102. Holy and Special People
Deuteronomy 7:6 For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
The Lord chose the descendants of Abraham, the children of Israel, to be a holy people unto the Lord and a special people unto Himself. This is a promise: the people of God will be holy and special. This is what Moses tells the people from the mouth of God when they are on the plains of Moab poised to enter the Promised Land and possess it.
The Jews were indeed a peculiar people in contrast to the others peoples of earth, for their dietary rules and hygienic taboos and worship rituals and Sabbath keeping were different from others and set them apart.
The NT people of God who are believers in Jesus Christ are the people of God, as the OT Jewish believers flowed into and became the NT believers in Christ; the disciples of Christ are the “Israel of God.” The entire Church, made up of Jewish and Gentile believers, are in the NT declared to be peculiar, holy, and special. All those who believe in Christ are accounted holy, righteous, pure and innocent by faith. This justification is sudden. Those believers are gradually made more holy in lifestyle to match up to their accounted status. Sanctification is gradual.
This is the promise: we are holy and becoming more holy; we are special and becoming increasingly more special, if possible. This promise must be taken by faith, since we don’t see it and cannot point it out. God sees us as holy and special, although the church and our holiness is invisible to us. We need to believe the promise and see ourselves as God sees us: I am holy to the Lord and I am special to Him. I believe what God sees, not what I see. This promises changes how I look at myself and how I live and act to come into conformity with who I already am.