Peter speaks of Christian life as a journey of spiritual formation for each Christian, with Christ Himself participating directly in the process. It is no accident that the apostle speaks of the word and...
Peter speaks of Christian life as a journey of spiritual formation for each Christian, with Christ Himself participating directly in the process. It is no accident that the apostle speaks of the word and of the “milk of the word,” which means as much for Christians' spiritual formation as physical milk does for an infant's physical development.
In speaking of the word of God in those days, people meant above all the Torah—not only as a text, of course, but also as revelation addressed to a person. This is what was then called the inner Torah: commandments perceived not as legal or moral standards, but as God's intentions addressed directly to the person. This was truly the word of God, not heard from other people, from teachers or preachers, but received directly from God by those to whom it was addressed.
The inner Torah became more than a spiritual and moral imperative for the person who followed it: it shaped and provided a framework for direct communion with God, becoming an inner structure that sustained the person spiritually. If outward religiosity resembles a corset supporting the body from outside, the inner Torah is more like a skeleton, supporting it from within without restricting movement. The result was to be the person's transformation into a “spiritual stone” which, in the apostle's words, could become part of a house whose foundation is the risen Christ Himself. It is no accident that in this context Peter mentions a “holy priesthood” and “spiritual sacrifices.”
The essence of every sacrifice offered in the worship of Yahweh is communion with God, abiding in His presence, a shared meal between God and human beings. The priests' task was to unite two worlds: the sanctifying world of God's presence and the earthly world sanctified by that presence. Now, after Christ's coming and the manifestation of the Kingdom to the world, it is the inhabitants of the Kingdom who become priests: the world is now sanctified through them. In this sense one can speak of “spiritual sacrifices”: if sacrifice is, above all, communion with God and abiding in His presence, then a Christian's entire life must become a “sacrifice,” precisely in the sense of such abiding.
But without the inner Torah this is impossible. Without it, the Kingdom will remain merely something external to a person, because inwardly they will be wholly unprepared to receive either its power or its breath, and even less prepared to retain them and carry them into the world. Yet that is precisely the task Peter sets Christians: to carry the Kingdom into the world by becoming living stones of the spiritual Temple. No more and no less.
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2:9 But ye - Who believe in Christ Are - In a higher sense than ever the Jews were. A chosen or elect race, a royal priesthood - "Kings and priests unto God," Rev 1:6. As princes, ye have power with God, and victory oversin, the world, and the devil: as priests, ye are consecrated to God, for offering spiritual sacrifices. Ye Christians are as one holy nation, under Christ your King. A purchased people - Who are his peculiar property. That ye may show forth - By your whole behaviour, to all mankind. The virtues - The excellent glory, the mercy, wisdom, and power of him, Christ, who hath called you out of the darkness of ignorance, error, sin, and misery.