FOUR POSITIONS OF THE BELIEVER
Dr. Stephen R. Phinney
“For this is contained in the Scripture: ‘BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.’ This previous value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,’ and, ‘A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE’; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom, they were also appointed. But you are A CHOSEN RACE, a royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, 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 2:6-10
OVERVIEW
Some powerful positions are being laid out for us amid this small passage. First of all, God steps up, and He calls us a chosen race—that means only one thing—God chose us, we did not choose Him. The modality of the world today is to push pressure or lead people to choose to receive Christ. The fact is, nobody is going to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior unless God has chosen them. God does everything through His sovereignty, and when He chooses someone to become part of the chosen race, that’s what He does—He makes a choice.
A royal priesthood—the word you need to underline here is royal. I want you to understand the importance of being in a royal family. Recently I was invited to be a special counsel to a king in a foreign country. As I was going through the process of being accepted, one of the first things they had to do was confirm me into the royal family. Being family, and being part of a royal family, is what gives you the right to communicate, fellowship, and have a relationship with the King. When we are called a royal priesthood, we are apart of the royal family of the Living God. A priest is a leader that the king will use to communicate with the people.
To be a part of a royal family, you have to be a part of a holy or royal nation. When God references “As a Holy Nation,” He means that we are a nation. The True Bridal Members of Jesus Christ are a part of the only nation that rules all things. The identity marker comes in now with the people. People have to be owned by the king, and that is what this passage is communicating to us. Today ownership means slavery. It doesn’t matter how hard you fight the ideology of slavery; everyone is enslaved. Some are enslaved to sin. Some are enslaved to the Antichrist himself, and then there are those select chosen few who are possessions of the Living God, which makes us His people.
We won’t be able to proclaim the excellencies of Jesus Christ if this process of taking us out of darkness into the light takes place. We cannot be a people of God until we are translated. We cannot experience the full mercies of God unless we are translated. The passage is truly powerful.
The Four Positions
1. Chosen Generation — The people of God (Indwelt Christians) are often represented as His chosen or elected people. Keep in mind that there is a balance between sovereignty and responsibility, and God grants only His children to understand the balance or the unity of the two. It is also critical to understand that we cannot receive the understanding of the Holy Scriptures unless we are responsible for embedding ourselves and being comfortable within His sovereignty. Sovereignty releases the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit reveals Truth.
2. A Royal Priesthood — The meaning of this is, that the word royal is used only to denote the dignity of the priestly office of the royal family—in our case, the royal family of God. The order of priesthood was transformed after the cross. Christ became the High Priest, indwelt Christians became the priests, and the unsaved world became the people that needed redemption and forgiveness. And this is why the Roman State-Church is in direct opposition to this truth. The “church” has the priesthood set up like this: the Pope (high-priest), Cardinals and others as priests, and then the church members themselves are the ones in need of redemption and forgiveness. Thus members must go through the Catholic priest to have redemption and forgiveness of sins by following their rituals. It is this model that is not only false, but it removes the foundational truths of our new identity in Christ. I believe it erases the foundation of why Christ came—to seize the seat of the high priest, and to appoint us a royal priesthood. Without these two being confirmed and having interrelationship, the work of God simply cannot be accomplished here on earth.
3. A Holy Nation — It is also taken from Exodus 19:6. The Hebrew people were regarded as a nation consecrated to God, and now that they were cast off or rejected for their disobedience, the same language was applied correctly to the people whom God had chosen in their place—the authentic, indwelt, Christian Church. True believers, those who accept Christ into their lives, are the new and final nation of God. Yes, many Jewish people have joined this royal priesthood; they have become a part of the royal nation. A truth that Satan despises. He is all about setting up his nation as the only nation. He’s obsessed over this. I will talk more about this later, but it is called a one-world government or a socialistic society. Satan and his followers hate Christians because we are God’s holy and chosen nation.
4. A Peculiar People — The word “peculiar,” in its standard definition, would mean that indwelt Christians are distinguished from others, or in singular, it means “a people for a possession,” that is, being chosen children of the Living God. They are a people which He has secured as a possession, or as His own; a people, therefore, which belong to Him and no other. In this sense, they are unique as being His, and being such; it may be inferred that they should be specialized in the sense of being unlike others (exclusive) in their manner of life. Once we embrace the redemptive work of Christ, and we are made new, we are prepared as a distinct and particular people to lead in the New Earth which He has prepared for us.
These truths are foundational for you as a believer. If you do not embrace these four positions, you will suffer from defeat until your death. Once you become born-again (indwelt by the Holy Spirit), you are a priest of the royal family of God. Believe it or not—if you are truly born-again, you are a chosen child of God. You did not choose Him; He chose you. You are also a selected person of a Holy Nation—the Nation of God. We will be given positions on the New Earth that match the qualifications stated in these scriptures. You are hidden with Christ in God and sit with Him right now, if you’re born-again, in the Heavenly places (Colossians 3:1). Can you think of a better or safer place to be? Keep in mind this is not what we will receive. According to Colossians, after we become born-again, it is where we are placed right now.
Because the One has been granted permission to open the seals, He now reveals the conditions and benefits of redemption. John shows us that we will be given positions of ruling on this earth. We will be assisting Christ in His reign while He sits on the throne of David in Jerusalem, and yes, we will reign with Him. The role that we will play in this thousand-year reign judgment of Jesus Christ is as His priests.
The earth belongs to Christ, and Satan has ruthlessly and relentlessly attempted to steal what belongs to Him, Jesus. Soon and very soon, Christ will come and take back what has always belonged to Him. The earth was created by Him and for His divine pleasure (Rev. 4:11). Once His knowledge covers the earth, much like the sea covers it now, we will share in the crown of glory. That means we will lead (reign) with Him during the thousand-year reign. Depending upon our level of faithfulness to Christ, some will rule over cities, others over nations, and many will assist in the leadership of such domains. Because God placed a curse on the earth (Genesis 3), the earth presently groans for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ—always has, and always will until the moment where He seizes it as His own once again.
Continuous Historical Note: Jerusalem will become the headquarters of government during the period called the thousand-year reign. The rulers of nations alive during this time most likely will be the rulers of the Antichrist’s nation. The Good news: Israel, along with the Messianic Jews, and the grafted body members (Gentiles), will be given special privileges during this Millennium. Plus, we will be candidates for being the leaders of nations on the New Earth (Ezekiel 48:15-35; Isaiah 52:1-10; and Psalm 47). All the Christians who died and ascended into the arms of Jesus will sit at the right hand of the Most High during the period of earthly government. We will not be under the government structure of any government that the Antichrist has formed, but we will be used by Jesus Christ Himself to rule over the entire earth with Him. Our only ruler will be Christ Himself as our Groom. We will act much like a queen who sits on the right side of her husband and king.
The best is yet to come. The existence that you call life today is not life, and it’s the pre-show of things to come. It’s a training ground. It’s Bootcamp. It’s a predatory college that prepares us for the things we are referencing. You should eagerly look forward to your life in Heaven and your life on the New Earth, which is to come.
