1 Peter 2: 9-10
- Nathan Davies
- May 2, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: Oct 4, 2023
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, 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.
1 Peter 2: 9-10
The first thing that jumps out at me from these verses is the sense of community. We know from the start of the letter that Peter is writing to the dispersed believers, and here he is reminding them of the bigger picture. The terms of identity and purpose here are all plural; chosen people, royal priesthood, and holy nation. These all show us that as believers we are together, that God has chosen us to be together, and God is building us together.
What is really powerful here is the idea of being the people of God. Peter, growing up as a Jew, with the full Jewish heritage knew what it meant to be the people of God. He also knew that it was limited in scope to those God had chosen, the descendants of Abraham. Yet here, writing to the dispersed believers, and still speaking to us today, he declares that all who believe have received mercy and are now the people of God.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, 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.
1 Peter 2: 9-10
Anytime a passage starts with “But” it is contrasting what has gone before with what is about to come. This is no different. Peter is here contrasting those who believe with those who reject Jesus. Jesus is not someone you can ignore, there has to be a decision. Some, Peter says in verses 4-8 of this chapter, reject Jesus, they reject God’s chosen one, God’s appointed one. But to those who believe this rejected stone is precious beyond compare. When we believe we are brought into this community. A community of worship and service.
As a chosen people we are chosen to give praise to God, chosen to be the royal priesthood. Consider how the temple worked. The temple, the place where God’s presence dwelt in the most holy of holies, the inner sanctum. Once a year the chief priest could enter this inner place and offer sacrifices for the people. One man, once a year. When Jesus died and the separating curtain was torn in two the way was made clear for all to come before God. The way is clear because all who believe in Jesus, all who accept His sacrifice and His Lordship are made into a Royal Priesthood. Peter is here telling us that as believers we are a community that can come before God, no longer just one man. With the destruction of the curtain God is saying that the way is open all time, no longer just once a year.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, 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.
1 Peter 2: 9-10
It is easy to see why we would declare God’s praises, even from these two short verses. He has called us out of darkness, He has shown us mercy. It is these actions that cause us to praise. As we are brought into the light we come to realise how much we have been saved from. In understanding that rescue we see the mercy of God for the powerful gift it is.
We do not deserve to be called out of darkness and into light. We do not deserve to be called into God’s chosen people, we do not deserve to be granted access to God. Yet in His mercy God has done all that for us. In His mercy we are called into light, made part of His chosen people; we are set free. Having received such mercy, having been so radically changed by God the only natural response is praise. In the Greek this has a sense of proclaiming God’s virtues or excellencies. There is a sense of declaring to others the goodness of God. This is not a private praise party just for those who have accepted Jesus. Rather it is a call to declare the goodness of God, the wonder of His rescue, the beauty of His mercy, the power of His love, and the invitation to join the chosen people to the world around us - proclaiming His virtues.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, 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.
1 Peter 2: 9-10
Writing to the dispersed believers Peter is keen, much like Paul, to remind them that they are now the people of God, because of and through God’s mercy. What is so incredibly powerful about this statement is the unifying nature of belonging to God. Those who were following Jesus were from all parts of society, from the highest to the lowest. In the Roman Empire status was everything, society was divided. There were those with money and global power, those with money and local power, those with money, those making it by, and those with nothing. The majority of people, roughly 85%, were somewhere in those last two groups. (For more detail on this see Michael Gorman, Apostle of the Crucified Lord: A Theological Introduction to Paul and His Letters, 13-14.)
In this community of believers all belong to God. As Paul puts it in Galatians 3, the old divides of religion, class, and gender inequality are gone in the people of God. All who believe belong, and all who belong are equal. There is no hierarchy. This is what Peter is reminding us of here. All who belong, once did not, all who are now God’s people once were not, and we have all been called from darkness to light by the wonderful mercy of God. We are all equal before Him.
This truth is really powerful even today. In the western world our social structure may not be as starkly divided as it was in the Roman Empire, but it is still divided. God brings unity and equality, all who believe belong and do so because of God, and His mercy alone.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, 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.
1 Peter 2: 9-10
What does a “holy nation” mean? This reminds me of Abraham in Genesis 12. At the start of Genesis 12 God promises Abraham that He will make him into a great nation (Genesis 12: 1-3). Peter is calling this to mind here, reminding his readers/hearers, that this promise is still active. Not only is it still active but that through Jesus those who believe are part of the fulfilment of this promise.
As we read that promise to Abraham we realise that being a holy nation comes with responsibility, it is not a free meal ticket or a free ride to paradise. God’s holy nation will be blessed in order to be a blessing. This is the work of those belonging to God - to take His blessing to the world around us. Think about the previous title given by Peter - “a royal priesthood”. The priests served in the temple, offering sacrifices for the people, teaching the people the ways of God, and leading them as they sought to follow God. Belonging to the people of God is to belong to those called to serve others and to be a blessing to others.
Now that we have been called out of darkness, we are to help lead others out of darkness too.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, 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.
1 Peter 2: 9-10
God has made a choice, and the choice includes you and me. We who believe in Jesus are a chosen people. God has actively selected us, He has not picked us simply because he had to.
In Greek the word here is ‘eklektos’, meaning selected, and conveying a sense of something precious. Combining this with ‘people’, we see God is, in Jesus, making something new. A new, chosen people, selected by Him and for Him. From the very beginning God has wanted a people, that’s why He created Adam and Eve, it’s why He chose Abraham, and why He stuck with the people of Israel. Now, in Jesus, we are chosen to be God’s people, to be a new race united in Him. More than that, we are a new people with a given purpose - to declare God’s praises, to proclaim Him to others such that they might also know that God has chosen them, and join this new race.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, 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.
1 Peter 2: 9-10
Being chosen, being brought into the light is an act of mercy. God has shown us mercy. Put simply God knows the response we have deserved, and not acted in that way towards us. Paul tells us that all have fallen short, Romans 3: 23, in falling short, in not living God’s way we deserve death, those are the “wages of sin”, Romans 6: 23. But, Peter, says here in this letter, God has shown us mercy. This mercy is a gift we have received, it is this mercy that calls us out of darkness and into God’s wonderful light.
Mercy is available for us because of the obedience and sacrifice of Jesus, because He went to the cross, the punishment our sin deserves is laid on Him. As a result we can live in the light, we can know mercy, we are brought into the people of God.
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