- I Peter 2:9-11
- Identifying God’s people
- Remember I Peter 2:6-8
- Notice the contrast
- A chosen race
- Exodus 19:5-6 – This language is used to describe the people of God.
- Romans 2:28-29
- A royal priesthood
- Previously, Peter said that we were a holy priesthood. Now he says that we are to be a royal priesthood.
- God wanted His people Israel to become a kingdom of priests. Exodus 19:6
- He wanted them to be a spiritual influence for godliness, but Israel failed Him.
- A holy nation
- The idea is not just moral holiness, but that we are set apart for God – sanctified.
- Israel was to be that holy nation, but it became like the world.
- As Christians, as living stones, we are to be different, set apart for God.
- Do we look like the Israel God wants us to be, or do we look like the Israel in the past, blending into the world?
- God’s special possession
- This image borrows not only from Exodus 19, but also from Isaiah 43:20-21.
- The Christian’s favorite image should be that we are God’s possession.
- Notice that we are given a purpose “to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness and into the marvelous light.”
- God’s people have received mercy
- I Peter 2:10 – This is based on quotations from Hosea 1 and 2. Hosea 1:9; 2:23
- Peter is saying that Christians, as living stones that are built into a spiritual house, are the fulfillment of this prophecy.
- We must be built upon the corner stone of Jesus otherwise we are of no use.
- The promise was not simply to Jews, but to the nations, to all peoples.
DM
April 20, 2014
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