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

The Peace of Depending on God

Joseph and Esther

In this article, we will examine the lives of two young people we can read about in the Bible – Joseph and Esther. Their lives were separated by about 1,400 years, and they are both much further separated from us today. Yet their examples teach us some important lessons.

Many young people are tempted to sin in various ways (using bad language, dressing immodestly, using drugs or alcohol, identifying themselves with the LGBTQ ideology, etc.) because they feel the need to have the approval of others. Of course, this problem is not limited to those who are young – everyone can face these same pressures. What makes them especially challenging for young people is that they have not yet learned how to deal with these pressures. Because of this, they feel as if they are, in a sense, dependent upon the approval of those around them. This can be difficult and stressful because other people are constantly changing their values, priorities, morals, etc. What they want from us can differ from one day to the next.

However, there is a peace that comes by being dependent upon God. This will make us, in a sense, independent of the approval of others. In other words, gaining the favor of the world for our opinions and behaviors will not seem nearly as important when we focus on God and gaining His approval. Yet in order for this to work correctly, we must never see ourselves as independent from God.

So let us consider what we can learn from Joseph and Esther – how they demonstrated their dependence upon God and how we can do the same today.Continue Reading

The Blood of the Covenant

Crown of Thorns

The book of Hebrews was written to emphasize the fact that the new covenant under Christ is better than the old covenant. This is true regarding the priesthood (Hebrews 7:23-28), sacrifices (Hebrews 10:1-4), promises (Hebrews 11:39-40), and so on.

One of the comparisons made by the Hebrew writer had to do with the blood of the sacrifices. The reason why this comparison was important had to do with the fact that blood was inherently connected with the covenant itself. After describing Jesus as “the mediator of a new covenant” (Hebrews 9:15), the Hebrew writer said:

For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, ‘This is the covenant which God commanded you’” (Hebrews 9:16-20).

And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:22-26).

If every covenant is inaugurated with blood (Hebrews 9:18), what was it about the blood of the new covenant that made it better than the old covenant? Notice what the Hebrew writer had to say about this:Continue Reading

Jesus Christ – Our Perfect Example

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (1 Peter 2:21-24).

In this passage, Peter explained that Jesus left an example for us to follow. There are many people we may look up to as examples in life – parents, peers, older Christians, successful individuals, and more. Yet Jesus was not just an example; He was the perfect example. This passage shows us how He left a perfect example for us.Continue Reading

The Demands of Discipleship

Plowing

We have been called to be disciples of Jesus, yet this is not an easy life. Discipleship is demanding. There are certain things required of us and not everyone will be willing to do what is necessary to be a disciple. In the following passage, Jesus encountered three prospective disciples:

As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, ‘I will follow You wherever You go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.

And He said to another, ‘Follow Me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.’ But He said to him, ‘Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.’

Another also said, ‘I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God’” (Luke 9:57-62).

In Jesus’ responses to these individuals, He showed just how demanding it is to be one of His disciples. Let us consider what He said and how it applies to us today.Continue Reading

Great Days in History (Part 3): The Day of Jesus’ Crucifixion

Great Days in History

Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate release Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified. The soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; and they began to acclaim Him, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him. […] Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. And they crucified Him…” (Mark 15:15-24).

After being born into this world and living a relatively short life here, Jesus died. However, more than anyone else, His death was significant. The day of Jesus’ crucifixion was the day in which He died on the cross for our sins. As we have already seen, this was part of God’s plan from the beginning (Revelation 13:8).Continue Reading

Through Many Tribulations (Part 3): Sacrifices

Through Many Tribulations

When we first read of Paul in the New Testament – then referred to as Saul – he was looking on with approval as Stephen was stoned to death (Acts 7:58-8:1). Following that event, he began a zealous campaign against the church that took him to Damascus in order to find “any belonging to the Way” and “bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:2). While on the road to Damascus, the Lord appeared to him and told him to go to the city where he would be told “what [he] must do” (Acts 9:6). The Lord then instructed Ananias to go to Saul to deliver His message to him (Acts 9:10-12; 22:12-16).

Paul was “a chosen instrument” of the Lord’s (Acts 9:15). Specifically, this meant that he was “called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God” (1 Corinthians 1:1). However, this did not mean that the Lord was going to see to it that Paul had an easy and comfortable life as he served Him. Instead, He told Ananias, “For I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:16). When we think of the sufferings of Paul, we typically think of the persecutions he endured [we will discuss these in the next lesson]. Yet there were other sacrifices that Paul made that would be included in the things he was going to “suffer.Continue Reading