• 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.