The People Of God

people of GodAs we finish our study on the four reasons found in 1 Peter 2:9 on why we are to praise God, reason number four tells us that we are God’s people and for that alone we have reason enough to praise God:

    “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…” (1 Peter 2:9)

The world would tell you that we are all God’s people. This is a lie from the pit of hell because it has zero Biblical truth to it. Quite contrary, the Bible clearly illustrates that we can only become God’s people by coming to Christ:

    “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:10-13)

With the status of being God’s people come great responsibility. Wiersbe further explains:

“We are the people of God. In our unsaved condition, we were not God’s people, because we belonged to Satan and the world (Eph. 2:1-3, 11-19). Now that we have trusted Christ, we are part of God’s people. We are a ‘His own special people,’ because He purchased us with the blood of His own Son (Acts 20:28)…All of these privileges carry with them one big responsibility: revealing the praises of God to a lost world. The verb translated ‘proclaim’ means ‘to tell out, to advertise.’”

As God’s people we have a testimony and we are expected to testify. If we had witnessed a crime and we were called to court to be a witness for the prosecution, the court would expect us to testify of what we had seen.

As blood-bought, born-again believers in Jesus Christ we have a testimony and we are expected to testify. Oh but Bro Dave, I’m no good at that witnessing stuff. Do you think that excuse would relieve you from being subpoenaed from testifying in court? Of course not and the prosecutor would calm your fears by telling you to just tell us what you saw.

Our Lord Jesus Christ left us with more than just a calming of fears; He left us empowered by the Holy Spirit:

    “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

We are not only supposed to testify about being God’s people, but we are also expected to be constantly ready to do so:

    “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear…” (1 Peter 3:15)

Oh, and for those of you Christians out there who think you do not need to go to church to praise God, well of course that is silly. It is not only silly, but it also keeps you from testifying to and encouraging other people of God:

    “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:23-25)

Being the people of God is a high calling and one that paints a bullseye on you. It means that you are a target for ridicule and mockery. It means overcoming our fears and not being ashamed of being God’s people. It means not being ashamed of our testimony or the gospel of Jesus Christ:

    “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” (2 Timothy 1:8-12)

If I am subpoenaed to testify in court and I refuse to, then the judge can hold me in contempt of court and throw me in jail. If I refuse to testify as one of God’s people, I am in contempt of Christ. Now Christ is not going to throw me into hell for such an offense, but I am going to miss out on the wonderful blessing found in proclaiming “the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

When was the last time you told someone about Jesus? What better day than today to do so?

Perhaps you have nothing to testify of Christ because you have never received Him as your Lord and Savior. Second Corinthians 6:2 proclaims, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

There is no better day than today…

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2013 David Jeffers

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