We are priests of God, and as such we are called to a certain quality of life and a certain commonality of function. All believers are called to be holy, as God is holy—that is, to increase in Christlikeness day by day, that the perfect holiness of Jesus might increase in us and manifest itself in all the nooks, niches, crannies, relationships, roles, and responsibilities of everyday life.

A Christian Guidebook: Why Has God Saved Us? (4)

“‘And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” Exodus 19.6

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. 1 Peter 2.9, 10

No Lone Rangers

For many Christians today, salvation is treated like a purely individual matter: God saved me; isn’t God great?

This notion is reflected in many of the praise songs we sing, in which the first-person personal pronoun features large: I, me, my, etc. We sing together about what Jesus has done for us as individuals, with very little sense of what we might have in common in the Lord or why that should matter.

Older hymns had a different view of salvation. The Church—and individual churches—are portrayed as faith soldiers on the march, a Kingdom of believers, a band of saints unified through space and time. That is, the older hymns expressed a unity of being and purpose for believers. We were saved together, and God saved us for a common purpose and endeavor. And even though churches long ago forsook any true visible sense of oneness or of a common body and vision, still, the idea persists in certain older hymns.

That idea seems almost lost in our day, shoved to the side by the celebration of an individualistic salvation.

But is this why God saved us?

A Holy Nation

Not according to God’s own Word. His intention was not to deliver His people from being lost individuals to saved ones. Like Israel, making their way to and finally occupying the land of promise, God has saved us to be a nation. A Kingdom of priests and a holy nation. A royal priesthood, a holy nation, and as such, God’s own special people.

People who are part of a nation share much in common. History, traditions, language, art and other forms of culture, national heroes and celebrations, and the bonhomie of shared citizenship. In this country—at least prior to the last couple of generations—Americans stood together proudly as “we the people” and found ways—despite our faults and differences—to live, work, play, and celebrate together.

The Church is a holy nation. That, at least, is why God has saved us.

Read More