You're God's special possession, so declare His praises in all you do.
1 Peter 1:1-2, 2:9-10 (NIV)
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
--
2:9 ...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. 10 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.
Canons of Dordt
Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election
Articles 1-9
Article 10: Election Based on God’s Good Pleasure
The cause of this undeserved election is exclusively the good pleasure of God.
This does not involve God’s choosing certain human qualities or actions from among all those possible as a condition of salvation,
but rather involves
adopting certain particular persons
from among the common mass of sinners
as God’s own possession.
Summary
You can tell quite a bit about a New Testament epistle (letter) by its title. Most of these epistles were written as an open letter to particular churches in various cities. We identify them by the name of the city they were written to, calling them the epistle to the Romans, Ephesians, Galatians, Corinthians, etc. A few epistles were written to specific individuals, such as the letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon.
Epistles that carry the name of its author, like this letter from Peter, are called catholic epistles, because they were written to a large swath of people all at once. The introduction identifies places like Pontus, Cappadocia, and Bithynia, which are places you'd likely have difficulty pinpointing on a map.
They were small communities on the fringes of the Roman Empire that even people in that day and age would have had trouble locating. Not only does Peter address these backwoods places, he refers to the original recipients as being scattered exiles - in other words, people who are not at home.
So it's all the more remarkable the way Peter refers to them (and us) in chapter two. In Christ, these otherwise insignificant exiles are a chosen people, royal priesthood, and a holy nation! Those who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father undergo a massive identity shift.
It doesn't matter who you used to be, where you came from, or what your social status was before. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.
Dig Deeper
Think of all of the amazing things God has created, not only here on earth, but all throughout our vast universe. Out of all of those things, you are God's special possession! Literally translated, you are the best thing that God has made!
And as God's prized possession, God has a very specific purpose that He's designed and redeemed you to fulfill: you are to declare the praises of Him who called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.
We're being reminded this week that your election by God was completely unconditional. In other words, the fact that you were chosen is in no way conditioned upon certain human qualities or actions, as the Canons put it.
But once again we also see that although God did not base His choice of you on your own qualities or actions, He does have certain expectations for you as the recipient of His unmerited grace and favor. Be sure that in all of your activities, words and deeds that you are declaring the praises of the one who chose you to belong to Him!
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who chose you to be His special possession;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that your life as an exile in this world will declare the praise of the Triune God who saved you;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Hebrews 3
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