Convo with Pastor - 1 Peter 2:5

God is building you,

as living stones, into his spiritual temple.

What's more, you are God's holy priests,

who offer the spiritual sacrifices that

please him because of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:5

Under the Old Covenant -- see Numbers 3:10 -- the Lord said to Moses, "any unauthorized person who goes too near the sanctuary must be put to death."

Under the New Covenant -- see 1 Peter 2:5 -- YOU ARE the sanctuary. You are the spiritual temple. And you are "God's holy priests."

This is a HUGE contrast. Why the dramatic difference? Christ!

Jesus Christ is a very different kind of high priest. He confers priesthood and royalty not on the basis of birthright, but on the basis of faith. He invites -- Hebrews 4:16 -- to "approach the throne of grace with boldness" rather than with fear. And he promises that in this faith-inspired approach, we will "receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

In Christ's Love,

a priest

(and not because I went to seminary,

but because he invites us all to be one!)

----------------------------
'God is building us' - we are constantly being crafted into his temple. We will never be complete until we join him in heaven. However, as he is building us, we are allowed to go near him, to approach him. In OT times, you had to be special to go near the sanctuary. Because of God's gift to us we are all special.