1 Peter 2:5

Peter now says that Christians are like ‘stones that are living’. Jesus makes people alive in their spirit. God lives in Christians. He does not live in a physical building (1 Corinthians 6:19). When the builders made the temple, they built the walls with stones. God now builds a *spiritual house. He builds it with people. Here *spiritual means linked to God’s Spirit, not to a physical building. This *spiritual house is the church. When people become Christians, they become part of the church. God is holy, so he wants to live in holy people (see chapter 1:15-).

Christians are also ‘holy priests’. The Jewish priests were the only people who could go into the temple. They worshipped God and prayed to him. They sacrificed animals to God so that he would forgive sins. They went to God on behalf of other people. Now Jesus has died on the cross to forgive sins. We do not need to sacrifice animals any more. Everyone can come to God through Jesus. ‘*Spiritual *sacrifices’ are what Christians offer to God. This shows God that they love him. In the *New Testament there are 4 ways by which Christians offer *sacrifices to God:

(1) They give their whole life to God (Romans 12:1).

(2) They *praise and thank God (Hebrews 13:15).

(3) They do good work and share what they have with other people (Hebrews 13:16).

(4) They support people who explain the good news about Jesus (Philippians 4:18).