the Spirit of Christ is a part of the glad tidings of the Gospel. Through Him were light and immortality brought to light. The rock which lives is found in Jesus Christ. In Him is life without measure, ready to be imparted to all who seek to be built up in Him. "Unto whom coming, a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God elect, precious." By purification of thought, and act, and word, that childlike frame has been sought after which fits them to draw near; and they come with full assurance. Jesus they know as the Crucified, as the Lord who came to His own, and they received Him not. Generations of preparation had not made Jewry ready for her King’s coming, had failed to impress the people with the signs of His advent; and so they disowned Him, and cried, "We have no king but Caesar." But the converts know Jesus also as Him who was raised from the dead and exalted to glory. This honor He hath "with God." No other than He could bring salvation. Therefore has he received a name that is above every name. And "with God" here signifies that heavenly exaltation and glory. The sense is as when Jesus testifies, "I speak what I have seen with My Father" { John 8:38 } -that is, in heaven- or when He prays, "Glorify me, O Father, with Thine own self". { John 17:5 } From this excellent glory He sends down His Spirit, and gives to His people a share of that life which has been made manifest in Him. Their part is but to come, to seek, and every one that seeketh is sure to find. "Ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house." Not because they are living men does the Apostle speak of them as living stones. They may be full of the vigor of natural life, yet have no part in Christ. The life which joins men to Him comes by the new birth. And the union of believers with Christ makes itself patent by a daily progress. He is a living stone; they are to be made more and more like Him by a constant drawing near, a constant drinking in from His fullness of the life which is the light of men. In this light new graces grow within them; old sins are cast aside. By this preparation, this shaping of the living stones, the Spirit fits Christians for their place in the Spiritual building, unites them with one another and with Christ, fashions out of them a true communion of saints-saints, who, that they may advance in saintliness, have duties to perform both directly to God and for His sake to the world around. By diligence therein the upbuilding goes daily forward. First, they are "to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." From the day when God revealed His will on Sinai, such has been the ideal set before His chosen servants. "Ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" { Exodus 19:6 } stands in the preface of the Divinely given law. And God changes not. Hence the praise of the Lamb’s finished work when He has purchased unto God men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation is sung before the throne in the self-same strain: "Thou madest them to be unto God a kingdom and priests". { Revelation 5:10 } Under the early dispensation God was leading men up from material sacrifices to pay unto Him true spiritual worship. The Psalmist has learnt the lesson when he pleads, "Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in me" { Psalm 4:6 } and Hosea’s sense of what was well-pleasing to God is made clear in his exhortation. "Take with you words and return unto the Lord; say unto Him, Take away all iniquity, and accept that which is good, so will we render as bullocks the offering of our lips". { Hosea 14:3 } The Apostle to the Romans is hardly more explicit than this when he urges, "present your bodies a living sacrifice," { Romans 12:1 } or to the Hebrews, "Let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which make confession to His name". { Hebrews 13:15 } But the Apostles could add to the exhortations of the prophets and psalmists a ground of blessed assurance, could promise how these living sacrifices, these offerings of praise, had gained a certainty of acceptance through Jesus Christ: "Through Him we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in Him"; { Ephesians 3:12 } and in another place, "Having Him as a great priest over the house of God," that spiritual house into which believers are builded, "let us draw near with a true heart, in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water". { Hebrews 10:22 } Thus do believers become priests unto God, in every place lifting up holy hands in prayer, prayer which is made acceptable through their great High-priest. It was only from oral teaching that these Asian Christians knew of those lessons which we now can quote as the earliest messages to the Church of Christ. The Scripture was to them as yet the Scripture of the Old Testament, and to this St. Peter points them for the confirmation which it supplies. And his quotation is worthy of notice both for its manner and its matter: "Because it is contained in Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious; and he that believeth on Him shall not be put to shame." The passage is from Isaiah; { Isaiah 28:16 } but a comparison with that verse shows us that the Apostle has not quoted all the words of the prophet, and that what he has given corresponds much more closely with the Greek of the Septuagint than with the Hebrew. The latter concludes, "He that believeth shall not make haste," and contains some words not represented in the version of the Seventy. The variations which St. Peter accepts are such as to assure us that for him (and the same is true for the rest of the Apostles) the purport, the spiritual lessons, of the word were all which he counted essential. Neither Christ Himself nor His Apostles adhere in quotation to precise verbal exactness. They felt that there lay behind the older record so many deep meanings for which the fathers of old were not prepared, but which Gospel light made clear. To somewhat of this fuller sense the translators of the Septuagint seem to have been guided. They lived nearer to the rising of the daystar. Through their labors God was in part preparing the world for the message of Christ. The words which Isaiah was guided to use express the confidence of a believer who was looking onward to God’s promise as in the future: "He shall not make haste." He knows that the purpose of God will be brought to pass; that, as the prophet elsewhere says, "The Lord will hasten it in its time." { Isaiah 60:22 } Man is not to step in, Jacob-like, to anticipate the Divine working. But "shall not be ashamed" was a form of the promise more suited to the days of St. Peter and these infant Churches. For the name of Christ was in many ways made a reproach; and only men of faith, like Moses and the heroes celebrated with him in Hebrews 11:1-40 , could count that reproach greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. Other and weaker hearts needed encouragement, needed to be pointed to the privileges and glories which are the inheritance of the followers of Jesus. And in this spirit he applies the prophetic words, "For you therefore which believe is the preciousness." Faith makes real all the offers of the Gospel. It opens heaven, as to the vision of St. Stephen, so that while they are still here believers behold the glory of God to which Christ has been exalted, are assured of the victory which has been won for them, and that in His strength they may conquer also. Thus they receive continually the earnest of those precious and exceeding great promises { 2 Peter 1:4 } whereby they become partakers of the Divine nature. But all men have not faith. The Bible tells us this on every page. God knows what is in man, and in His revelation He has set forth not only invitations and blessings, but warnings and penalties. Life and good, death and evil-these have been continually proclaimed as linked together by God’s law, but ever with the exhortation, "Choose life." Of such warning messages St. Peter gives examples from prophecy and psalm: "But for such as disbelieve, the stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner," { Psalm 118:22 } "and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense"; { Isaiah 8:14 } "for they stumble at the word, being disobedient." Here the Apostle touches the root of the evil. The test of faith is obedience. It was so in Eden; it must be ever so. But now, as then, the tempter comes with his insidious questionings, "Hath God said?" and sowing doubts, he goes his way, leaving them to work; and work they do. Now it is the truth, now the wisdom, of the command, that men stumble at. But in each case they disobey. Those leave it unobserved; these despise and set it at naught. And the penalty is sure. For mark the twofold aspect of God’s dealing which is set forth in the passages chosen by St. Peter to enforce his lesson. Spite of man’s disobedience, God’s purpose is not thwarted. The stone which He laid in Zion has been made the head of the corner. Though rejected by some builders it has lost none of its preciousness, none of its strength. Those who draw near unto it find life thereby; are made fit for their places in the Divine building, in the kingdom of the Lord’s house which He will most surely establish as the latter days draw on. But they who disobey are overthrown. The despised stone, which is the sure word of God, rises up in men’s self-chosen path, and makes them fall, and at the last, if they persist in despising it, will appear for their condemnation. "Whereunto also they were appointed." The Apostle has in mind the words of Isaiah, how the prophet, in that place from which he has just quoted, declares that many shall stumble and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. This is the lot of the disobedient. These penalties dog that sin. It is the unvarying law of God. The Bible teaches this from first to last, by precepts as well as by examples. The disobedient must stumble. But the Bible does not teach that any were appointed unto disobedience. Such fatalist lessons are alien to God’s infinite love. The two ways are set before all men. God tries us thus because He has gifted us above the rest of creation, that we may render Him a willing service. But neither prophet nor Apostle teaches that to stumble is to be finally cast away. Both picture God’s mercy in as large terms as those in which St. Paul speaks of the Jews: "Did God cast off His people? God forbid…They, if they continue not in their unbelief, shall be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again". { Romans 11:1-36 } A hardening in part hath befallen Israel, and to the Church of Christ there is offered the blessedness which aforetime was to be the portion of the chosen people. But the offer is made on like terms of obedient service, and involves large duties. St. Peter marks the likeness of the two offers by choosing the words of the Old Testament to describe the Christian calling, with its privileges and its duties. Believers in Christ are a peculiar treasure unto God from among all people, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation, even as was said to Israel { Exodus 19:5-6 } when they came out of Egypt and received the Law from Sinai. But among the dispersion, for whom he writes, there were those who had been heathens, as well as the converts from Judaism. That he may show them also to be embraced in the new covenant, and their calling contemplated under the old, the Apostle points to another of God’s promises, where Hosea { Hosea 1:10-11 ; Hosea 2:1-23 } tells of the grace that was ready to be shed forth on them which in time past were no people, but now are the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Thus all, Jew and Gentile, are t