1 Peter 2:7-8—Rejecters of the Stone
This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,” and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. 1 Peter 2:7-8
This precious value, then, is for you who believe…
You who believe have received an enormously precious value. Because of your faith in Christ, you will not be disappointed—the living Stone is your personal Rock of refuge.
… but for those who disbelieve…
In stark contrast to men and women of faith are those who disbelieve. Disbelievers are not merely those who struggle with unbelief; they are a category of their own. Disbelievers are those who are religiously dogmatic about their disbelief; they pride themselves on their intellectual rejection of the claims of Christ.
“The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,”
Chief among the disbelievers were builders: Leaders of men. Rulers over others. Those in authority. False shepherds.
And those who were entrusted with stewardship over the lives and well-being of hundreds of thousands of souls rejected the living Stone from God. They wanted nothing to do with that Man but to discredit Him, to silence Him, and to snuff Him out.
It seems as if many of those builders are still alive in our day.
Yet this Stone, this Rock of great value, could not be diminished by the deception and ruthlessness of disbelievers. Indeed, the rejected Stone—cast aside as abhorrent by the builders themselves—was chosen before the foundation of the world to be set as Cornerstone of God’s new Construction, the Church.
“A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”
The builders were entrusted with this Stone of precious value to cleanse themselves and to empower them to shepherd the sheep with wisdom and humble integrity. Instead, they stumbled over Him in their vehement rejection and were offended by Him due to their unwavering disbelief.
… for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word…
It wasn’t their intellectual acuity or their highly-evolved spirituality that led them to reject the living Stone. No, the bottom line was this: they refused to obey the Word.
… and to this doom they were also appointed.
It is no small thing to “do your own thing” in regard to the Truth, figuring that embracing the Word of God belongs to narrow souls, not to open-minded individuals such as yourself. However, Jesus, the Stone rejected by those who should have known better, noted long ago, “The gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:14).
So they chose their own path, you may suggest. What could that possibly hurt? And what is this doom? Why are they appointed to it?
The doom that awaits disbelievers and Stone-rejecters is simply this: They will receive their preference—an eternity without Christ, separated from all that is His—and could have been theirs for the asking.
Why are they appointed to doom? They made the appointment via their disbelief; they secured their appointment by choosing to be offended by the only One who could save them.
Matthew Henry’s Commentary refers to such souls this way: “All those who are disobedient take offense at the Word of God; they are offended with Christ Himself, and with His doctrine and the purity of His precepts…at the meanness [unimpressiveness] of His appearance and the proposal of trusting only to Him for their justification before God” [Note: Mr. Henry passed away in 1714 before he finished his commentary on the epistles and Revelation. The commentary on 1 Peter was written from Mr. Henry’s notes by Mr. Zechariah Merrill.]
What does it profit a man to gain the world only to forfeit his soul? And what precious value awaits the one who forfeits the ways of the world to gain Christ?
Dorothy
But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. Hebrews 10:39
© 2015, Dorothy Frick