What Are You? A Chosen Race!

A sense of belonging is innate within each one of us. As Christians, we are to "come out" of the sin and wickedness that is in the world and no longer partake or even approve of that which is contrary to God's will. As we strive to become Holy, even as God is Holy, it is evident to all that we no longer belong to the world. Peter wrote to Christians who are "scattered" about and described them as "aliens and strangers" (or pilgrims, KJV) in regards to the world they lived in. Yet God has not left them or us, as aliens and strangers today, without a sense of belonging. We are to be greatly encouraged by the words of Peter as he, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, describes What We Are. "But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION..." (I Peter 2:9) We need to clearly understand what Peter is telling us our belonging is all about.

A Chosen Race – The word "race" is from the Greek word "genos" which means, "offspring, family, stock or race." What we are, is a chosen member of God's family. How blessed are we who were born into a great family. How much more blessed are those who were chosen by parents to be adopted into their family and to enjoy all the blessings of the family relationship. This is what God has done for us. Before the creation of the world, God had plans to adopt more children into His family (Ephesians 1:5). This was accomplished when God sent forth His Son to be the means for our adoption and our ability to call upon God as our "Abba! Father!" (Galatians 4:4-6) And as adopted children into God's family, we long with great anticipation to one day be a "joint heir" with His only begotten Son, and be "glorified with Him" (Romans 8:15-17). For all of the blessings found in being an adopted son in God's family, Paul said there is no amount of suffering that can be compared to the "glory that is to be revealed" (Romans 8:18).

With the blessings come the responsibilities. We have the responsibility to help this family grow. A "stock" or race of people is intended to reproduce and multiply. The "stock" of Israel (Phil. 3:5, KJV, ASV) was intended to possess the land that God had given to it and "... multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey." (Deut. 6:3) We too, as God's chosen, are to multiply. God's family multiplies and grows as God's word is spread. We read of the multiplying of God's family during the early days of the church in Acts 6:7; "And the word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith."

We also bear the responsibility of maintaining the purity of God's family. Paul speaks of this call to holiness in God's family in II Corinthians 6:14-18; "Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, 'I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,' says the Lord. 'And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,' Says the Lord Almighty." To be God's sons and daughters, it is our responsibility to maintain our separation from the sin in the world and be a separated and holy people to our Father even as Paul continues in II Corinthians 7:1, "... let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." As our Father is Holy, we are called upon to be holy ourselves in all our behavior and conduct (I Peter 1:14-15). Since we are God's children ("and such we are"), we are to maintain our hope and our dedication to keep ourselves pure, "just as He is pure" (I John 3:1-3).

As Christians today, we need to appreciate God's special relationship with His chosen people. The Israelites were to have had great appreciation and love for the relationship they had with God as He had chosen them to bless them and be His people. We read in Deuteronomy 7:6-8, "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt." We also are God's people because He "redeemed you from the house of slavery", but our special relationship is due to our obedience to Jesus Christ and His cleansing blood and the "sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit" in revealing God's word to us (I Peter 1:1-2). Later in I Peter we read how we are born again into this spiritual family through the "living and abiding word of God" which was the "word" that was preached to them. (I Peter 1:23-25)

We indeed do "belong" as a part of the most special relationship that man can ever attain to; that is to be a "chosen race" and eternally part of God's family.