NOTES for Pe1 2:1-10

Christ is called a living stone, but we too are called to be living stones like Him. Once again the apostle notes the lofty calling entrusted to us: we are called to become fellow workers with God in salvation, like Him. He created us in His image and likeness, and even if we have distorted His image through our sinfulness, this does not mean that the Lord has abandoned His original design.

The gathering of the faithful around Christ is the most important step toward restoring a world damaged by sin. Peter concludes the list of descriptions that reveal the calling of Christians—“a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation...”, descriptions on which we ought to reflect more often amid the bustle of daily life—with the words that Christians “once were not a people but are now the people of God.” This recalls how the path of the people chosen to preserve faithfulness to the Lord began with the calling of Abraham. At first, in order to fulfill the service entrusted to them, the people had to separate themselves from their pagan neighbors. Now, however, the people of God are expanding: all who are called can enter them, even if they have been rejected by human beings—but not by God.