"Chosen and Cherished: Your Place in God's Family" Rev. Sean Serflaten 7.24.24 Wednesday Service

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
And it speaks of the fact that, just as Israel was separate and set apart to God in the Old Testament, Christians are separate and set apart to God today. That's what the word “holy” means. And, finally, Peter refers to Christians as “a people for his own possession”-that is, of course, for God's own possession.
In contrast with those who reject Christ and are destined to "stumble," Peter now describes the chosen people of God. Peter uses language that had been used to describe God's special relationship with Israel. As Israel was, we-believers, the church-are also a chosen race.