128. Holy and Peculiar People
Deuteronomy 14:2 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.
The people of the Covenant, saved through the Exodus from Egypt, and melded into a nation under Moses were made by God to be Holy and Peculiar. God created them to be a holy and peculiar people unto himself by promise and then by action.
The NT people of God who are believers in Jesus are also holy and peculiar: I Peter 2:9: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” The OT believers and the NT believers are one holy and peculiar people of God, all of which believe in the Promise, Jesus Christ.
The Lord separated a people for Himself out of all the peoples of the world. We believers in Jesus have been called out of darkness into light, separated from the world, and made holy and peculiar. This is God’s promise: you are holy and peculiar.
“Peculiar” simply means different and special; it does not necessarily mean odd, strange, crazy or curious. From a worldly perspective, the Christians are meant to be different than the world. Therefore, it ought be noticed that they are different than the way the world thinks, talks, and acts. Our ways are not the world’s ways: we do not live only for the Self but for Others; we do not seek to grab and get but to give and share; we do not look for fame and glory but for service and humility; we walk the extra mile, give the extra shirt, and turn the other cheek; we pray for our enemies and treat kindly those who mistreat us. That, and much more, is peculiar to the way of the world and its people. To the world holiness is odd and peculiar, but to God it is normal and pleasing.
And the promise is: we will be that kind of people, the salt and light kind of people. We can’t always tell the difference between the two kinds of people in the world, for too often believers look like unbelievers. But God sees the heart, and in the heart of the Christian lives Jesus, which is what God sees. Thus the Lord sees us as holy and special and different. We need to see ourselves the same way, and that is why we need a promise like this. See what God sees. Believe what He says about you.