Come is not in the Greek text; the Good News Translation, however, repeats it here (from verse 4), in order to accent the imperative nature of the verse. As Christ is the living stone, so the believers themselves are like living stones, that is, they share in the very nature of Christ himself. Living here cannot mean “life-giving” as in verse 4, but simply “alive,” which is a further reference to the believers’ new life in Christ and their participation in his suffering and exaltation. It may further imply that the believers should be alive in their relationships, particularly in their love and concern for one another.
It may be important to indicate with the verb come the person to whom one is to come, for example, “come to the Lord,” but it may be important to indicate that persons are “to come to the Lord and be as living stones” or “… stones that are alive.” Without the expression “and be like” a reader might get the impression that Christians were to come to the Lord like rolling stones.
As living stones, they are to let themselves be used in building the spiritual temple. Let yourselves be used in building represents one Greek passive participle, with God as the implied builder (compare Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “Let God use you in the construction of a spiritual temple”). The participle itself can either be indicative or imperative; some prefer the former (for example, Jerusalem Bible “to be built up…”), but most other translations prefer the latter. The word translated temple can mean a house, or a household (as in Acts 10.2; 11.14; 1 Cor 1.16; etc.); in view of the metaphorical use of “stones,” the former is to be preferred. Describing the church as the temple accents the collective nature of the community (compare Eph 2.21, 22). This temple is spiritual, which may contrast it with the material temple in Jerusalem. However, in view of the fact that the Greek word used here (pneumatikos) is normally associated with the Spirit of God, the primary meaning here may be that the temple owes its existence from the Spirit of God, and not from the efforts of human hands (compare Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “the temple of God … which is built by the Spirit of God”). As the temple of God’s Spirit, the church as the new Israel is contrasted with that of the Old Israel: the latter being ethnically defined, whereas the former is now free from ethnic boundaries. The spiritual temple therefore is the true temple of God, neither limited by earthly boundaries, nor defeated by non-spiritual forces.
There may be a number of advantages involved in transforming the passive expression let yourselves be used in building into an active one, for example, “let God use you in building.”
The spiritual temple may be rendered as “the temple built by the Spirit of God” or “the temple which God’s Spirit builds.” The term temple may in turn be rendered as “God’s house” or “God’s dwelling place.” Note, however, that in the clause let yourselves be used in building the spiritual temple the believers are to constitute part of the temple itself. This is not an exhortation to Christians to allow themselves to become workmen in constructing the temple, but rather to be as living stones a part of the temple. This figurative expression is, however, soon dropped, for in the following clause the focus is upon the believers serving as holy priests.
The idea of the church as the temple naturally leads to the description of the believers as holy priests (literally “a holy priesthood”). Whereas spiritual temple defines the nature of the church, “holy priesthood” defines its vocation or task. “Holy priesthood” can be taken either as a reference to the exercise of priestly functions, or collectively, that is, “body of priests” (compare Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). A literal translation would lean towards the first of these two alternatives. There may be distinct advantages in combining the two possibilities of the meaning by putting equal weight on function (“serve”) and the collective meaning (“a body of priests”). That the church is described in such fashion indicates a very unique feature of the Christian community, in which there are no special priests, but the whole community itself functions as a priestly body. Holy expresses a particular relationship with God, a relationship which implicitly is denied to other groups of priests. Basically, holy accents the fact that Christians are chosen by God and consecrated to him. For further discussion of the term, see 1.2 and 1.15.
In the phrase holy priests it may be best to translate holy has “dedicated to God”; in fact, in some languages the equivalent of holy is normally a phrase, “consecrated to God” or “dedicated to God” or “for the service of God,” used in speaking of a number of objects and persons, for example, clothing, utensils, altar, sanctuary, and priests.
The function of believers as holy priests is to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ (literally “spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God”). For spiritual, see above. The basic distinction here is between the material (for example, animal) sacrifices offered by the Jewish priests, and the spiritual sacrifices of the new Israel, that is, the sacrifices which are inspired by the Spirit of God. These sacrifices are not specified beyond the description that they are spiritual. Elsewhere in the New Testament, some of these sacrifices are enumerated (for example, “good deeds,” Heb 13.16; Philippians 4.18; “worship,” Heb 13.15; Rev 7.15; “praise and thanksgiving to God,” Heb 13.15 and following; and “mutual sharing”).
The concept of spiritual and acceptable sacrifices is extremely difficult to communicate effectively in some languages, since the term “sacrifice” is often rendered as a “killed gift.” It may be more satisfactory, therefore, in this particular context to render to offer … acceptable sacrifices to God as “to make offerings which are acceptable to God” or “to offer to God what is acceptable to him.” The term spiritual may then be rendered in such a way as to indicate the role of the Spirit of God, for example, “to make offerings to God which are acceptable to him and which are inspired by the Spirit of God” or “… encouraged by the Spirit of God” or “… prompted by the Spirit of God” or “… which the Spirit of God suggests.”
Through Jesus Christ may be taken either with offer or with acceptable. If the former, then Christ is the mediator, and it is only through him that people can approach God and offer acceptable sacrifices to him (compare Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “Permit Jesus Christ to give you the capacity to bring offerings to God…”). If the latter, then the sacrifices offered to God are acceptable to him only because of Christ and because they are offered on his behalf (compare Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “who on behalf of Jesus Christ offer spiritual sacrifices that God can accept”).
If through Jesus Christ is to be understood in a mediating sense, then one can relate the phrase to the preceding expression as “Jesus Christ makes it possible for you to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices to God.” If the phrase through Jesus Christ is to be related to the adjective acceptable, then it is possible to translate “sacrifices to God which are acceptable to him because of Jesus Christ” or “… because of what Jesus Christ has done.”
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The First Letter from Peter. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .