Understanding our Position in Christ

Believers are Priests who serve God and fellow believers ()

Explanation: Peter continues to exhort the exiled Pilgrims by giving them a richer and deeper understanding of the community of faith and how members are to interact with one another. Peter uses the analogy of living stones to describe how individual believers are being built up as a spiritual house in which Christ, The Living Stone is the foundation. As individuals (stones) they are becoming a holy priesthood, capable and expected to offer spiritual sacrifices.

As individual (stones) they are becoming a holy priesthood, capable and expected to offer spiritual sacrifices.

Illustrate: The sacrifice of time and love on the behalf of Glenn this afternoon is a good example. Visiting the sick and shut in is another.

Argument: This teaching , known as the Priesthood of the Believer, is an understanding that each and every believer has equal access to God. No believer requires another believer to grant him or her access to the Father. And, as spiritual priests, each can and should offer sacrifices of praise to God and to serve each other. It is important that we recognize the aspect of community as opposed to individualism. Note that the stones are being fitted together as a structure - a spiritual house. This is not a teaching about the self-sufficiency of an individual to “do church” by himself.

Application: We please God when we worship and serve together in love and harmony.

Believers are to be Proclaimers of the Gospel ()

Explanation: Peter reminds these persecuted believers they have been chosen by God and they are precious in the sight of God. Others will indeed reject the Savior (v. 8), but they are to take heart because as the chosen ones of God they are royalty in His sight. Note again the terms of community: race, nation, and people. As members of this exalted calling we have the privilege to proclaim the goodness of Christ to others who are still living in darkness

Illustrate: Think about how the Thai boys trapped in the underwater cave must have responded to the divers who rescued them.

Argument: As the prophet Isaiah stated long ago () and the Apostle Paul reaffirmed later (), “how blessed are the feet of those who bring Good News.” What a privilege to have been given the role of ambassador, to have been entrusted with the precious Gospel!

Application: Who are you sharing the Good News with? Which of your neighbors is living in darkness waiting for someone to bring the light?

Believers are Pilgrims who are to live Holy lives ()

Explanation: Peter is quick to urge the exiles to personal holiness. He makes an appeal to these believers he has never met; he urges them to take thought of how they live. He reminds them of their status as pilgrims that they might have caution to their lifestyle. A Pilgrim, a Sojourner, an Alien is not at home; he or she is one a journey to somewhere else.

Peter’s main point to the believers is that they are now positionally different from unbelievers. As such, their behavior & lifestyles are to reflect their new nature, not the old. Because of who Christ is and what He has done, believers are now out of synch with the world around them. And this is as it should be.

Illustrate: The Pilgrims of the 1600’s were easily recognizable by their dress and their life pursuits. Natives of England, they were in search of religious liberty and they left their homes and families and traveled to Holland. They discovered Holland was not their resting place either, so they left the Old world and traveled to the New World.

Argument: The Pilgrims did not blend in with the world around them. They were set apart by dress, but more importantly by behavior and outlook on life. Peter is reminding us that as believers we are still in the world, but we are not to be of the world. We are to be distinct and set apart by our language, our activities, and our pursuits. We are called to be winsome witnesses, and the lost need to see the difference that only Christ can make.

Application: Do those around you know where your true allegiance lies? Are you set apart? If hostiles separated the crowd into 2 groups (Christian / Lost), which group would you be placed in?