1 Peter 2:4-10

v4: Jesus is the foundation “of all our hopes and happiness.” Only He can communicate the true knowledge of God to us. It is “through him we have access to the Father,” and “we share in all spiritual blessings.” He is the One whom God has chosen to be “the Lord of the universe, the head of the church, the Saviour of his people, and the Judge of the world.” He is precious to God and must be precious to us.

v5: We are to offer to God as spiritual sacrifices our “bodies, souls, affections, prayers, praises, gifts, and other duties,” who will accept them only “through Jesus Christ... that is why we are to bring all our sacrifices to him, and by him present them to God.”

v6-8: Unbelievers stumble over Christ. “They are offended by Christ himself, by his teaching and the purity of his commands,” and at the need to trust only in Him “for their justification before God.”

v9-10: What privileges we have as Christians. We are a chosen race, “chosen in Christ... and sanctified by his Spirit.” We are a royal priesthood, “separated from sin and sinners, dedicated to God, and offering spiritual services and sacrifices, which are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” We are a holy nation, “gathered under one head, agreeing in the same ways, and directed by the same laws.” We are a people for His possession, “the people [God] has acquired, chosen, cared for, and delighted in.” These privileges are “not natural” to us, but because we “have been effectively called out of darkness into a state of marvellous light, joy, pleasure,” so that “by words and actions,” we might declare “the greatness and praise of the One who has called” us.