August 22, 2025 - 1 Peter 2:4 - "To Whom Coming"

1 Peter 2:4

“To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious…” 

We live in a time when coming to Christ is often reduced to “making a decision for 'jesus,” “walking an aisle,” repeating a so-called “sinner’s prayer,” or “accepting a 'jesus' as your personal savior.” Multitudes—numbering in the hundreds of millions—profess to be “believers” or “christians” based on having once made that decision to “accept jesus” and they remain confident in that claim to this day.

A common denominator in all these professions of “faith” is that the sinner is left to make the decision, and forgiveness of sins is made to depend on that crucial choice for 'jesus'. Yet the question few seem to ask is this: Where in the Word of God do we ever find even one example of such modern practices? The real issue is that people place their trust in men and their corrupt inventions, instead of turning to the Scriptures to see how God Himself describes coming to Christ—and the Christ to Whom sinners come when the Spirit of God draws them.

The apostle speaks of Christ as the Living Stone, rejected indeed of men, but Chosen of God and Precious. To this Christ, the Spirit effectually draws the elect, not by the persuasion of human wisdom, but by the inward call of God's sovereign grace. Though despised by the world, He is the Foundation laid in Zion, upon Whom all the Hope of God’s people rest (Isaiah 28:16) and by Whom God the Father has once and forever justified those for whom He shed His blood on the cross, when He had finished their work of salvation then and there (Romans 5:9-11).

Drawn by the Spirit, sinners are brought to see His worth, to renounce their righteousness, and to cleave to Him as their only Refuge (Romans 10:1-4). Thus, the Christ to Whom they come is the divinely appointed, Precious Cornerstone, rejected of men yet esteemed of the Father, and made altogether lovely to the hearts of those who are called.

How then do those sinners come to the Christ of Scripture that God the Father has purposed to draw to Him (John 6:44)?

1.) Coming to Christ is NOT within the power of man’s will, but of God alone. God alone determines who HE will draw to Christ, and unless the sinner has been drawn to Christ by God and His Spirit of Grace, they certainly have not yet come to Him, and are deluded in thinking they have. John 6:44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” And again in John 1:12 and 13, we are told plainly that anyone who comes to Christ and embraces Him as Truth does so, not by the will of man, but of God!

2.) Coming to Christ is NOT a physical act or performance, but a Spiritual, God-given persuasion as to Who Christ is and how salvation is in, by, and through HIM alone.  Many came to our LORD Jesus physically, and followed Him physically while He was on earth, and yet the apostle John wrote these inspired words, “But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men.” (John 2:24)

3.) Coming to Christ is NOT a one time act, but one of continual coming, 1 Peter 2:4. Once Christ is revealed in the heart of a sinner, that same Spirit of Christ giving life to the previously dead soul, creates in the sinner the hunger and thirst after Christ, that never goes away. Psalm 42:1, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.”  When the hart is running from the danger of the hunter, his thirst drives him to seek out the water brooks. So, we as sinners, awakened to the danger of our sin, and continually aware as the Spirit constantly shines the Light of Christ in our hearts, we continue to come to HIM as our only Hope.

In Christ, the Living Stone, we see the full display of God’s sovereign grace: He calls whom He wills, drawing the elect out of darkness to Himself. Our approach to Him is not by our choosing, but by His irresistible work of the Spirit. As we draw near to Him, we are built up into a spiritual house, not by human effort, but by the sustaining Power of Christ. We then rejoice, not in our merit, but in the glorious privilege of being drawn, kept, and preserved by the grace of Him Who is the Chief Cornerstone.