Pastor David B. Curtis
Pastor David B. Curtis
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Good morning, Bereans, we are continuing our study of 1 Peter this morning. This will be our third message on these verses. We have topically looked at; We Are The Temple and We Are A Holy Priesthood. This morning, I want to dig more into these verses from and exegetical perspective.
Before we start let me remind you that Peter is writing to, "the elect exiles who are dispersed throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia."
There is quite a bit of controversy over the issue of who are the recipientsof this letter? Why does it matter whether 1 Peter was written primarily to Jewish or Gentile followers of Christ? What difference does it make for interpretation?
If we take 1 Peter as addressing a Gentile audience, then the epistle becomes one of the strongest supports for the theological idea that the church has replaced Israel as the people of God. This concept is also referred to as "replacement theology" or "supersessionism" (i.e. the church supersedes Israel).
In 1 Peter 2:9, the readers are said to be "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession." These phrases are pulled right out of the Hebrew Scriptures as descriptors of the nation of Israel. If Peter is applying this imagery to Gentiles, then as Scot McKnight claims, "There is no passage in the New Testament that more explicitly associates the Old Testament terms for Israel with the New Testament church than this one."
But if the original readers of 1 Peter were themselves ethnically Jewish, then Peter's language is not surprising at all, and it would undercut the use of 1 Peter as a proof-text in support of supersessionism. This is why it's a big deal. It's theological positioning in which both sides want to use 1 Peter to support their views.
So, did Peter write to Jews or Gentiles? Yes, Peter is writing this letter to both Jewish and Gentile Christians ("to those who are elect exiles"). Peter called his readers exiles in order to emphasize that Christians are really citizens of heaven and that their sojourn here on earth is only temporary. Peter applies the term "dispersion" to Christians in general, just as he applied other designations to the church that were formerly applied to the nation of Israel (cf. 2:9-10). Peter's initial audience were Christian "exiles" (cf. 2:11).
Carson, Moo, and Morris write: "It seems that the writer is concerned neither with Jews nor Gentiles as such, but with those who in Christ have become the people of God. We need not doubt that most who came from the provinces named were Gentiles, although there would have been some Jewish converts. But the emphasis is on what they have become, not on what they were originally."
Is Peter's main audience Jew or Gentile? Either way this epistle is written to believers and what it says about believers applies to ALL believers, Jew and Gentile.
1 Peter 2:4 through 10 contain one of the largest collections of Old Covenant images in the New Testament.
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 1 Peter 2:4 ESV
"As you come to him"—this phrase is a present participle that has the meaning of "as you continually come to him." This is not just salvation, but coming to Christ in worship, prayer, and through the Word of God on a daily basis. It refers to our daily communion with Him. We must come to Christ repeatedly and build our lives on Him.
"A living stone"—Christ is portrayed in both the Old and New Testaments as a STONE or a ROCK, a metaphor which depicts among other attributes, His strength, His reliability, His stability. The first mention of Christ as STONE is in? Genesis, in Jacob's parting blessing to Joseph, where Moses records,
yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), Genesis 49:24 ESV
Jacob "piles up" three great names of Yahweh which attest to the strength of the MIGHTY ONE, the sustenance of the SHEPHERD and the stability of the STONE.
Christ is a Living Stone in at least two senses. First, Christ Himself possesses life. He has been alive from eternity in the past and will be alive in eternity in the future. But the emphasis is probably on the fact that He has "been raised from the dead, never to die again." (Romans 6:9)
We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. Romans 6:9 ESV
"He is alive forevermore" (Revelation 1:18).
and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Revelation 1:18 ESV
Second, He is the source of life for all who put their trust in Him and receive spiritual resurrection from spiritual death and thereby become living stones in the spiritual house built upon the foundation of Yeshua the Christ.
He is a living stone, we are living stones; therefore we possess the same nature, the same character, the same quality of existence, the same kind of life as Christ. We are one with Him in terms of the essence of our being.
The Bible portrays Christ as; a Living Stone, a Life Giving stone, a Choice Stone, a Corner Stone, a Stone of Stumbling, a Rejected Stone, and a Coming Stone.
What biblical texts can you think of that portray Christ as a Life Giving stone?
And the LORD said to Moses, "Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink." And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. Exodus 17:5-6 ESV
The rock is struck (slane) and produced water. Who is the Rock?
For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 ESV
The struck Rock produced water (the Holy Spirit) and the people lived.
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Yeshua stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Yeshua was not yet glorified. John 7:37-39 ESV
The living water which is the Holy Spirit comes from the living stone. The living Stone is a life giving Stone.
Daniel had prophesied about this living stone being a stone of judgment.
"You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Daniel 2:31-35 ESV
This is the Living stone; it grows into a great mountain and fills the whole earth. The living stone is a Messianic concept.
Peter goes on to say that this stone was, "Rejected by men"—this is a perfect passive participle. Peter tells us, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone," which is from the Septuagint of Psalm 118:22. The stone is disapproved by "the builders," which refers to the Jewish leadership, but in Peter it is widened to all unbelievers. We'll talk about why they reflect this life giving stone in verse 8.
It is not coincidental that Yeshua is described as the stone that was rejected by men and chosen by God. This is an appropriate reminder for the exile community. They just like this living stone are rejected by men but chosen by God.
"But in the sight of God chosen and precious"—this is in direct contrast to the previous phrase. The term "chosen" is literally "elect" in the sense of "foreordained." Look at Isaiah 53.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:3-5 ESV
A rejected crucified Messiah has always been God's only plan of redemption.
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 Yeshua the Christ. 1 Peter 2:5 ESV
Peter's picture here is that God is building a spiritual temple (a spiritual house) using living stones (Christians), those who have come to the ultimate living stone (Yeshua).
"Like living stones"—this is Peter's way of saying that when you come to Christ you become like Christ. We're living stones also. What does that mean? That we have eternal life. The very life that exists in Christ exists in us. We have the life of Christ. He is the cornerstone and believers were stones who also were being built up as a spiritual house. We are the Temple of God.
In the Old Covenant, Israel had to travel to the Temple in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to Yahweh; they were restricted by time and space. However, in the New Covenant, we are not. We are not restricted by time and space—everything we do can be worship because we are the temple of God. In fact, Paul says,
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV
Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. Even our eating and drinking can be worship to God.
Our text has a distinctively corporate flavor. Peter wants his readers to see that Christianity is not an individualistic thing, where we each have a relationship with God, but not with each other. We are being built together into a spiritual house or temple in the Lord. The New Testament uses several corporate metaphors to describe the church. We are a vine, a flock, a bride, a body, a family, a city and a temple.
"Believers are a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Yeshua the Christ"— a priest stands between a needy people and a holy God. He advocates not his own position, but the needs of the people. The New Testament affirms the priesthood of believers (plural, corporate) as they bring a lost world to faith in Christ.
Believers, we are a holy priesthood in the order of Melchizedek and are to be offering spiritual sacrifices to God. What is a spiritual sacrifice? The author of Hebrews says,
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Hebrews 13:15-16 ESV
As part of the priesthood of Melchizedek, we offer the sacrifice of praise, and we do good. These are sacrifices that are pleasing to God.
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." 1 Peter 2:6 ESV
Peter here quotes from,
therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: 'Whoever believes will not be in haste.' Isaiah 28:16 ESV
"A cornerstone"—the "cornerstone" refers to the main stone on which the building rests. Yeshua is the cornerstone in that all the rest of the spiritual house is built upon Him. Our salvation depends so entirely on what He did that we could never have been saved without Him. Peter refers to Christ as the cornerstone in his second sermon in the Temple after Pentecost.
Peter was preaching in the Temple and the temple guard arrest him and John because they healed a man and the next day they bring them before the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish authority and court. They asked them by what power they had healed the man and in what name it was done. Peter answers them.
This Yeshua is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. Acts 4:11 ESV
Peter sites here from Psalm 118:22 with a slight difference:
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Psalms 118:22 ESV
Do you see what Peter adds? He adds "by you". By their rejection and crucifixion of Yeshua the Christ, they fulfilled one of their own prophecies. And, as one part of this prophecy is now so literally fulfilled, they may rest assured, that so will be the other; and this rejected stone will crush those who stumble over it.
The rulers, the "builders" of Israel, have rejected Him because He did not seem to fit, but God has stepped in and made Him the cornerstone of the new Israel which holds the whole building together. To those sitting on the Sanhedrin these words must have stung because with this metaphor, the biblical writers established that the kingdom God built would be founded upon Yeshua whom they had just crucified. Every detail in its dimensions, shape, size, and form relates directly to Yeshua. Without the corner stone, the building has no value. Peter goes on to say,
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 ESV
The question asked of the disciples had been in what name the lame man had been healed. This reply states that it is only in the name of Yeshua that any of mankind can be healed.
"Salvation" is from the Greek word soteria. This would have a Messianic ring to his listeners, especially when connected with Psalm 118. In the scrolls from Qumran "Salvation" and "God's Salvation" are designations of the Messiah. This is also true in other inter-testamental Jewish literature, and it appears later in the Rabbinic writings. In their view the Messiah was to be God's means of salvation. He was to be Salvation. Thus Peter's words are a further claim of Yeshua's Messiahship, linked with the salvation which will bring men into the everlasting kingdom. Furthermore the name Yeshua means 'Yahweh is salvation'. Salvation is thus closely paralleled with the name of Yeshua in all its senses.
These leaders know from the Scriptures that the God of Israel is the only Savior. (Is 43:11; 45:21; Hos 13:4).
I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior. Isaiah 43:11 ESV
Now Peter claims this role for Yeshua. Peter was in effect saying, "If you don't turn to Yeshua, who is Yahweh, you will be damned. There is no other way to become saved."
We need to feel the force of this universal claim in our pluralistic age. "There is salvation in no one else!" Do you really mean no one, Peter? Or are you just speaking in a limited Jewish context—only among the Jews there is no other way to heaven than their true Messiah? No, he says, the reason there is salvation in no one else is that "there is no other name under heaven [not just no other name in Israel, but no other name under heaven] given among men [not just among Jews, but among humans] by which we must be saved."
What is the purpose of laying the cornerstone? To build the New Temple upon. Peter's addition of the personal pronoun "you" tells us that the first century Jewish leaders were the ones spoken of in the Psalms and Isaiah. The New Temple was NOW being built and they were the ones who would be crushed by the stone.
Peter boldly proclaims of Yeshua, "And there is salvation in no one else. " So how does one today build on this Cornerstone of Christ. Or we could ask, what must a person do to be saved? They need to believe that Yeshua the Christ has done for them what they could never do for themselves. He has paid their sin debt in full. The Gospel is substitutional; Yeshua became sin for us and then died for us. He paid our sin debt in full.
I'm afraid that many people who say they are Christian are not, they're just religious. And I think that the greatest enemy of the Gospel is religion. Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship. Let me tell you the difference between religion and Christianity. Religion is about what you do for God. Christianity is about what God has done for you. Religion says, "If you obey, God will love you." Christianity says, "Because God loves you, you can now obey." The Gospel is not: If you are good, God will love you. The Gospel is: You are bad, and God loves you anyway! Christ didn't die for good people; there aren't any. He died for sinners. Are you a sinner?
Religion is all about what I do or don't do! "I don't drink, smoke, use bad language; I go to church, I don't cheat on my spouse." You can list whatever it is that you do that you think gives you favor with God. The Gospel is not about what you do for God; it is about what Yeshua has done for you. Look at what Paul says to the Romans,
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:18-19 ESV
It is not about what I do, it is about what He has done for me! It's not about my works, it's about His. God accepts Yeshua's sinless life and substitutionary death on my behalf. Religion is about me, the Gospel is about Yeshua.
Back to our text. It is especially interesting that Peter himself by inspiration explains the significance here of Christ as the cornerstone upon which the church as a spiritual house is built. In the gospels Christ had changed Simon's name to Peter.
He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Yeshua answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 16:15-17 ESV
Peter says that Yeshua is the Christ the Son of the living God. Then Yeshua says,
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18 ESV
Yeshua says here that the church would be built "on this rock." But Peter's explanation in Acts 4 helps us understand the teaching of Matthew 16:18. Some have claimed that Matthew 16:18 means that Christ intended for Peter to be the foundation or the stone upon which the church would be built. But Peter corrects that idea showing that the stone upon which the church is built is Yeshua the Christ Himself.
The "cornerstone" refers to the main stone on which the building rests. In view of this, it seems that the "rock" (Gr. petra, a large stone) to which Yeshua referred in Matthew 16:18 was not Peter (Gr. Petros, a small stone) but Himself. Yeshua, not Peter, much less Judaism, is the Foundation upon which God has promised to build the church.
For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Yeshua the Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11 ESV
Isaiah promised that those who believe on this "Stone" will never (Greek. ou me, the strongest negative) be disappointed.
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," 1 Peter 2:7 ESV
The Greek sentence contains no verb and rather literally says, "Therefore the honor to you, the believers." It is quite natural to understand the verb "to be" (as commonly in Greek sentences), so that the sentence reads, "Therefore the honor is to you, the believers"
Not only will believers never ultimately be disappointed, but when Christ came, they were honored before all. We share in his glory.
Again, Peter quotes the Tanakh.
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Psalms 118:22 ESV
"The builders"—the Jewish Targums (Aramaic translation with commentary) use this term as a title for the Scribes. Peter is stressing that Israel rejected her Messiah.
and "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 1 Peter 2:8 ESV
This is a quote from Isaiah 8:14. Isaiah predicted that they would stumble on a stumbling stone.
And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Isaiah 8:14 ESV
By the way, this passage directly refers to Yahweh. Yahweh is the stone in Isaiah 8:14. In the New Testament Christ is the stone. What does that tell you about Christ? He's Yahweh. This is another affirmation of His deity.
The New Testament affirms over and over that Christ is the stumbling stone.
but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:23-24 ESV
as it is written, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." Romans 9:33 ESV
So, Peter quoting from Isaiah 8:15 & 28:16 takes these two verses from Isaiah—both of them very familiar to the Jews—and combined them to show that Yeshua is both a stumbling stone and a cornerstone. To some he is a "stone that causes men to stumble;" to others he is a cornerstone of life. Those who stumble over Yeshua fall to their own destruction. Those who build their lives on him "will never be disappointed."
"They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do"—here Peter says they stumble because they disobey the word. That sounds right, you need to obey the word. But notice the rest of the verse, "as they were destined to do." Oh, no! That sounds like Calvinism.
The verb translated "destined" here is tithēmi, which means "to destine or appoint someone to or for something" (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, by Walter Bauer, William Arndt, and Wilbur Gingrich [University of Chicago Press], 2nd ed., p. 816). It "is used regularly for God's sovereign determination of events" (Milligan, cited by Robert Thomas, Expositors Bible Commentary [Zondervan], ed. by Frank Gaebelein, 11:284).
It means "to destine or appoint someone to or for something" (Acts 13:47; Rom. 4:17; 9:33; 1 Cor. 12:18, 28; 1 Tim. 1:12; 1 Pet. 2:6). Whenever the verb is used in this manner, the divine appointment is made so that God's purposes might be fulfilled.
This same verb is used in.
For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Yeshua the Christ, 1 Thessalonians 5:9 ESV
So, in 1 Peter tithēmi is used of being destined for wrath and in this verse it is used of not being destined to wrath.
This is called the doctrine of predestination. Many Christians stumble over it, but it is what the Bible teaches. A comment by theologian Millard Erickson is helpful. He writes, "'Predestination' refers to God's choice of individuals for eternal life or eternal death. 'Election' is the selection of some for eternal life, the positive side of predestination."
Does predestination make God unloving? No. Everyone deserves God's wrath. All have sinned, no one deserves to be in His presence. When people experience God's wrath, that is justice. The soul who sins shall die (Ezekiel 18:20). When people go into the presence of Yahweh, that is loving mercy and grace. Therefore, predestination shows the love of God as God chooses to make His enemies His friends by grace.
We see an analogy of this in John 5.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. John 5:2-3 ESV
So, there is a whole bunch of sick people at this pool. One man had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. Yeshua asked him, "Do you want to be healed?"
The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me." Yeshua said to him, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk." And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. John 5:7-9 ESV
Out of the multitude, Yeshua healed one man at a pool. Could he have healed everyone? Sure, he could have, but He chose to heal only that man. He passed over the others who were present and wanted healing. Now, if you were a sick person at that pool who didn't get healed, what would have been your response? "That's not fair—you have to heal me too." It would have been just as easy for Christ to have healed the great multitude as it was for Him to heal the one man, but He didn't. Why? He chose not to.
Likewise, in the doctrine of predestination, God heals some people spiritually while not doing the same for others. The truth is that God could save everyone, just as He could have healed everyone when He was on the earth. Yet, because God is obligated to no one, the fact that He heals or saves anyone is a gracious, loving gift.
Peter has already mentioned God's choice of the recipients and the fact that God called them to salvation.
Peter, an apostle of Yeshua the Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Yeshua the Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. 1 Peter 1:1-2 ESV
"Elect…according to the foreknowledge of God the Father"—what is "according to the foreknowledge of God"? "According" is the Greek preposition kata which takes us back to "those who are elect exiles…according to the foreknowledge of God" This ties election to foreknowledge. They are elect according to God's foreknowledge. Love and choosing go together; God chooses because He loves.
Some understand "foreknowledge" as God looking into the future and choosing those whom He foresaw would believe. Are they saying that God gained knowledge by observation? If so, then there was a time when He didn't have all knowledge, and thus He's not an omniscient God after all. This would mean that election is not election at all but is, rather, a cause-and-effect arrangement basing God's choice on man's choice.
The word "foreknowledge" is the Greek noun "prognosis," which is used only here and in Acts 2:23. The verb proginōskō is used in 1 Peter 1:20 and also in Romans 8:29. Let's look at how "proginōskō" is used in 1 Peter 1:20. Speaking of Christ Peter says,
He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you. 1 Peter 1:20 ESV
Does it mean foresight there? Does it mean God was up in heaven looking down the road and said, "Oh, I see what Christ is going to do? Oh, I get it?" Is it God looking down the path of history to see what Christ will do? Not hardly. Therefore, whatever prognosis means in verse 2, it also means in verse 20. Peter's certainly not going to try to confuse us. And if Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world, then so were Peter's readers chosen before the foundation of the world.
Why do the New Testament writers emphasize this idea of election so often? They do so because it is a big deal. In fact, it is the basis of our salvation. It means that God set His love on you and prepared a glorious future for you before you were ever born, before the foundation of the world. He sent His own Son to pay the price required for your redemption from sin. So, your salvation from God's wrath is secure, not because of anything you have done or could do but because Yahweh chose you.
It is very clear that God chose some to be saved before time who will receive honor. The doctrine of election and predestination are seen clearly throughout Scripture. Look at what Paul says:
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Yeshua the Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:4-6 ESV
God loved us so he chose us and adopted us thus we are blessed in the Beloved One.
With this stone metaphor, the biblical writers established that the kingdom God built would be founded upon Yeshua the Christ. Every detail in its dimensions, shape, size, and form relates directly to Christ. Without the corner stone, the building has no value.
Christ is the cornerstone to such a degree that "the whole building," all the redeemed through the ages, are fitted and joined together into one, "holy temple in the Lord." Just as Paul did, Peter describes the body of believers as "a spiritual house" or a temple that exists for the worship, praise, declaration, and glory of Yahweh. We're "living stones" that are joined to Yeshua the Christ "the living stone."
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