<p>2:5 <i>You as living stones are being built up</i>- Even thought the Jewish believers being addressed were at a low point in their spiritual growth, the Spirit was seeking to build them up. The wise man builds his house upon the rock of Christ (Mt. 7:26), and yet the Lord Jesus builds His church on the rock of our faith in His resurrection (Mt. 16:18). Our efforts are confirmed by the Lord; this is His way of working by the Spirit. The implication is that the Lord is the builder; in contrast to the builders of the Jewish leadership, who rejected the Lord as the chief corner stone (:7). It may have been a frightening, scary and lonely prospect to be rejected by the 'builders' of Judaism and driven into exile, without any structure of spiritual support and leadership. For the early Christians continued to attend the temple and remained in the synagogues until they were cast out. Peter is urging them to realize that the Lord Himself is their builder, their good shepherd.</p><p><i>Into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood- </i>Exile from the temple system would have been a frightening experience for these orthodox Jewish converts. But they were being reminded that <i>they </i>are the temple, they are the priesthood. So often, structures we depend upon are removed and we are made to realize that it is for us to do and be what those structures were for us. Every Israelite was intended to be a priest; they were to be &quot;a Kingdom of priests&quot;. The &quot;covenant of my peace&quot; was with both Israel (Is. 54:10) and the priesthood (Mal. 2:5). The same is true of spiritual Israel; &quot;a spiritual house, an holy priesthood&quot; (1 Pet. 2:5). The process of baptism recalls the way in which the priests washed and then embarked on service to the rest of Israel. Christ is the supreme priest; but because we are &quot;in Him&quot;, we too have some part in the priesthood. See on Rom. 12:1.</p><p>As it was God&rsquo;s intention that Israel were to be a nation of priests to the rest of the world, so the new Israel likewise are to <i>all</i> discharge the priestly functions of teaching their brethren (Ex. 19:6 cp. 1 Pet. 2:5; Rev. 1:6; 5:9,10). Under the new covenant, we should <i>all </i>teach and admonish one another (Col. 3:16). Indeed, God told Israel unrecorded in the historical records: &ldquo;Ye are gods <i>elohim</i> and all of you are sons of the Most High&rdquo; (Ps. 82:6 RV). Further, Ps. 96:9 makes the paradigm breaking statement that even the Gentiles could come before Yahweh of Israel in holy, priestly array- they too could aspire to the spirit of priesthood (Ps. 96:9 RVmg.). Moses spoke of how all Israel should pray that God would establish the work of their hands (Ps. 90:17)- but this was in fact his special request for the blessing of Levi, the priestly tribe (Dt. 33:11). Ps. 135:19,20 parallels all Israel with the priestly family: &ldquo;Bless the Lord, O house of Israel: bless the Lord, O house of Aaron: bless the Lord, O house of Levi: ye that fear the Lord, bless the Lord... praise <i>ye </i>the Lord&rdquo;. All Israel were to aspire to the spirit of priesthood. Indeed, the Psalms often parallel the house of Aaron (i.e. the priesthood) with the whole nation (Ps. 115:9,10,12; 118:2,3).</p><p><i>To offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ- </i>Our offerings are acceptable to God by (Gk. <i>dia</i>, &quot;in&quot;, on account of) Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:5); by / by being in Christ we offer to God the sacrifice of praise (Heb. 13:15). The fact we come unto God directly <i>dia</i>, &quot;by&quot;, through, on account of the Lord Jesus does not mean that therefore Christ must interpret our every word to God; it cannot mean that in prayer we cannot come directly to the Father. If this were so, the Lord's model prayer would be seriously lacking in its omission of any such clause which reminds us that we are praying to God through the mediation / interpretation of Christ. If English and Greek mean anything, the Lord categorically stated that He does <i>not</i> transfer our prayers to God; through Him, as a result of His work, we have a direct approach to God: &quot;Ye shall ask <i>me</i> nothing... Ye shall ask the Father <i>in</i> my name (i.e. because you are located there, in that position / relation): and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: for the Father himself loveth you&quot; (Jn. 16:23,26,27). Christ does not pray for us in the sense of offering up our words of request to the Father; He prays for us, according to Rom. 8, of His own freewill, with His own agenda, not ours. The aim of His suffering and Heavenly mediation today, is that He might &quot;bring us to God&quot; (1 Pet. 3:18). This refers to His reconciliation of us to the Father, rather than His offering of our prayers. Because we are in His Name, on account of (&quot;by&quot;) Him and His work, we can pray directly to the Father. He does not pray the Father for us.</p><p>We are all parts of the same body, branches on the same vine, bricks in the same building; we are all strangers and pilgrims, lacking any rights of a citizen. We are all members of the same priesthood, with equal responsibility to offer up acceptable sacrifice. Don&rsquo;t miss the power of this to New Testament Jewish ears: the special responsibilities of the priests were now applied to <i>every</i> believer.</p>