1 Peter 2:9–10 - “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
One of the quiet distortions of Christianity in our individualistic society is the idea that salvation is a private transaction
between us as individuals and God. We often speak of being “saved,” “forgiven,” or redeemed” as personal experiences; and they are.
But Scripture refuses to let salvation stop there!
Peter writes to believers scattered across the Roman world and reminds them of something foundational. God does not
just save individuals; God forms a people. Notice the language: “You are a chosen race... a royal priesthood… a holy nation… a people
for his own possession.” Every term in this is corporate. You cannot be a race alone, a priesthood alone, a nation alone, a people alone.
Peter then sharpens the point: “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people.” Before Christ, we were fragmented,
defined by sin, self and separation. But redemption does not leave us isolated. God does not simply rescue us from darkness but brings
us into a shared life of light.
In our culture we are highly individualistic. We hardly know our neighbours down the road, let alone the next door neighbour.
The Gospel does not reinforce this mindset; it dismantles it. We are not saved to stand alone but to belong to a people. Isolation is not
just unhealthy. Isolation contradicts the very nature of redemption for “It is not good for man to be alone” from creation and the new
creation does not reverse that verdict.
To belong to Christ is to belong to His body. You cannot claim union with Christ while resisting communion with His people. And this
belonging has a purpose: “that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you…” God’s glory is not just declared by people with
microphones but made visible through our shared life of worship, love, service, accountability and witness. The world does not just hear
the gospel; it sees it when a people live it out together.
Whilst salvation is deeply personal, it is never private. The Gospel creates a “we,” not just a “me.”
Application
- Reject isolated Christianity
- Commit to the body, not just attendance
- Move from consumption to contribution
Reflection
- Have I reduced my faith to a private experience rather than shared life?
- In what ways have I embraced isolation while calling it independence?
- If everyone related to the church the way I do, would the church be stronger or weaker?