A Chosen People

I have a friend, Charles Cosby, who writes and emails an Internet Sunday School Lesson each month. His latest lesson, A Chosen People, I have posted with his permission.


1 Peter 2:1-10
To be a Christian you must be "born again". What it took to bring us to being "born again" required the life and blood of the Son of God to be shed on the cross. Through His death on the cross the new birth was made available to you and I. God will not force us to receive the new birth but He has sent His holy Spirit to woo, draw, encourage, beg, us to come to Jesus (the Son of God) so He can give us new birth. The only way we can come to Jesus is in humility, confessing that we are a sinner and ask Jesus to save us. We will not be saved if we don’t ask Jesus to save us! We must believe by faith that He is who He said He is, the Son of God. That He died for us on the cross in our place, and that He can and will save us when we ask, Hebrews 11:1. This is called faith! Have you called upon Jesus Christ to save you, if not, why not do it right now? The "New birth" is God, through the Holy Spirit, making our soul new and alive that was dead in sin.

1 Peter 1:18-21, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God". You are included in the precious plan God set forth before the world began. God planned that you and I would have the opportunity to have the "new birth", shedding our burden of sin that was carrying us to death and hell. To live righteous lives before Him as we journey through our days on this earth. To enjoy this righteous life there are things we must do ourselves, (with the help of the Holy Spirit).

1 Peter 2:1-2, "Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speaking, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby". We are responsible to lay aside malice, guile, hypocrisies, envying, and all evil speaking by completely removing them from our lives. Paul in Ephesians likened it to taking off a coat, Ephesians 4:22, 24, "That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,… And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness". Malice is having a willfully formed desire to hurt someone, to have an unforgiving spirit. That bitterness you are carrying in your heart, that chip you are carrying on your shoulder daring anyone to knock it off. The Christian cannot have the fellowship God wants for him when malice controls his life.

"And all guile", using cleverness to get even with someone, to deceive someone into thinking you are something you are not by making a good impression for deceptive reasons. Ananias and Sapphire used this to impress the church into thinking they were big givers. God punished them by taking their lives as they spoke the lie to Peter.

"Hypocrisies, envying, and all evil speaking", hypocrisy is attempting to impress someone you are something you are not. Envying is having a bitter, restless spirit that longs for the success or the nice things of others to the point of begrudging them what they worked for and received because of that work. Not satisfied with what God has given them, angry because of their lack of money, looks, fame, and or successes.

"All evil speaking", slander of another, backbiting, someone working behind the scenes to damage the reputation of those they dislike. This is portrayed in nearly every daytime soap opera and many movies. So many watching these portrayals get caught up in them and incorporate this attitude into their lives. Which should give us a warning that we must be careful as to what we watch called entertainment.

Christians who do not read and study God’s Word are open vessels to Satan and his lies. 1 Peter 2:2, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby". Do you desire to know what God’s Word says? Peter said that new as well as old Christians should desire to know the Word of God. If you do not desire to know God’s Word or to know God better, your salvation is suspect and you must do some serious soul searching as to if you really are saved! Just as a newborn baby will die if they are not fed fresh milk, the Christian if he does not feed on the Word of God will die to the things of God. He will not grow spiritually, grow in grace, and will fall into dire sin. I did not say he will lose his Salvation, but his relationship with God will deteriorate to the point that he is totally taken over by the things of this world.

The study of God’s Word reveals who we are in Christ and how we fit into His plan for us and His Church. 1 Peter 2:4-7, "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner".

Peter speaks of Christ as a living stone rejected by men. Christ came to build His Temple (the Church) by using us as new living stones. Until Christ made us alive through Salvation we were dead in our sins. He rejuvenated our soul to new life (the new birth). Once we are made alive to God, we became a priest (believer) working in a spiritual house (Christ’s church) offering sacrifices to God made acceptable through Christ. That stone that was rejected by men is now the head cornerstone of Christ’s church. That stone is Jesus Christ Himself. Have you experienced the "new birth"?

Those that rejected Christ have much to fear. 1 Peter 2:8, "a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed". To the Christian, Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith but to the disobedient, He is the rock of offence, the rock that one day will fall upon them in destruction. That same cornerstone will be the judge and jury of their life spent in rejecting Jesus Christ. Their appointment is Hell.

1 Peter 2:9-10, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy". We were once sinners, lost, on the road to hell. Because of Christ, our cornerstone, we are part of a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a set apart people. Who should show our gratitude to God for this wonderful thing He has done for us. Christ has taken us out of total darkness, brought us into His marvelous light, and has filled us with His love and mercy to overflowing.

How do you treat your fellow believer? Do you treat him with respect? They are princes and princesses just like you and I. They are part of God’s master plan. Jesus told us to love our brother, John 13:34-35, "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another"? Jesus said if you love me, keep my commandments! Do you love Jesus ________?