|
A Peculiar
People
By Grant Phillips
In Deuteronomy 14:2;
Titus 2:14; and 1
Peter 2:9 God
identifies His own
people as a “peculiar
people”, but
what does this mean?
In both the Old and
New Testaments of
the Bible they mean,
“that which is one’s
own, belonging to
one’s possessions; a
people selected by
God from the other
nations for His own
possession”. If we
are truly a child of
God, then we have
been chosen
(adopted) out of the
world (those who are
not a true child of
God) into His
family, and we are
His possession. We
have been redeemed
(bought back) by the
precious blood of
Jesus Christ, His
only begotten Son.
Our adoption is free
to us, but not to
Him. He therefore
has every right to
expect us to obey
His will.
I cannot find
anywhere in the
Bible where He
compromises His own
Word to fit in with
our opinions. God
does not make deals.
I can find no gray
areas. There may be
gray areas in my
mind caused from a
lack of
understanding, but
as my understanding
deepens, I find that
His Word is very
clear, in black and
white, wrong and
right.
We live in a world
which thinks that
the Bible changes
with the times. God
says in Malachi 3:6,
“For
I am the LORD, I
change not …”.
Every word the Lord
wrote in our Bible
has exactly the same
meaning today that
it had at any other
time in history. It
is up to us to make
sure we truly
understand exactly
what our Lord is
saying in any given
part of His Word. I
do need to make
clear that if you
are not a child of
God, you cannot
understand His Word
since it is
foolishness to you,
but the Holy Spirit
does reveal His Word
to those who are
truly His children.
(Romans 3:11; 1
Corinthians 1:18;
2:14; Hebrews 11:6)
Also, if you are His
child, you still
have to study His
Word before the Holy
Spirit can show you
what He wants you to
know (2 Timothy
2:15).
Now back to being a
peculiar people.
With the meaning of
“peculiar” already
explained
in the first
paragraph, it
doesn’t mean that we
are perfect (fully
mature), but, we
should be showing
some signs in our
lives that we belong
to Him. By that I
mean that we will
live differently
than the world
around us. We will
think differently
than they, because
we are no longer of
this world. Jesus
said in John
17:14-17 when
praying to the
Father on our
behalf, “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they
are not of the
world, even as I am
not of the world. I
pray not that thou
shouldest take them
out of the world,
but that thou
shouldest keep them
from the evil. They
are not of the
world, even as I am
not of the world.
Sanctify them
through thy truth:
thy word is truth.”
Let us look at these passages
a little closer.
“I
have given them thy
word”.
We have the entirety
of God’s Word in the
Bible. If you want
to know what God
says, this is the
place to go.
“And
the world hath hated
them, because they
are not of the
world, even as I am
not of the world.
They are not of the
world, even as I am
not of the world.”
The world hates
Jesus and everything
He stands for, and
by logical reasoning
should hate us too.
If we are friends
with the world and
accepted by it, then
there is something
terribly wrong in
our lives. A person
who puts Jesus first
in his/her life, has
to eventually have
problems with the
world’s viewpoint
toward him/her.
Those who do not
know the Jesus you
say you love, is
going to shy away
from you and/or
ridicule you, if you
are putting Him
first in your life.
The world will hate
you.
“I
pray not that thou
shouldest take them
out of the world”. Many times I have heard people say something like, “Lord, please
take me out of this
world. Just take me
home.” However, that
is not His
intention. He wants
us to be a light to
this world that is
spiritually blind.
He wants us to be
salt to this world
that needs healing.
We are to take
advantage of our
time here by putting
Him first and doing
His will.
“but
that thou shouldest
keep them from the
evil.”
While we live for
Him during the time
we are in this
world, He prays that
the Father keep us
from the evil,
meaning the evil
one, Satan. Why
would He say that?
The answer is found
in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be
sober, be vigilant;
because your
adversary the devil,
as a roaring
lion,
walketh about,
seeking whom he may
devour:”
“Sanctify
them through thy
truth:” Sanctify means to make holy.
What does it mean to
be holy? In short,
it means to be set
apart for God and
His purpose,
dedicated to Him.
Our lives should be
totally consumed
with fulfilling the
Father’s will. Jesus
said, “…My
meat is to do
the will of him that sent me, and to finish
his work.” (John
4:34). He said again
in John 6:38, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own
will,
but
the will of him that sent me.” In the
next two verses, He
makes a point that
should make us
shudder if these
verses are not true
of us; “Not
every one that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven;
but he that doeth
the
will of my
Father
which is in heaven.”
(Matthew 7:21) “For
whosoever shall do
the
will of my
Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and
sister, and mother.”
(Mathew 12:50)
“thy
word is truth.”
God says through the
Apostle John, “In
the beginning was
the Word, and the
Word was with God,
and the Word was
God.” (John 1:1)
Jesus is the Word,
and His Word is
Truth. He says in
Matthew 4:4, “…It
is written, Man
shall not live by
bread alone, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of
God.” Christians
need to be in the
Word … DAILY.
Are you God’s own possession,
a peculiar people?
If so, you are not
your own , “For ye are bought
with
a
price:
therefore glorify
God in your body,
and in your spirit,
which are God's.”
(1 Corinthians 6:20)
“Ye
are
bought
with
a
price; be not ye the servants of men.” (1 Corinthians
7:23)
If we are a peculiar people,
we will be peculiar,
in the sense of an
odd ball, to the
world around us, but
to God, we are His
own possession,
bought with a price.
Though the world interpret
“peculiar” as an odd
ball, are we ashamed
to be a “little odd”
for Christ? Would it
embarrass us to
speak of Heavenly
things around our
family, friends and
acquaintances? Jesus
said in the above
verse to not be
servants of men.
Therefore, if we
knuckle under to the
world’s expected
opinion of our
behavior, are we not
their servants? We
most definitely are.
Would we not rather
be the servant of
Christ? I would
certainly hope so.
Then since He bought
us with a price that
we will never
comprehend, we are
His servants.
Therefore, let us
stand tall with
every opportunity,
to be a peculiar
people for our Lord
(Master).
Grant Phillips
grantphillips@windstream.net
|
