1 PETER PART SIX

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

In this series so far we have learned that Peter wrote this letter to followers of Christ who were scattered in the area of Asia Minor, what is now modern-day Turkey. His main emphasis in this letter was to remind Christians of the hope they have in God because of the gracious salvation provided for them in Jesus Christ as well as how the gift of the Holy Spirit within them works to lead them in sanctification. We continue now to learn even more about this wonderful salvation that God blesses His children with and how we are to live as Christ and love one another.

 

1 Peter 2:9

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

 

Peter here begins to share the various descriptions that define and explain who we are in Christ. First he shares that we are a “chosen people.” In the past this was a description that defined the Jewish Nation. God chose them from all the peoples of the world, not because they were superior in skill, intelligence or talent, but simply because He chose to do so out of love. This now applies to all those He chose and who respond to the Gospel of salvation. A “chosen people” in this case are a body of people who have a common life (following in the example of Christ) and a common descent (all spiritually reborn through accepting Christ as Savior and Lord). Followers of Christ are also not confined to those living within one human lifespan. God’s “chosen people” are all the followers of Christ who have lived, are living and will live down through the ages. This is Christ’s Universal Church Body that will appear at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in Heaven. Followers of Christ are unique and the private personal property of God. Each and every one of us is owned by God and part of His family. God tells us in Isaiah 43:21, that we are a people formed and created to praise Him. “The people whom I formed for Myself Will declare My praise.” Each Christian is a unique possession of God as if he or she were the only person in the world.

 

Peter also states that we are a “royal priesthood.” Each follower of Christ is a member of royalty, the royal priesthood. Priests offer up praises and sacrifices to God. Hebrews speaks of this concept.

 

Hebrews 13:15-16 – Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise — the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

 

We praise God when we obey His commands, when we pray to Him and worship Him. We praise Him when we serve and love others as Jesus would. We offer up sacrifices when we deny ourselves and live according to Holy Scripture and keep in step with the Spirit. A classification of “royalty” always brings honor and privileges, but it also brings responsibilities.

 

Thirdly, Peter describes followers of Christ as a “holy nation.” The Greek word for “holy” here is “hagos” and is defined as sacred, pure, morally blameless or consecrated. It means “set apart for service to God.” Numerous passages in the Old and New Testament speak of those God chooses as His own who are called to be Holy as He is holy. The Jews were instructed to be holy because they were God’s chosen people and so are we as followers of Christ.

 

Leviticus 11:44 – “Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.”

 

Deuteronomy 7:6 – “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.”

 

Peter covered this concept of our identity in Christ in 1 Peter 1:14-16; “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.””

 

Paul also discussed this in Ephesians 1:3-4 where he states, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”

 

Some Bible versions translate “a people belonging to God” as “a peculiar people.” This is because the Greek word here is “peripoiesis” and implies something which is purchased as a possession, saved, peculiar or specially preserved. We might also say “saved for a special purpose.” This word also implies something that is made and then surrounded with a circle which indicates ownership. So we can see that we are a people that belong to God because He has saved us and preserves us. We belong to Him because He chose us, because He loved us and sent His only Son to die for us. What an honor and privilege! The Book of Titus speaks of these concepts about followers of Christ being the possession of their Heavenly Father.

 

Titus 2:11-14 – “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

 

Often we see that possessions take on great value depending on who owns them. A car driven by Steve McQueen has more value than a car driven by you or me because he was famous. A spoon used by Abraham Lincoln when he was president is more valuable than a spoon that is in your utensil drawer at home. It is the same with us as God’s children. We are valuable because we are owned by the Creator of the Universe. We are precious because the mighty and powerful God owns us.

 

Ephesians 1:13-14 – “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession to the praise of his glory.”

 

So Peter covers four major descriptions of who we are in Christ, a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and a people belonging to God. This is who we are in Christ, and after this, Peter tells us what we are to do. By implication we are to offer spiritual sacrifices in our worship of God and in how we obey God because of our love for Him. But we also “declare the praises of Him” who called us “out of darkness into His wonderful light.” We “declare the praises of Him” when we share the Gospel, tell others of what God has done for us and how He has blessed us with “every spiritual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3).

 

In the last part of this verse Peter shares a concept that is a major theme in Holy Scripture and especially in the New Testament. He has stated that we are to declare the praises of God because He has “called us out of darkness into His wonderful light.” This tells us that we are in God’s light and we participate in this light. Light and darkness are symbols of holiness and sinfulness, righteousness and unrighteousness, obedience and disobedience, godliness and ungodliness. Numerous scriptures attest to this symbolism and how important it is to understand that as followers of Christ we were rescued from darkness and were placed into the light through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 

Read the following scripture passages and see the dramatic comparison between light and dark.

 

John 1:4-5 – “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

 

John 3:19-21 – “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

 

John 8:12-13 – “”I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

 

Acts 13:47 – “For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT FOR THE GENTILES, THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.'”

 

Romans 13:12 – “Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”

 

2 Corinthians 4:3-6 – “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

 

Ephesians 5:11-12 – “ Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;  for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.  But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.”

 

1 John 1:6-8 – “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

 

These passages tell us that not only were we called out from the darkness into the light of God, but we remain in the light as we walk as Jesus did, as we let the Spirit lead us. When we stray from the truth we do not lose our salvation, but we begin to play with the shadows of darkness and unless we turn away, we can be enveloped by the darkness. While the darkness is always a horrible place to be as an unbeliever, it is torment for a child of God to be walking in darkness when they know what it was to walk in the light. Confession and repentance is the solution for the Believer who has dabbled in darkness. It is the only solution for such a stumble in life. Our calling is to walk in the light, talk about the light and share the light with others. Let us strongly pursue walking in the light with the power of the Holy Spirit!

 

In our next segment we learn more how to walk in the light and be holy as God is holy.