How did Peter state his conviction that all believers are "living stones" built on Christ the chosen Cornerstone?

1 Pet. 2:4-7. (See Isa. 28; Ps. 118.) Peter and the other apostles were the first stones of the new spiritual temple, the church that Christ was founding. The New Testament recognizes them as the new Israel of God (see Eph. 2:20; Rev. 21:14), established on Christ the Rock, and held together by Him, the chief Cornerstone. "In the presence of God, and all the heavenly intelligences, in the presence of the unseen army of hell, Christ founded His church upon the living Rock. That Rock is Himself-His own body, for us broken and bruised. Against the church built upon this foundation, the gates of hell shall not prevail." The Desire of Ages, p. 413. What honor did Christ bestow on Peter and on the other apostles? Matt. 16:19; l8:18, 19. What do the "keys of the kingdom of heaven" signify? Christ referred to "the key to knowledge" which the scribes had taken away from the people so that nobody could enter the kingdom of God (Luke 11:52). Jesus honored Peter along with the apostles and all ...  more