Grace Means...Mercy

1 Peter 2:1-10

Let’s review briefly a couple details that we have covered so far in the book of 1 Peter.

First, at the beginning of his letter, Peter speaks of the wonderful salvation given by God and in which all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ partake. This salvation is mysterious and wonderful beyond words or comprehension.

Since we receive this salvation freely by grace, Peter calls on us to respond by living lives set apart to God, not conforming to our former lusts. Speaking of living holy lives, Peter swings back around to speaking of the glories of our salvation. However, this time he tells of the living, abiding Word of God by which we have been saved.

He ends the first chapter by contrasting humanity with the spoken (or written) word of God. The word of God never changes or fades, but we people sure do. We are like grass - here today, gone tomorrow. It was the written word of God (the spoken word) that was “good newsed” to us and by which we came to know the living and abiding Word of God. I realize that we have no verb “good newsed.” So, I made one up because that is how chapter one ends. The unchanging spoken word of God was “good newsed” to us. (The verb in question is a combination of  “good” and “proclaim,” and would normally be translated “evangelize.”)

With this background, chapter two starts out with the word “therefore.” This “therefore” looks back at the wonderful things by which we were saved, and it looks forward to those things we are saved to. To say that another way, Peter is looking back at what he has just told us about salvation and at the same time looking forward to the great things God is doing.

Now, if you will allow me, I am going to start at the end. In 1 Peter 1:10, the last verse of today’s Scripture passage, it says:

1 Peter 2:10 (NKJV) who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

This is where we are going today. We will see how we, who were not a people, became the people of God and obtained mercy.

We are going to see that Grace Means...Mercy.

Mercy is defined as:

compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm (New Oxford American Dictionary, iOS)

With God, mercy also includes His loving kindness by which He gives us blessings instead of the punishment we deserve. For example, in 1 Peter 2:1-10, not only does God forgive us and withhold the punishment we deserve, but He also gives us immeasurable blessings and a privileged position.

Going back to verse three of 1 Peter 2, God’s mercy is what is in view when it says:

1 Peter 2:3 (NKJV) if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Two exciting and important things stand out about this verse. First, when it says “if indeed,” it means since, but it is an assumption or a supposition, so it cannot be translated “since.” In other words, Peter assumes that we have tasted that the Lord is gracious when he says “if,” instead of “since.” This is important because it makes it abundantly clear that Peter is addressing believers. If one is not a believer, the truths he is talking about do not apply.

This verse's second important and exciting thing is the word translated as “gracious” or “good.” One Greek scholar said, “We have no adjective in English that conveys this blend of being kind and good at the same time.” However, taking this into consideration, this is what we are talking about when we say “God’s mercy.”

Because of God’s goodness, kindness and mercy, Peter begins his second chapter by asking us to lay aside all: malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. Malice means evil. Deceit means using words to trick or trap someone. Hypocrisy means pretending to be something we are not. Envy means rejoicing in the misfortune or resenting the success of another. And slander means to speak evil of another. All of these represent the ways we violate God’s commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves.

These sinful attitudes are a result of our lusts that wage war against our souls. But we have been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus and reborn by an incorruptible seed. Therefore we are instructed to crave (desire) the pure milk of the word.

For being a fisherman, Peter sure uses a lot of big, difficult words. The NKJV translates Verse 2 as:

1 Peter 2:2 (NKJV) as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby...

It does not actually say “of the word.” Peter uses a word that appears only here and in Romans 12:1, and in Romans 12:1, it is translated as “reasonable.” (Romans 12:1 (NKJV): which is your reasonable service.) Some have translated it as "spiritual" milk. The idea behind this word is the mind or logic. When Peter says the "reasonable," pure milk, the word he uses for pure is the opposite of the term for malice that he used when saying, “Putting aside all malice.” 

The idea is that we are to pursue the pure, unadulterated word of God, which is food for the mind and thus the spirit. 

Too often, I have seen people pursuing the more profound things of God and going way off course. People get into and believe some weird stuff. Nothing we do is ever free of the corruption of sin, so we need to stick with the simple truth of Scripture. Don’t try to be deep or profound. Just try to understand what God is saying in His word. His word is reasonable, and it is the food we need.

1 Peter 2:1-10 tells us to do three things. Three main verbs express what mercy demands we do. The first is crave.

Peter used a term that means a just-born baby. A just-born baby only has one pursuit - milk. Once they have milk, they go to sleep. That’s it. Nothing else matters. That is how we are to crave the word.

Second, we are to be built up. Verse 5 says:

1 Peter 2:5 (NKJV) you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Here, again, our simple fisherman shows that he is not so simple. “Are being built up can also be translated as “Be being built up.” The verb form can be a command as well as descriptive. 

Jesus is a living stone. Peter’s name means rock, and the word used is "Petros," a small natural stone. The Church is built upon the "Petra," natural bedrock or a cliff. This living stone that is the cornerstone is "Lithos," a shaped or hewn stone cut for the purpose. 

Jesus is the head of the Church. He is the stone that was rejected by men. We are being built up as His body, a spiritual temple. Being made a part of a building that God is making is an incredible mercy, seeing that we deserve only punishment.

We are to participate. We are to be being built up. Here’s the tricky part. We are being built up to offer spiritual sacrifices.

What are spiritual sacrifices?

How do I offer up spiritual sacrifices? I mean - I get up, go to work to earn my pay, go home, eat dinner, watch some TV or mow the grass, and go to bed. Where’s the spiritual sacrifice in that?

Let’s go back to our word “reasonable.” Verse 2 says crave the reasonable pure milk, and Romans 12:1 says presenting our bodies is our reasonable service of worship. The idea is not "reasonable" as in "to be expected," but reasonable as in "spiritual" or worship of the mind/soul.

Spiritual sacrifices start in the mind by taking every thought captive to obedience to Christ. If that is not enough to keep you busy, you aren’t doing it right. Think of your testimony in the world. How can you have the most impact for Christ? Well, it starts in the mind/soul, taking every thought captive to obedience to Christ. Every attitude, every thought matters. Start there by feeding yourself on the pure milk of the word.

If we are not obedient to the word, we will fall, stumbling over Christ.

I said there were three main verbs, and we have covered only two - craving and being built up. The third one is "proclaim."

We have been chosen to proclaim the glories or excellencies of God. Verses nine and ten say:

1 Peter 2:9–10 (NKJV) ⁹But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; ¹⁰who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

These verses point once more to the greatness of God’s mercy. We are chosen, royal, holy, and special. We once were not a people. We were lost without God and without hope. But God chose us and made us His own. All the things Peter has said about Jesus being the cornerstone and us being a chosen people, a holy nation, and a people for His possession are taken directly from the Old Testament. These are the things that God told Israel He chose them for. However, they rejected all these things, so God made them available to us. Romans 11 tells us:

Romans 11:12–15 (NKJV) ¹²Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!

¹³For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, ¹⁴if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. ¹⁵For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

God has not rejected Israel permanently nor forgotten His promises. But He has made His promises available to us. 

Our simple fisherman has me stumped. He calls us a royal priesthood. As such, we stand in the gap for our world. As long as we are here, the evil one is held back. But when we are removed, the time of Jacob’s trouble will begin. What has me stumped is the fact that Peter uses three different words for people. Various translations render them differently. Look at verses 9 and 10 again.

1 Peter 2:9–10 (NKJV) ⁹But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; ¹⁰who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

The NKJV translates these words as "generation," "nation," and "people." The ESV translates them as race, nation, people. Literally, the first one, “generation," means a family or descendant, like Israel, a nation named after its progenitor. The second one is the word from which we get our word ethnic. It signifies a people joined by a common culture and language (Not necessarily skin tone). The Church shares a common culture and language as we follow Jesus. The third word, translated as "people," is used almost exclusively connected to “of God,” as in “the people of God.” The Jews are still called “the chosen people.” But we have been grafted in. Now we are called the people of God. We were not a people, but now we are a people, as in “the people of God.”

This all represents mercy of such great magnitude that there are no words to describe it. But the response of a grateful heart is to crave, be built up, and proclaim.