You Are a Peculiar People

Crossroads

As the world around us grows more corrupt and people become more ungodly, faithful disciples of Christ will stand out. We may even become targets of ridicule, harassment, and persecution. This will make it tempting for us to try to hide our distinguishing characteristics as Christians in order to blend in with the world.

However, there are blessings that come from being different from the world as we strive to be what God wants us to be as His people. When the apostle Peter wrote his first epistle, he reminded Christians that they were “a peculiar people” (KJV) or “a people for God’s own possession” (NASB).

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession [a peculiar people, KJV], 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).

Let us briefly notice how Christians are different from the world and why that is a blessing for us.Continue Reading

A Call to Holiness (Season 10, Episode 2)

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | RSS

A Call to Holiness (Season 10, Episode 2)

In this season, we’re discussing some lessons from Peter’s first epistle.

As Christians, we have been called to be holy as God is holy. This means we cannot live as we once lived, but are to live as obedient children who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ.

Mentioned in this episode:

If you found this episode to be useful, please share it with others. Also, if you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a rating on iTunes or Stitcher. This also helps others hear about the podcast. Thanks.

Plain Bible Teaching Podcast (Season 3)

Plain Bible Teaching Podcast

Last week we wrapped up Season 3 of the Plain Bible Teaching Podcast. The theme of this season was lessons from the book of Leviticus. You can listen to the audio from all of the episodes on this page. You can also click on the link for each episode to see the show notes and download the audio files if you’d like.
Continue Reading

Lessons from the Cleanliness Laws (Season 3, Episode 4)

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | RSS

Lessons from the Cleanliness Laws (Season 3, Episode 4)

The cleanliness laws given in the book of Leviticus served two purposes:

  1. To help keep the people from spreading disease and
  2. To make a distinction between the sons of Israel and the other nations.

In this episode, we’re going to provide a brief overview of the cleanliness laws. If you’re interested in studying these in more detail, they can be found in Leviticus 11-15. The laws about clean and unclean animals and other matters do not apply for us under the new covenant. Yet there are lessons we can learn that do apply to our lives as Christians today. We’re going to consider these lessons in this episode.

If you found this episode to be useful, please share it with others. Also, if you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a rating on iTunes or Stitcher. This also helps others hear about the podcast. Thanks.

A Call to Holiness (Season 3, Episode 1)

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | RSS

A Call to Holiness (Season 3, Episode 1)

The book of Leviticus is one of the more difficult books in the Bible to study. It is not that it is hard to understand – through there are some difficult passages. Rather, it is often seen as being tedious, boring, and largely irrelevant to Christians today. I have heard it said that the book of Leviticus has derailed many people’s daily Bible reading plans. This may very well be the case.

However, Leviticus is part of the Old Testament and has been “written for our instruction” (Romans 15:4). As we study the book, we will learn about holiness, worship, sacrifice, authority, purity, and more. All of these apply to our lives as Christians. Paul told the churches of Galatia, “The Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ” (Galatians 3:24).

The overall theme of the book of Leviticus is holiness. To be holy is to be set apart for God’s purpose. Key verse – “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy’” (Leviticus 19:2). This is quoted by Peter (1 Peter 1:16). The instructions about sacrifices, the priesthood, sin, cleanliness, etc., were all based on the idea of God’s people being holy as He is holy.

In studying the book of Leviticus, we can read about five things that were to be holy. This episode will examine these five things and what they parallel for us living under the new covenant.

If you found this episode to be useful, please share it with others. Also, if you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a rating on iTunes or Stitcher. This also helps others hear about the podcast. Thanks.

"Be Holy, For I Am Holy" (2/16)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Leviticus 11-13.

For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44-45).

This chapter goes into great detail showing the Israelites which animals were clean and which ones were unclean. One of the reasons for these commands was so the Israelites would be a peculiar people, distinct from the nations around them. When God called them out of Egypt, He set them apart as His people. Therefore, they were to be holy just as God is holy.
Continue Reading