1 Peter 2:8

1 Peter 2:8 ‘and, “A stone of stumbling and. rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.'

‘A stone of stumbling and. rock of offense' -(Isaiah 2:14) 1. ‘Stone of stumbling'-a stumbling block,. stone which causes men to stumble. ‘There seems to be here. picture of construction workers who were stumbling over the very object they had cast out and left to the side of the building they were erecting. Or, perhaps more accurately, they continued to stumble at the projecting cornerstone, even after God had placed it (Him) in His proper place as head of the corner..'(Oberst pp. 102-103) 2. ‘Rock of offense'-‘anything which arouses prejudice, or becomes. hindrance or causes to fall by the way, the hindrance in itself may be good.' (Vine p. 129) 3. Christianity will ‘offend' certain individuals. People erroneously assume that if something doesn't sound good to them, if they say, ‘Well,. cannot accept that', then it must not be true. Man isn't the standard for truth (Isaiah 2:8). We must never try to make the gospel into. ‘non-offensive' message.

‘for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word' -1. ‘Stumble'-‘take offence at, feel repugnance for, reject' (Arndt p. 716). Notice that this stumbling isn't accidental and neither is it inherent in their nature. There is. clear reason why people reject Jesus Christ. 2. ‘Disobedient to the word'-‘to refuse to be persuaded, to refuse belief, to be disobedient' (Vine p. 319) ‘Lit., “unbelieving”..willful opposition' (P.P. Comm. p. 71).

POINTS TO NOTE: 1. Unbelief is active opposition to the truth. One must work at becoming an unbeliever. One must reject the evidence which is all around them (Romans 1:20). One must also adopt foolish and illogical theories to support his or her unbelief (Romans 1:21). 2. Unbelief is. moral problem, not an intellectual problem. They stumble, because they are disobedient to the word, i.e. the word of God. ‘It indicates that many who reject Christ do so because of moral disobedience to God in their lives.' (Grudem p. 107) 3. One cannot accept Jesus and at the same time, reject the words of Christ (John 12:48). Those who reject the ‘plan', automatically reject the ‘man'. One cannot have. relationship with God, one cannot believe in Him or trust Him, without accepting what He taught.

‘and to this doom they were also appointed' -1. Specific individuals are not appointed for destruction, rather, it is the penalty for disobedience. It was God's choice that obedience should be rewarded and that disobedience must be punished. 2. If one fails to accept the teachings of Christ, they will stumble. This is. natural cause and effect (Galatians 6:7). 3. Those who rejected Jesus were told to repent (Acts 2:36; Acts 3:17), which proves that no one has been predestined for doom. ‘God, in placing man under circumstances involving the possibility of great benefit as well as terrible dangers, expects man to seize the benefits and avoid the dangers; and if man refuses to do so, he cannot complain that God is unjust.' (Woods p. 62)