You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
To be a holy priesthood ...  The original purpose of God was that all of the Israelites should be a nation of priests  (Exodus 19:6); and the subsequent development of a special priestly class came about as a result of the weakness and sins of the people.  God's purposes are eternal; and therefore the same goal of having a "holy nation" a "kingdom of priests" still prevails.  The priesthood of every believer in Christ (that is, obedient believers) is evident in a statement like this.  This conception is also in the book of Hebrews and in  Revelation 1:6, where it is written that God made Christians to be a "kingdom and priests unto God."  It should be noted especially that it is a "holy" priesthood to which Christians are ordained. All wickedness must be put away, stripped off, renounced by all who would participate in the priesthood mentioned here.