“So David gave orders to call together the foreigners living in Israel, and he assigned them the task of preparing finished stone for building the Temple of God.
So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are His house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself. We are carefully joined together in Him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through Him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by His Spirit.
You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but He was chosen by God for great honor. And you are living stones that God is building into His spiritual temple. What’s more, you are His holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.
He followed the commands that Moses the Lord’s servant had written in the Book of Instruction: “Make me an altar from stones that are uncut and have not been shaped with iron tools.” Then on the altar they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord.
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.
And as the Israelites watched, Joshua copied onto the stones of the altar the instructions Moses had given them.
But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.”
{1 Chronicles 22:2; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4-5; Joshua 8:31; Romans 12:1; Joshua 8:32; Hebrews 8:10}