“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.” (1 Peter 2:9)
Christians are special. Peter calls them “a royal priesthood, a holy nation”. That sounds great! But it is no reason to boast. It is not our own merit. On the contrary; the apostle Paul plainly states that “not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world” (1 Corinthians 1:26-28).
Our identity as a royal priesthood is purely based on our being “a chosen race”, on our being elected by God. He called us out of the darkness into his marvelous light, and that’s why we can now let our light shine before others.
Our salvation was not based on our own merits. And that is good news, because it means anybody can receive forgiveness. That is the Gospel we should proclaim. We should not “boast” about us being so special and so holy, but about our God being so great and so holy and so gracious.
God has “called you out of darkness”. Does this meant that you left darkness behind you in your life?