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The following is reprinted with permission
of The Timely Messenger
His Own Special People
By Gregg Bing
When we hear the expression "God's chosen people," we usually
think of the nation of Israel. The apostle Peter referred to Israel as
God's "own special people" ("peculiar people" in the
KJV) (I Pet. 2:9). Throughout most of the Old Testament Scriptures (from
Genesis 12 on) as well as during the gospels period and even into the
book of Acts, this was true, but during this present dispensation of the
grace of God, the nation of Israel is not God's chosen people. As a nation,
Israel has been set aside, and God's promises to them of a future restoration
and an earthly kingdom have been postponed, for a time. Today, God is
dealing with a new people, the church, the body of Christ, of which all
believers, whether Jew or Gentile, are members. In Titus 2:14 the apostle
Paul uses the same expression we find in I Peter 2:9, God's "own
special people," but while Peter used it of Israel, Paul uses it
to describe the church of this age.
"Who (Jesus Christ) gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us
from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people,
zealous for good works." (Titus 2:11-14)
The Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself on the cross of Calvary for us, dying
for the sins of the whole world. All who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
as Savior are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the church, the body of
Christ. As we examine this verse, we find four things that Christ's sacrificial
death accomplished to make us "His own special people." To begin
with, we see from this verse that the church is:
A Purchased People
Christ gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from every lawless
deed (KJV "all iniquity"). He purchased us with His own precious
blood. He paid the ransom to free us from all lawlessness, that is from
all sin. We are free from the penalty of our lawless deeds, which is death,
but we are also free from the power of sin in our daily lives (Rom. 6:7).
The church is also seen to be:
A Purified People
Christ gave Himself for us that He might "purify us" for Himself.
He has cleansed us from sin and its evil stain upon our lives. We have
been "sanctified" or set apart from all sin. We read in Ephesians
5:25-27 that,
"...Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He
might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that
He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle
or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish."
Christ gave Himself for us that we might be purified or cleansed. He
did so that we might be presented to Him! Before we could be presented
to a holy God, we had to be cleansed or purified from every sin or defect.
We had to be "without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing."
We had to be "holy and without blemish." We could never accomplish
this on our own. Only God, through Christ, could so purify us that we
might be presented to Him.
Titus 2:14 also describes the church as:
A Possessed People
The expression "His own special people" literally means a people
of His own possession, a people that are His own. Having been redeemed,
purchased, by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, we need to realize that
we now belong to God.
"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit
who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you
were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your
spirit, which are God's." (I Cor. 6:19-20)
Finally, we see from Titus 2:14 that the church is to be:
A Passionate People
We often emphasize (and rightly so) that salvation is by the grace of
God, through faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross,
and not by any good works which we have done (Eph. 2:8-9, Tit. 3:5). However,
we need to remember that we are "God's workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus, for good works" (Eph. 2:10). God has prepared good works that
we are to walk in. Our passage in Titus 2:14 says that as God's own special
people, we are to be "zealous" for these good works. The word
"zealous" comes from a root word which means "to boil with
heat, or to be hot." To be zealous means to burn with zeal or eagerness,
or you might say, to be passionate for. As God's special people in this
present age of grace, we are to have a passion for serving the Lord, a
burning desire to faithfully walk in those good works that He has prepared
for us.
What a wonderful blessing to know that we are God's own special people
for this present age, and to see all that was accomplished when Christ
gave Himself for us. As you consider these truths from God's Word, may
they have a real impact upon your life and service for Him.
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