In 1 Peter 2:5 the word spiritual denotes the capacity of the divine life to live and grow; holy, the capacity of the divine nature to separate and sanctify. The house of God subsists mainly by the divine life; hence, it is spiritual. The priesthood subsists mainly by the divine nature; hence, it is holy.
The holy priesthood is the spiritual house. In the New Testament three Greek words are used in relation to the priests: hierosune, referring to the priestly office, as in Hebrews 7:12; hierateia, referring to the priestly service, as in verse 5; and hierateuma, referring to the assembly of priests, a body of priests, a priesthood, as in 1 Peter 2:5 and 9. The coordinated body of priests is the built-up spiritual house. Although Peter did not address his two Epistles to the church or use the term church in this verse in stressing the corporate life of the believers, he did use the terms spiritual house and holy priesthood to indicate the church life. It is not the spiritual life lived in an individualistic way, but the spiritual life lived in a corporate way, that can fulfill God’s purpose and satisfy His desire. He wants a spiritual house for His dwelling, a priestly body, a priesthood, for His service. Peter’s view concerning the believers’ corporate service in coordination is the same as Paul’s in Romans 12. This service issues from the three vital steps in the spiritual life: being born anew (1 Pet. 2:2a), growing in life by being nourished with Christ (v. 2b), and being built up with the believers.
The purpose of our growing is to be built up as a spiritual house, which is the church. God’s purpose is that we be built up together as a spiritual house, and this spiritual house is a priesthood, a body of priests built together to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God. This is the service in the church and the church life. This building, this spiritual house, is the Body of Christ. The priests are the members of the Body of Christ, and the priesthood is the Body. The Body with many priests coordinated together offers up spiritual sacrifices to God.
The New Testament believers are priests of God not individually but corporately; they are a body of priests, a priesthood. The body of priests in coordination is the built-up spiritual house. God wants a spiritual house for His dwelling, a priestly body, for His service. We all need the corporate service in the spiritual house in order to fulfill God’s purpose and satisfy God’s desire.
Without being built up into a spiritual house, the living stones can do nothing and thus are useless. The stones need to be built up into a house that will be useful to God. This usefulness of the stones is the priestly service, and this house is the priesthood. There is the need of a priestly body, a priestly group, to offer spiritual sacrifices. If we are not built up as such a priestly body, we are not qualified to offer anything to God. Therefore, if we are not built up, we are not qualified to serve. For the service, we need the Body.
We all must realize that we cannot serve God by ourselves individually. We must serve in coordination with others. One stone can never be a house; it must be built up together with other stones to form a building. It is impossible for an individual Christian to constitute the priesthood. This means, strictly speaking, that if there is no building, there is no real service to God. It is only when we are built together that proper service can be rendered to God. Real service to God is a matter of the building.
Romans 12 speaks clearly of the members of the Body of Christ functioning together in all kinds of ministries and services. The service of the Lord’s people must be in the Body, the building, the church. In principle, this is the reason that the book of Leviticus follows Exodus. Exodus is a record of building, and Leviticus is a book of service. Service always follows building. If there were no tabernacle, there could be no priests to serve. As Christians, we are individual persons, but we cannot be individualistic Christians. We cannot serve the Lord independent of others. Each individual priest must be coordinated with all the other priests. It is a dreadful thing to attempt to serve the Lord apart from the proper church life, apart from being built up with others. We must be built together as the priesthood to serve God in the building, the church, in a coordinated way.
First Peter 2:5 says that we, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house. However, if we all are clay, how can we be built up? In order to be built up as a spiritual house, we need to become stones, and in order to become living stones, we need to come to Christ as the living stone by drinking the guileless milk of the word.
If we long for the milk of the word, this milk will be like a current of living water flowing within us. As we stay in this flow, the current will carry away our natural substance and replace it with Christ as heavenly, divine minerals. Gradually, over a period of time, we will be transformed; that is, we will become precious stones. If we would be transformed, every day we need to come to the Lord as milk.
Feeding on Christ by taking in the nourishing milk in the word of God is not only for growing in life but also for building up. Growing is for building up. Although the nourishing milk of the word is for the soul through the mind, it eventually nourishes our spirit, making us not soulish but spiritual, suitable for being built up as a spiritual house of God.
Our mutual dependence on one another as the members of the Body comes through a transforming work. When we are transformed into the image of Christ and express Him fully, our individualism will disappear automatically. Only then will we be in the coordination and relatedness of the Body.
The spiritual house into which we are being built is God’s building. Eventually, this building will consummate in the New Jerusalem. In the New Jerusalem there will not be any clay, for all the clay will have been transformed into precious stones. This means that the New Jerusalem is built with precious stones. We are becoming the precious stones that will be built up into the New Jerusalem. The building work is now going on as we daily, even hourly, come to Christ as milk and drink Him. Then we will have the flow, the current, that transforms us from clay into stone for God’s building.