I don’t know how many of you are following our study of First Peter closely, but this is a fascinating portion of Scripture. That’s why it is taking us multiple weeks to work through it. I am going to call this a wet-your-appetite email to see if we can get some engagement going.  

We saw that in 2:4 he describes our coming to Christ as “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious.” In verse 5 he goes on to say that we too are living stones being built into a spiritual house. We have talked about that over the last couple of weeks.

In 2:6-8, Peter quotes three different passages from the Old Testament to support his teaching. I am going to take some time personally to chase down these Old Testament references to look at their context. I probably won’t share all of that with you because it could take a long time to work through. But I encourage you to do the same.

Here are the passages he quotes from in verses 6-8: Isaiah 28:16; Psalm 118:22;  and Isaiah 8:14.

One or more of these same three verses are quoted, discussed, or hinted at in Romans 9:32-33; Romans 10:11; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Corinthians 3:11; Matthew 21:42-44; Mark 12:10-11; Luke 20:17-18; Acts 4:10-12.

Do a little digging this week and share any insights that you have. What lessons do Jesus, Peter, and Paul provide from these very same verses?  If you do share, I will pass along your comments anonymously to the 80 or so guys who receive this email.

If you’re not interested in a deeper study like this, let me at least share one devotional thought that I gain from noticing how often these 3 verses are used in the New Testament. The Bible is rich and meaningful and is worth studying and meditating on. All Scripture is profitable and we can see that because three verses that we might just read past when we are reading the Old Testament are used by Jesus, Peter, and Paul in their teaching. Don’t minimize the importance of the Word of God in your life. Even verses that don’t seem to have much application to your life can be of great encouragement when put together with the whole of what the Bible teaches.