In the first chapter Peter showed the wonder of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ. Now he wants to show the status that Christians have as the true people of God, so that he may encourage us to live before the world with that awareness.

He intends to emphasize the humility and submission to which Christians are called. That humility, however, is not slavish subjection to others. Rather, it is modelled on the humility of the Lord

chosen people emphasizes God’s loving initiative in bringing people to himself and allowing us to be a part of his church

Christians are a chosen people. Here, we are back to the covenant idea. Exodus 19:5–6 is from the passage which describes how God entered into his covenant with Israel. In the covenant, he offered a special relationship with himself to Israel, but it depended on the people of Israel accepting the conditions of the covenant and keeping the law. That relationship would hold only ‘if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant’ (Exodus 19:5).

From this, we learn that Christians are chosen for three things. (a) They are chosen for privilege. In Jesus Christ, a new and intimate fellowship with God is offered to them. God has become their friend, and they have become God’s friends. (b) They are chosen for obedience. Privilege brings with it responsibility. Christians are chosen in order that they may become the obedient children of God. They are chosen not to do as they like but to do as God likes. (c) They are chosen for service. Their honour is that they are the servants of God. Their privilege is that they will be used for the purposes of God. But they can be so used only when they bring to God the obedience he desires. Chosen for privilege, chosen for obedience, chosen for service—these three great facts go hand in hand

This title of honor, which God gave to his ancient people through Moses, the apostle Peter now applies to the Gentiles, and rightly so, because they have believed in Christ who was the true cornerstone of Israel’s faith. The Gentiles are therefore a chosen race, in contradistinction to those who have been rejected because they themselves rejected the living stone. They are a royal priesthood because they are joined to the body of him who is both the king and the true high priest. As their king, Christ grants them a share in his kingdom, and as their priest he purifies them with the sacrifice of his own blood. ON 1 PETER.

3. THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH

In verse 9, we read of the things to which Christians are witnesses.

(1) God has called Christians out of darkness into his glorious light. Christians are called out of darkness into light. When we come to know Jesus Christ, we come to know God. We no longer need to guess and to feel our way. ‘Whoever has seen me’, said Jesus, ‘has seen the Father’ (John 14:9). In Jesus is the light of the knowledge of God. When we come to know Jesus, we come to know goodness. In Christ, we have a standard by which all actions and motives may be tested. When we come to know Jesus Christ, we come to know the way. Life is no longer a trackless road without a star to guide. In Christ, the way becomes clear. When we come to know Jesus Christ, we come to know power. It would be little use to know God without the power to serve him. It would be little use to know goodness and yet be helpless to attain it. It would be little use to see the right way and be quite unable to take it. In Jesus Christ, there is both the vision and the power.

(2) God has made those who were not a people into the people of God. Here, Peter is quoting from Hosea 1:6, 1:9–10, 2:1, 2:23). This means that Christians are called out of insignificance into significance. It continually happens in this world that greatness lies not in the self but in what an individual has been given to do. The greatness for Christians lies in the fact that God has chosen them to be his people and to do his work in the world. Christians can never be ordinary, for they are people of God.