[Biblemat] S) CHRISTIANS ARE A CHOSEN PEOPLE

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  Here is a study from my
recent files.  Use to the glory of God.

CHRISTIANS ARE A CHOSEN PEOPLE

     The word "church" is from the Greek, "ekklessia" which is
defined as "A called out group.  From 'ek' (out of) and 'kaleo'
(to call)" (Thayer's Lexicon).  And it is God who does the call-
ing: "He called you through our gospel" (2 Thes. 2:14).  When
one is taught the gospel of Christ, believes and accepts it, he
is then "called of God."  As Jesus put it, "No man can come to Me, except the 
Father that sent Me draw him: and I will
raise him up in the last day.  It is written in the prophets, And
they shall all be taught of God.  Every one tht hath heard from the Father, 
and hath learned, cometh unto Me" (Jno. 6:
44,45).  Note that to "taught of God" means hearing and learn-
ing "from the Father."   In other words, when we hear the Word of God, He is 
our teacher.  That is the way He calls us
"through the gospel" (2 Thes. 2:12).

     There is a beautiful passage of Scripture that describes
the Christian who has been called out.  "But ye are an elect
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, 
that ye may show forth the excellencies of
Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light:
who in time past were no people, but now are the people of
God: who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained
mercy" (1 Pet. 2:9,10).  Let us study this passage carefully to
find what a Christian really is and what changes have been
made in him because of his calling.

"A Chosen People": -- Where the ASV has "An elect race" the
NIV reads, "A chosen people."  Both convey the same idea: 
that we are "chosen" people, and God did the choosing by
the gospel which we accept and obey.  In the Old Testament,
Israel was God's "chosen people."  God told them, "For thou
art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God, and Jehovah hath
chosen thee to be a people for His own possession, above all
peoples that are upon the face of the earth" (Deut. 14:2; see
also Isa. 41:8; 45:4).  Because Israel was His chosen people,
God dealt with them in a much different way than He did with
the Gentiles.

     Christians are told, "Take heed, brethren, lest haply there
shall be in any one of you an evil hear of unbelief, in falling
away from the living God" (Heb. 3:12).  The "falling away" of
Israel is held up as an example, and caused them to be reject-
ed of God because of their "unbeleif" and "disobedience" (vss. 18,19).  The 
apostle John reveals the vision he was shown in the battle of Christians 
against the forces of Satan:
"These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall over-
come them, for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and
they also shall overcome that are with Him, called and chosen
and faithful" (Rev. 17:14).  In the same way Israel was "the
chosen people" under the old law, Christians are chosen to-
day.

"A Royal Priesthood":-- Under the Old Testament, the priest-
hood for the people was of the tribe of Levi.  "And the priests
the sons of Levi shall come near; for them Jehovah thy God
hath chosen to minister unto Him, and to bless in the name
of Jehovah" (Deut. 21:5).  From  the High Priest down to all
of the other priests, they had to be of the tribe of Levi.  But
we read, "The priesthood being changed, there is made of 
necessity a change also of the law" (Heb. 7:12).  Christ Jesus
could not be a priest according to the Old Testament law (Heb. 7:8; 8:4).  
But He is now our High Priest (Heb. 7:25-8:4).

     And the real beauty of this new relationship with God is
that every Christian is a priest!  We are "a royal priesthood."
Just as the priests under the old covenant offered sacrifices
in praise to God, so do we: "Ye also, as living stones, are 
built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ"
(1 Pet. 2:5).  And what are some of those "spiritual sacrifices"
Let the Bible answer:  "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service" (Rom. 12;1).  
Everything we do in the service of God is "a
spiritual sacrifice."  Thus, we are a "And madest them to be
unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon the
earth" (Rev. 5:10).

"A Holy Nation": -- I love the expression in our "Pledge of Alle-
giance" that says, "One nation under God."  That should char-
acterize he United States.  But in a special way, it should char-
acterize the church of Jesus Christ.  Just as Israel was to be
a holy nation under God, so are Christians the world over.
"Looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of
the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; who gave Himself
for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify
unto Himself a people for His own possession, zealous of good works" (Ti. 
2:13,14).

     If "freedom" defines the character of the United States,
then "holiness" defines that of the church and the Christians
who compose it.  "Like as He who called you is holy, be ye
yourselves also holy in all manner of living; because it is
written, Ye shall be holy; for I am holy" (1 Pet. 1:15,16).  We
belong to God, and as He is holy, so must we be "in all manner of living."

     The apostle Paul wrote that the church is the temple of
God:  "Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the
Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  If any man destroyeth the tem-
ple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is
holy, and such are ye" (1 Cor. 3:16,17).  And again, we read
of the purpose of the Christian life:  "For the grace of God
hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us,
to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we
should soberly and righteously and godly in this present
world" (Ti. 2:11,12).

"We Are God's People": -- We belong to God for a very simple
reason: He bought us!  We are "The church of the Lord which
He purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28).  And to show
the need for holy living, God says, "Or know ye not that your
body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye
have from God? and ye are not your own; for ye were bought
with a price: glorify God therefore in your body" (1 Cor. 6:19,
20).

     Because we are purchased with the blood of Jesus, we are
"A people for His own possession, zealous of good works"
(Ti. 2:14).  The apostle Paul put it this way: "For whether we
live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the
Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's"
(Rom. 14:8).  If we belong to God and Jesus Christ, then our
lives must reflect the kind of character that shows we are in
His family.

"In God's Light": -- Notice that our text says, "Called out of
darkness and into His marvelous light."  John writes of this,
also: "And this is the message which we have heard from Him
and announce unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no
darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with Him
and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we
walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us 
from all sin" (1 Jno. 1:5-7).

     Jesus told His disciples, "Ye are the light of the world" (Matt. 5:14).  
And the apostle Paul shows the source of that
light:  "Seeing it is God, that said, 'Light shall shine out of
darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the 
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ'"
(2 Cor. 4:6).  In the Scriptures, darkness is the realm of Satan, just as 
light is the realm of God.  "For ye are all sons
of light, and sons of the day: we are not of the night, nor of
darkness; so then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us
watch and be sober" (1 Thes. 5:5,6).  As "children of light"
we are to "resist the devil" (Jas. 4:7) and live holy lives for the Father.

"Have Obtained Mercy":-- "All have sinned and fall short of 
the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23), and "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23).  
None of us wants justice before the throne of God, we want mercy.  "By grace 
have ye been saved through faith" (Eph. 2:8).  And the grace of God is found 
only in Jesus Christ: "But we behold Him who hath been made a little lower than 
the angels, even Jesus, because
of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that
by the grace of God He should taste of death for every man"
(Heb. 2:9).

     Paul wrote, "But when the kindness of God our Savior, and His love 
toward man, appeared, not by works don in right-
eousness, which we did ourselves, but according to His mer-
cy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration" (Ti. 3:
4,5).  We can't live good enough, or do enough good works,
to earn our way into God's fellowship.  Only by His mercy can
we obtain the forgiveness of our sins and be at one with God.

     Peter wrote, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy begat us
again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefil-
ed, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who by the power of 
God are guarded through faith unto a
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Pet. 1:3-5).
Thus, we are not only saved by the mercy of God, but we con-
tinue to be "guarded through faith" by the power of God!  He
continues to look after us, guiding and guarding us from Sat-
an's power.

     Yes, "Ye are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation...called out of darkness into His marvelous light...now
are the people of God: who had not obtained mercy, but now
have obtained mercy" (1 Pet. 2:9,10).  That is what it means
to be a Christian, a member of the body of Christ, a child of
God.    -------- Clem Thurman in Gospel Minutes, Vol. 56, No.
16, April 20, 2007.
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