2:6 Before going on, however, Peter elaborated on the foundation of this building, which is the church. "Zion"is the heavenly Jerusalem. The "corner stone"refers to the main stone on which the building rests. It does not refer to a modern corner stone or to the last stone the mason put at the top of the building, the keystone (Isa. 28:16; cf. Eph. 2:20). In view of this, it seems that the rock (Gr. petra, a large stone) to which Jesus referred in Matthew 16:18 was not Peter (Gr. Petros, a small stone) but Himself. Jesus, not Peter, much less Judaism, is the foundation upon which God has promised to build the church (cf. 1 Cor. 3:11).
Peter clarified two relationships of the believer in these verses (4-6). He rests on Christ as a building rests on its foundation. Furthermore he relates to every other believer as the stones of a building under construction relate to one another. We need each other, should support each other, and should work together to build the church in the world.
2:7-8 In contrast to believers, those who reject Jesus Christ as the foundation find Him to be a stone over which they trip and fall. He becomes the instrument of their destruction. The "builders"were Israel's religious leaders (cf. Ps. 118:22). When they disobeyed Old Testament commands to accept their Messiah they stumbled spiritually and would suffer destruction (Isa. 8:14). This was true of Israel corporately, and it is true of every unbeliever individually. Election results in the salvation of some (1:2), but it also means destruction for others (v. 8).
"In the immediate context it is not so much a question of how Christian believers perceive Christ as of how God (in contrast to people generally') perceives him, and of how God consequently vindicates both Christ and his followers."68
To what does God appoint those who stumbled, unbelief or the stumbling that results from unbelief? In the Greek text the antecedent of "to this"(eis ho) is the main verb "stumble"(proskoptousi) as it is in the English text. "Are disobedient"(apeithountes) is a participle that is subordinate to the main verb. Therefore we would expect "to this"to refer to the main verb "stumble"rather than to the subordinate participle "are disobedient."69God appoints those who stumble to stumble because they do not believe. Their disobedience is not what God has ordained, but the penalty of their disobedience is (cf. Acts 2:23; Rom. 11:8, 11, 30-32).70
". . . the point of 1 Peter 2:6-8 is to demonstrate the honored status believers have because of their relationship with Christ."71
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