Yes, I Am One of Them…
1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen
people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you
may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his
wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of
God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
God says some incredible
things in Scripture about His people, and some of the most incredible of all
are in this passage. It is interesting to trace what we are and why.
I. Position—"Ye are
. . ." (v. 9a)
a. ”A chosen generation”
i. Israel was specially
chosen of God
ii. The term stresses the
aspect of God's selection of the church
b. ”A royal priesthood"
i. ”Priesthood”——everyone is
a priest
ii. "Royal" stresses
priests who belong to a king
c. ”An holy nation”
i. ”Nation”—group of people
ii. “Holy”-—specially set apart
d. ”A peculiar people”
i. This is not in the sense
that we are to be eccentric or odd
ii. It means that we are a special
treasure to God—— belonging to Him in a special way
II. Purpose——”That ye should shew forth the praises of him . . ." (v. 9b;
that you should be advertisers of the
excellencies
of Him)
a. Character
i. What a person is when he
or she is alone and no one could find out
ii. Character is the greatest
area of Christlikeness
iii. It is more important than
words ("What you do
speaks so
loudly . . .”)
b. Conduct
i. Action arises out of character
ii. This covers everything we do
c. Conversation
i. The area of speech, the
things we say
ii. This is important, but possibly the least
important
III. Pattern—the
basis for our advertising (see vv. 9-10)
a. From darkness to light
i. This is a frequent
metaphor for conversion
ii. This is more obvious in
some than in others
iii. This is true in the
fullest sense possible when we understand theology
b. From past to present
i. You were not people of
God—just a bunch of Gentiles
ii. You are now the people of God
c. From lost to saved
i. You had not obtained mercy
and were thus lost
ii. You now have obtained
mercy and are now saved
d. All these changes that have
taken place provide the template
on which you can work out your advertising of Christ
IV. Particulars
a.
Morality (v. 11)
b.
Testimony (v. 12)
c.
Law-abiding (v. 13-17)
d.
Endurance (v. 18-25)
e.
Domestic performance
(3:1—7)
f.
General conduct (3:8—4:19)
We are the people of God:
specifically chosen of Him, priests of our king, specially set apart to Him,
His peculiar possession.
What an enormous
responsibility that places on us! We are to show forth His excellencies: by
character, by conduct, and by
conversation. We have the
basis for doing this in what He has done for us. We have instruction regarding
the specifics. How
are you showing what you
really are?
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