In the old covenant, people offered the same sacrifices again and again but those sacrifices could never take away sins. (Hebrews 10:11.) So, there was no spiritual growth or progress in the old covenant; but in the new covenant it is totally different.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:16: “You are God’s temple!” And Peter writes: “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him — you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house …” 1 Peter 2:4-5 (NIV).
Do God’s will
Jesus is the cornerstone, the foundation stone. It was by doing God’s will that He was formed to be the cornerstone. When He came into the world He said, “Look, I have come to do your will, O God— as is written about me in the Scriptures.” Hebrews 10:7 (NLT). We enter into the new covenant in exactly the same way. Now it is also by doing God’s will that we are formed to be like Christ. In the Bible it is written about us. We are formed by the Word of God. Jesus was the Word revealed in flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). Previously they had heard the Word of God; now they could see it revealed by the body of Jesus. This is the work of the Spirit with each one of us who has entered into the new covenant.
“But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” 2 Thessalonians 2:13 (ESV).
Sanctification means that our nature is being completely changed from being human to becoming “godly”. We can’t do this ourselves, just as a rock can’t change itself into a statue. But the hands of a sculptor can form a block of stone into a statue. So it is with us. We read that we are to be sanctified by the Spirit. By faith in Christ we have received the Spirit who was promised. Now all these “rocks” that struggled in vain to change themselves into “statues”, can be changed by the Sculptor’s hands.
Become like Jesus
Jesus is the original pattern; and by the Spirit we are being changed to be like Him—into living stones. The Spirit works with us according to God’s Word so that we become like these verses say: “Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” “Bless, and curse not.” “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor,” or, “He that is greatest among you shall be the servant and slave of all,” etc.
We are God’s building; so if we are going to be formed into the right shape we must come to Jesus, who is the original pattern. We must not let ourselves be formed by father or mother, brother, sister, or worldly magazines. And we also mustn’t be influenced by the spirit of the times. We have to come to Him, the living stone, who was rejected by men but is chosen and precious in God’s sight. (1 Peter 2:4,5.)
There are many “builders” today who are forming people to fit into their own political party or religious group. All of them want to be great and accepted by society.
But we cannot fit both into heaven and on earth. We who have entered the new covenant to be formed into living stones in God’s building must accept the fact that we are going to be rejected by men when we do God’s will.
Keep the commandment without spot, and blameless
We see how seriously Paul sees this: “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing.” 1 Timothy 6:12-14.
What does it mean to keep the commandment without spot, and blameless? It means that we do not change the commandment to fit my circumstances; that my understanding of the commandment must not be influenced by the latest psychology books. We are to be formed according to the commandments— the commandments Jesus gave His disciples before He went to heaven. (Acts 1:2.)
Stones for God’s building have been cut and formed throughout all ages, and they will all be joined together to be a temple when Jesus returns. Today, each one of us is being formed, each in his own circumstances, by doing God’s will. But the day will come when we will be joined together without the sound of a hammer, just like Solomon’s temple when it was built. (1 Kings 6:7.)
If God’s co-workers had tried to change the commandment according to the spirit of the time they lived in, how do you think that all the stones formed throughout these nearly 2,000 years would fit together? Jesus has not changed, and the Spirit has stayed the same these 2,000 years; if the commandment has been kept without spot, the stones will fit together perfectly.
A stone that fits in God’s building
Now we can understand why Paul encourages Timothy so strongly to keep the commandment without spot until Jesus returns. He earnestly encourages him before God, who gives life to all things, and before Jesus Christ, who had made the good confession. This confession was that His kingdom was not of this world. Timothy had to come to Him, the living stone, enter the covenant, and be sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Paul reminds him that he had also made the good confession before many witnesses, that he had been baptised to seek the things that are above where Jesus is, and not the things on earth. And now he tells Timothy to “fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called …”
Don’t become impure by the spirit of the time; keep the commandment pure. Do God’s will. Then you will be a stone that fits in God’s building when Jesus returns.
