Peter also calls believers a royal priesthood. He does not separate us by clerical or laic titles, or by gender, race, ethnicity, or class. This is the highest calling we could receive from Almighty God. In the Old Testament, royalty and priestly represented different areas of authority. They are now joined in regal spiritual pursuits.

God’s divine revelation reveals fascinating and exhilarating facts about who we are as disciples of his Son, Jesus Christ. The fact that he chose to use one who denied knowing his Son three times to reveal such a fact is in itself a beautiful miracle. Who is that man? The Apostle Peter! He probably never forgot his denial of his Lord. But he was forgiven and went on to become a leader and a martyr for his Lord and Savior.

What are these fascinating and exhilarating facts about who we are as Christians? I will never forget the day as a college student I read the following words when feeling despondent and, subsequently, was strongly encouraged:

“But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY” (1 Peter 2: 9-10, NASB).

Consider what these words mean for us in light of the times and societal conditions in which we live. We are called a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Do these titles and privileges apply to us? Do they challenge us to be different from our surrounding culture?

Peter calls us a chosen race. Does this not speak to us today with a political emphasis to divide us by race? Black and White Christians, God calls and sees us as one race—a chosen race. We need to resist the blame game that seeks to divide one as an oppressed race and another as an oppressor race. Biblically, the whole human race is universally depraved. Every race includes within it both oppressed and oppressors. But as believers we are now transformed into a chosen race, a privileged race—African, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, and every other ones—a chosen and elect race. Consequently, we need to oppose the world’s attempts at deceptive division.

Peter also calls believers a royal priesthood. He does not separate us by clerical or laic titles, or by gender, race, ethnicity, or class. This is the highest calling we could receive from Almighty God. In the Old Testament, royalty and priestly represented different areas of authority. They are now joined in regal spiritual pursuits.

Further, Peter calls us a holy nation. This nation supersedes priority of individual nations. Not only have we become members of one, true and united nation, we are members of a spiritual, holy nation. Does that not stir our imaginations with the wonder of God’s calling? Holy means sanctified; we are set apart for special purposes. We must remember we are first members of God’s Kingdom. The two kingdoms, the ungodly nation and the holy one, go separate ways. For us as believers we must prioritize God’s holy nation.

Since we are all— clerically, laically, racially, ethnically, gender-wise, and class-wise— now set apart for a special purpose; what is this purposes? According to Peter, it is to “proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light . . .” Before becoming Christians, we belonged to the earthly kingdom, one of darkness, to belong to the kingdom of light. Our purpose is “to proclaim” the God who called and delivered us out of darkness.

Peter ends by reminding all believers that they “. . . were NOT A PEOPLE, but are now THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.” Today, all believers have become recipients of God’s incredible mercy.

Centuries ago, Peter reminded all Christians who they became and their priorities. Two millennia later, all believers are obligated to identify themselves as a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation. This is not a political identification foisted upon us; this is our superior identification with God’s holy people. More so, we must pursue the purpose for which we are privileged, to faithfully proclaim “the excellencies of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

Helen Louise Herndon is a member of Central Presbyterian Church (EPC) in St. Louis, Missouri. She is freelance writer and served as a missionary to the Arab/Muslim world in France and North Africa.