When Times are Tough . . .

We are facing difficult times that are seemingly unrelenting. A worldwide pandemic is followed by a needless war. Times are tough but the hope of every believer is not based on external events but internal assurances. The apostle Peter was facing tough times but took the time to share hope that is as current as today. Let’s take a few moments to consider

1 Peter 2:9-10, But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Peter takes the readers of his epistle to important reasons why Christians can not only survive tough times but thrive. First, we have a special relationship to God. The first part of verse 9 list words that identify why we are special to God. They flow freely like a mountain stream: a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession. Take time to comprehend the role we play in the work of God.

• A chosen race: We have been chosen by God as His people. Roger Raymer, The responsibility once solely trusted to the nation of Israel has now, during this Age of Grace, been given to the church.

• A royal priesthood: We sinners who have been saved by grace are a royal priesthood. Thomas Constable, . . . every individual Christian is a priest before God. We function as priests to the extent that we worship, intercede, and minister.

• A holy nation: We as the body of Christ are a holy nation. Warren Wiersbe, We have been set apart to belong exclusively to God. Our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20), so we obey heaven’s laws and seek to please heaven’s Lord.

• A people for his own possession: We, individually and as the church are God’s possession. Roger Raymer, Christians are a special people because God has preserved them for Himself.

Second, we have a special responsibility. The second part of verse 9 gives reason for our existence in this alien world. Consider the important work God has placed on His children, those who have placed faith in Christ alone.

• That you may proclaim the excellencies of Him: We are to give public praise to who God is and what He has done. Wayne Grudem, To declare God’s excellencies is to speak of all he is and has done.

• Who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: We are to remember and proclaim God’s goodness to us. Peter Davids, . . . the praise is based on what God has done for them.

Despite tough times, Christians can make a difference in this world. God has tasked us with the responsibility to make Himself known to this desperately needy world. We can do it because we have been changed. Consider the amazing statements of verse 10, Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

• Now you are God’s people: We have been made special by God’s grace. Charles Spurgeon, We were not His people; we were sinners of the Gentiles, not the chosen Hebrew race. In times past, we were not worthy to be called a people, but we are now the people of God.

• Now you have received mercy: We have not received what we deserve so we can proclaim undeserved grace to others. Wayne Grudem, All the foregoing privileges are to be traced only to the undeserved favour of God: now you have received mercy.

When times are tough, people need to hear that there is hope. We can make a difference. We are God’s ambassadors to a world whose only hope is Jesus because He alone can take people from despair to hope and from death to life. Let’s commit to sharing whose we are and what has been done for us.

The study of 1 Peter may be found under the Books of the Bible tab. Scot McKnight, In order to appreciate Peter’s perspective on the church of Christ, it is important to grasp what constituted that church: a group of sinful people who had come to Christ for salvation and who were committed to walking in obedience. And that is no different from our churches today.