FCT Online

1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV)
9 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;

Exodus 28:35-36 (NKJV)
35 And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord and when he comes out, that he may not die.
36 “You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD.

Greek word : hagios which are from the same root as hagnos (found in hazo, “to venerate”), fundamentally signifies “separated” (among the Greeks, dedicated to the gods), and hence, in Scripture in its moral and spiritual significance, separated from sin and therefore consecrated to God, sacred.

• Set apart, dedicated to sacred purposes, holy, sacred, clean, morally or ceremonially pure.

• The verb qadash means “to set apart something or someone for holy purposes.

• God is entirely holy in His nature, motives, thoughts, words, and deeds so that He is called Qadosh, “the Holy One”

• Leviticus 19:2 (NKJV)
2 “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

We are assured and know that [[a]God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.

For those whom He foreknew [of whom He was [b]aware and [c]loved beforehand], He also destined from the beginning [foreordaining them] to be molded into the image of His Son [and share inwardly His likeness], that He might become the firstborn among many brethren.

We are a chosen generation, which immediately speaks of the grace of God. God did not choose Israel because they were a great people, but because He loved them (Deut. 7:7–8). God has chosen us purely because of His love and grace. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16, niv). ^[1]

We are a “holy priesthood” and a “royal priesthood.” This corresponds to the heavenly priesthood of our Lord, for He is both King and Priest (see Heb. 7). In the Old Testament, no king in Israel served as a priest; and the one king who tried was judged by God (2 Chron. 26:16–21). Our Lord’s heavenly throne is a throne of grace from which we may obtain by faith all that we need to live for Him and serve Him (Heb. 4:14–16).

In the Old Testament period, God’s people had a priesthood; but today, God’s people are a priesthood. Each individual believer has the privilege of coming into the presence of God (Heb. 10:19–25). We do not come to God through any person on earth, but only through the one Mediator, Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 2:1–8). Because He is alive in glory, interceding for us, we can minister as holy priests.

We are a holy nation. We have been set apart to belong exclusively to God. Our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20), so we obey heaven’s laws and seek to please heaven’s Lord. Israel forgot that she was a holy nation and began to break down the walls of separation that made her special and distinct. God commanded them to put a “difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean” (Lev. 10:10); but they ignored the differences and disobeyed God. ^[2]

We are the people of God. In our unsaved condition, we were not God’s people, because we belonged to Satan and the world (Eph. 2:1–3, 11–19). Now that we have trusted Christ, we are a part of God’s people. We are a “people of His own special possession,” because He purchased us with the blood of His own Son (Acts 20:28). ^[3]

Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV)
23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

Without a wholeness of heart, we can’t walk in holiness, We can’t live out God’s nature in us because of the issues in our heart.

e.g. Judas who is one of Jesus disciples, he had an issue with greed, as a result instead of walking in the nature of God, he follow his flesh and the instruction of the devil by betraying Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. John 12:4-6

Ephesians 5:26 (NKJV)
26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,

^[1]Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. 1 Pe 2:9

^[2]Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. 1 Pe 2:9

^[3]Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. 1 Pe 2:9