The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Peter — Section 97

the preciousness." What preciousness? The definite article pmuts us back to the attribute of the "Corner-stone" in the previous verse. It is "elect, precious." Peter'_; thought, then, is that all in Christ which makes him precious belougs or passes on to us by faith. That is a profound thought put in very simple and homely words. Faith makes 118 owners of all Christ's infinite worth. I. 'l'rrE TilANBFERENC,'E TO us OF THE PRECIOUSNF.SS OF THE FOUNDATI0:-1. There are two possible meanings of this phrase, and probably both are included in the apostle's thought. It may either be that the qualities which make Christ precious pass over to us nnd become our qualities and character, or that the qualities which make Christ precious become available for our benefit. The first of these thoughts is in accordance with the immediate context, for we find the same idea expressed in severnl aspects in ver. 5, where the living Stone is said to make those who come to him also living stones, and Christians are represented as being like their Lord, livin:2; temples, consecrated priests, and acceptable sacrifices. 'l'he idea that vital union with Christ brings about a communication of qualities from him to his followers, as if the virtue of the Foundatiou rose through all the building, is surely taught in a hundred places in Scripture, and is the very climax of the gospel. He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. He that is grafted into the true Olive Tree partakes of its root and fatness. We share our Lord's life; and his character shall growingly become ours. Whatever makes him precious in the sight of God we may partake of, and so be accepted in the Beloved, and be found in him, not having our own righteousness, but clothed with his. We may hope for progressive assimilation to his character, which will not cease till entire cont'ormity has been realized, and we have absorbed all the preciousness of his infinitely worthy and spotlessly pure nature. Water stands at the same level in two communicating vessels, and if our heart~ are open to the influx of Christ's life, the flow will not cease till all his is ours, and his fulness has filled our emptiness. Looking at the other aspect of the thought, it implies t-bat the precious- ness -of the Foundation is available for us rather than communicated to us. The "therefore" of our text suggests that it is substantially equivalent in meaning to the closing words of the previous verse, "He that believeth on him shall not be con- founded." So that part of the meaning, at all events, is the security of building on that Foundation. The preciousness of a foundation is its solidity and power to bear the superincumbent pressure without yielding. That steadfast capacity to sustain all our weight if we build ourselves on him is available to benefit and bless us. There- fore we-need never fear that our Foundation will settle or give. ,ve need not fear to pile upon it all the pressure of our cares and sorrows, or to rear on it the fabric of our ho[>eS and security. It will stand. Those who have reared their lives on other foundations will stand aghast when they feel them crumbling away in some hour of supreme need. 'l'hcy will have to flee with the haste of despair from the falling ruins. But if we have built on Christ, we shall have no need for haste, and no pale confusion need ever blanch our cheeks. 'l'he steadfastness of the Foundation will avail to make us builded upon it steadfast too, and, if we believe, all its preciousness will be ours and for us. II. How TBIS PRECIOUSNESS DECOMES OUR~. 'l'he order of the sentence in the original puts emphasis on "who believe." The purpose of the clause is to mark the persons to whom alone the preciousness belongs, in sharp aud solemn contrast with nnother class, to whom none of the saving, but only the destructive, powers which lie in the Foundation pass over. '!'he worth of Christ is ours on one condition, but that condition is inexorable; faith, simple trust, which takes him for what he is and rests the whole being on Jesus as incarnate Son of God, Sacrifice for my sin as for all men's, Inspirer of all my goodness, Pattern, Friend, my Life, my All in all,-is the simple, sole, nncl indispensable condition of receiving his blessings and being enriched by his pre- ciousness. 'l'here is nothing arbitrary in such a condition. It arises necessarily from the very nature of the case. How can Christ's sacrifice benefit me if I do not believe in it? What possible connection can be established between him and me, except through my trust in him? Faith is but stretching out the hand to grasp his extended hand. How can he hold me up, or give me the blessings of which his hands are full, if mine liancr listless by n;.y side, or are resolutely clenched behind my back? Faith ie the opeoing of the heart for tlrn inflow of his gifts. How can the sunshine enter ~he how,e if doors nre barred and windows shuttered? Faith is but the channel 92 THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER [oH. u.1-2&.