God’s Own People

MEMORY VERSE: “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” —I Peter 2:9

I PETER 1:13-21; 2:9,10

NO GREATER honor could come upon anyone than to be counted among the people of God—those whom he owns, and for whom he cares. But this precious relationship with God carries with it great responsibility. Peter wrote, “Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober.” The New English Bible reads, “You must therefore be like men stripped for action, perfectly self-controlled.”

We have a glorious hope set before us—a hope that reaches its fruition “at the revelation of Jesus Christ” If we are to maintain this hope we must be “obedient children,” not fashioning ourselves according to our former desires. We are to fashion ourselves in the likeness of God, and of Jesus. This means that we are to be “holy, … in all manner of conversation” The word “conversation” as here used refers to one’s behavior, or manner of life.

Peter quotes from Leviticus 11:44, “Ye shall be holy; for I am holy.” In the context the Lord is admonishing the Israelites against the eating of meat which, according to the Law, was unclean. To do this would result in defilement, hence they would not be holy. God also reminds the Israelites that he was the God who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt. He had protected them against their enemies, and had fulfilled all his promises. He was loyal to them, and he expected them to be loyal to him by obedience to his law.

We cannot live without sin, but we can be wholly devoted to the Lord. And we know that the Lord has made a wonderful provision of grace to cover our unwilling imperfections. This is the provision of redemption through “the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”—I Pet. 2:19

God raised Jesus from the dead and “gave him glory; that our faith and hope might be in God.” We could have no genuine hope, except for the assurance that God raised Jesus from the dead. That Jesus was raised from the dead is proof that his sacrifice on behalf of the church and the world was acceptable; and it also proves God’s ability to raise all the dead in his own due time—the faithful followers of Jesus in “the first resurrection,” and mankind as a whole in the general resurrection.

I PETER 2:9, 10

Peter addresses his epistle to “the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” In verse 10 of chapter 2 he mentions that “in time past [these] were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” This would seem to indicate that the epistle was addressed primarily to Gentile converts.

It is indeed a high position to which all the true followers of the Master are called. Our memory verse emphasizes this. We are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people.” These titles formerly applied exclusively to the nation of Israel, but now they belong to all—Jew and Gentile—who are in Christ Jesus, laying down their lives sacrificially as Jesus did. The expression, “peculiar people,” according to the Greek translation, really means an acquired and preserved people, or a treasured people.

We bear the relationship to God suggested by these various titles, not as an honor, but that we might show forth his praises, or virtues. We can best show forth the virtues of God by proclaiming the glorious truths of his divine plan of salvation. We should lay down our lives doing this now, and, if faithful to the end, we will, during the kingdom age, have the privilege with Jesus of filling the earth with his glory.

QUESTIONS

How does a Christian gird up the loins of his mind?

How can we be holy as God is holy?

Who were those addressed by Peter, “which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God”?

How do we show forth God’s praises?

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