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New Defender's Study Bible Notes

2:4 living stone. As not just the foundation rock (I Corinthians 3:11), but also as a living stone that could bring life and sustenance, Christ is the fulfillment of the type suggested by the rock smitten in the wilderness, which thenceforth brought life-sustaining water to God’s people (see Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:8; I Corinthians 10:4).


2:4 chosen of God. The Greek word here for “chosen” (also in I Peter 2:9) is the same as that for “elect” in I Peter 1:2 and 2:6. Thus, the “elect of God” are those “chosen by God.” Note also John 15:16 and Ephesians 1:4.


2:5 spiritual house. Believers are placed, as living stones quickened by Christ, into the spiritual temple of God (see Ephesians 2:19-22).


2:5 priesthood. Christ is High Priest (Hebrews 4:14), but we also are called on to exercise what has come to be called “the priesthood of the believer,” offering up spiritual sacrifices consisting of our own dedicated bodies (Romans 12:1), prayers of praise, thanksgiving and intercession (Hebrews 13:15), and material gifts for the full-time servants of God (Philippians 4:18).


2:5 spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God. Since the one sacrifice of Christ has completely eliminated the need for repeated animal sacrifices, those sacrifices that are now “acceptable” to God include the presentation of our own bodies as a “living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1), the “sacrifice of praise” offered continually, doing good, and “communicating” (that is, sharing what we have with others), “for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Hebrews 13:15-16).


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