1 Peter 2:9 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.
Some of the letters in the bible were written to specific communities and their names reflect the places to which they were directed; Romans to Rome, Corinthians to Corinth, etc. They often address issues specific to these communities. Towards the end of the New Testament there are a group of letters that are called General Epistles that aren’t addressed to a specific community but that were meant to be circulated around. These are named for the people whose authority they reflect; James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, and Jude. So the passage above is not a description of one particular group but a statement of identity for all Christians. And isn’t that the point? Faith has to do with identity, how we understand who we are at the deepest level. What we do should flow from that but Christianity is not fundamentally a moral code. Kids dress up like all sorts of things for Halloween but they are not really those things. Faith tells us who we; what we do comes out of who we are. Faith tells us that we “are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.” Sin is being something other than these things that God made us to be. Salvation is the act of God in Christ to restore our true identity. Who are you really? How will what you do flow from who you are this week?
Logan Memorial Presbyterian Church 