Commentary overview: Peter describes the incredible position believers have in Christ as members of a royal family. Each believer has an appointment as a priest in God’s spiritual kingdom. Understanding the mercy which He granted us should lead us to turn aside from darkness and walk in His light, so that we can declare God’s goodness to the rest of the world.
In 1 Peter 2:9-10, the Apostle Peter continues to use scripture to prove that believers in Jesus have an identity even greater than being a “holy priesthood” to the LORD (from 1 Peter 2:5). He begins this section with but, signaling a contrast between the disobedient people who stumble over Christ from 1 Peter 2:8. He says 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 (v 9).
Peter takes the descriptors for believers in Jesus from various Old Testament scriptures:
Peter takes Old Testament terminology and applies it to the church of Jesus Christ (all believers in Him). The church does not replace Israel in God’s plan, as the Apostle Paul makes clear in Romans 11Romans 11 commentary (Romans 11:26-29Romans 11:26-29 commentary for example). God has a program and prophecies yet to be fulfilled for Israel. All God’s promises to Israel will be fulfilled (Romans 11:29Romans 11:29 commentary) and all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26Romans 11:26 commentary).
God also has a program for the church which is being fulfilled and will be completely fulfilled. Peter used these terms because they are similar in function, not because they imply sameness in identity. However, in this case, Peter’s immediate audience is Jewish believers, so they would fit into both categories.
Each of the descriptors Peter uses for these New Testament believers also applied to all of Israel. God’s covenant/treaty with Israel was made directly with the people (Exodus 19:8Exodus 19:8 commentary). Similarly, these terms apply to the church as a whole as well as to each believer.
Believers are a chosen race
As Deuteronomy 7:6-8Deuteronomy 7:6-8 commentary states, God did not choose Israel because of any accomplishment or capacity. He chose them because He loved them. In a similar manner, God grants grace freely to all who believe (John 3:16John 3:16 commentary, Revelation 21:6Revelation 21:6 commentary). In this manner, both Israel and the church is a chosen race.
Believers are a royal priesthood
In 1 Peter 2:5, Peter asserted that believers in Jesus are to be a “holy priesthood” who are to offer up “spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Such sacrifices include being a living sacrifice, living our entire lives in service to God (Romans 12:1-2Romans 12:1-2 commentary). Israel was to serve a priestly function to other nations, showing them a better way to live by leading them to the LORD through their example (Exodus 19:6Exodus 19:6 commentary).
Similarly, the church is to show a better way to the world by making disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey Jesus’s commands (Matthew 28:18-20Matthew 28:18-20 commentary). That Peter inserts the word royal to modify priesthood points to the reality that being born spiritually into God’s forever family is to be born into the family of the King of Kings. Having been given a royal birth, each believe then gains a royal inheritance.
Romans 8:17Romans 8:17 commentary tells us that part of that inheritance is possessed unconditionally; God is always our inheritance because He is our Father regardless of our behavior. However, Romans 8:17bRomans 8:17 commentary also says it is required that we suffer as Jesus suffered if we are to be joint heirs with Him. To be a joint heir means being restored to our original design to steward creation in harmony with God and one another (also see Hebrews 2:5-10Hebrews 2:5-10 commentary).
The ancient Israelites were required to cross the Jordan and possess the land in order to receive the inheritance they had been granted (Genesis 15:18Genesis 15:18 commentary, Hebrews 3:15-19Hebrews 3:15-19 commentary). In like manner, New Testament believers must walk in obedience and live as faithful witnesses in order to overcome as Jesus overcame and thereby participate in His reign (Revelation 3:21Revelation 3:21 commentary).
Believers are a holy nation
The word HOLY refers to being set apart unto the LORD. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36John 18:36 commentary). So just as Jesus’s kingdom in this era is spiritual, the term NATION should be considered as being spiritual during the current era. The primary citizenship of a believer in Jesus should not be of this current world, but of a heavenly kingdom (Philippians 3:20Philippians 3:20 commentary, Hebrews 11:9-10Hebrews 11:9-10 commentary).
Therefore, the term Holy Nation should be taken as a spiritual picture of a people dedicated to live for and serve God in this era, an era where the world is fallen. Israel was called to be such a nation and thereby be an example to the world (Exodus 19:6Exodus 19:6 commentary).
Similarly, New Testament believers are to live by faith as heavenly citizens in a broken world. We are to live out the principles of a heavenly kingdom of light while dwelling in an earthly kingdom of darkness. In the new earth, when the earth is made anew, the kings of the nations will bring their glory into the New Jerusalem, so the current spiritual reality will take full form (Revelation 21:24Revelation 21:24 commentary).
Believers are a people for God’s own possession
Romans 8:17Romans 8:17 commentary tells us that all believers are “heirs of God.” This infers not only that God is our unconditional inheritance, but that we are also His inheritance. If a believer in Jesus is God’s own possession, then we can be certain that no one can pluck us out of His hands. Thus, we have assurance that we belong to Him regardless of circumstances.
Peter explains the goal for using these Old Testament terms to describe the believers’ position of belonging to God’s royal family—as priests and servant-leader citizens of heaven living in this fallen world: so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (v 9).
The phrase so that indicates a purpose. The purpose believers should derive from the realities of their position in Christ is that you may proclaim the excellencies of God. The phrase you may proclaim is the English translation of a single Greek word that appears in the New Testament only once, in this passage. The translation may indicates a mood in Greek grammar that the action indicated may or may not take place.
The point seems to be that Peter recognizes that each believer has been granted by God with stewardship of choice for what actions to take. So, Peter is exhorting his disciples to believe the reality of their position in Christ. If they recognize the great responsibility and stewardship of their royal, holy, priestly, position of leadership then it will perhaps spur them to action. The may will become a “will.”
All believers are privileged with this incredible calling. Peter exhorts believers to recognize their amazing position in Christ, and because of that recognition proclaim the excellencies of God. The Greek word “arete” translated as the excellencies is a word Peter uses two other times in his letters (2 Peter 1:3, 5). 2 Peter 1:5 translates “arete” as “moral excellence.” The term seems to refer to the subject’s moral character. In this case the subject is Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. It is God who has called us (Galatians 1:6Galatians 1:6 commentary).
What Peter exhorts believers to do is to proclaim the excellencies of God. This would infer that we are to proclaim the character of God. In the succeeding verses, Peter exhorts some specific actions that indicate what he has in mind when he writes proclaim the excellencies of God:
1 Peter 2:11, Peter exhorts believers to set aside fleshly lusts of the world.
1 Peter 2:13, 18, Peter exhorts believers to properly honor earthly authorities.
1 Peter 3:1-9, Peter exhorts believers to honor one another, dwelling with understanding in service to one another.
1 Peter 3:9, 14-15, Peter exhorts believers to respond to anything evil done to them by blessing the one who persecuted them, and be joyful if they are unjustly mistreated for doing good.
1 Peter 3:14, Peter exhorts believers to be ready, if asked, to defend why they are joyful while being unjustly persecuted.
In all this, the picture is of a believer who is living completely consistent with the responsibilities they have as stewards of God, members of His royal family, appointed as priests to share light with those in darkness.
These excellencies are of Him who has called you, referring to God. Peter uses the word called seven times (1 Peter 1:15, 2:21, 3:6, 9, 5:10; 2 Peter 1:3). It has the basic idea of inviting someone to receive a special benefit. The benefit mentioned in this context is summoning you out of darkness into His marvelous light. That Peter says you means that he is calling these believers to make a choice to live in light rather than in darkness.
This means that believers can choose to live in darkness. The way believers live in darkness is to follow the flesh and the ways of the world. This is why the Apostle John exhorts believers not to love the world or the things in the world (1 John 2:15-16). The Greek word translated “love” in this passage from 1 John is “agape,” the love of choice. As believers, we choose whether to walk in the flesh and fulfill its lusts which leads to destruction, or to walk in the Spirit and gain life (Galatians 5:16Galatians 5:16 commentary).
Unbelievers live in spiritual darkness (Acts 26:18), separated from God. To summon an unbeliever out of darkness and into light would be to share the good news with them that Jesus died for their sins, and invite them to believe and be born again (John 3:3John 3:3 commentary, 14-15). However, Peter is writing this letter to believers (1 Peter 1:1-2). So his exhortation is that you (believers receiving this letter) might choose to come out of darkness and into His marvelous light.
God has called believers out of darkness and into light. We are invited, urged to make this choice. But we are not compelled. God granted us stewardship of our choices. Believers are born into His family as a free gift. Just as physical birth is granted by grace, so is spiritual birth (Ephesians 2:8-9). How we then live is a matter of stewardship, of making choices. As members of a royal family we have great responsibilities with great consequences.
Scripture invites believers to recognize their position in Christ as royal priests and stewards, and live up to our responsibilities and possess our inheritance (Matthew 24:46-47Matthew 24:46-47 commentary, Colossians 3:23Colossians 3:23 commentary). God’s word exhorts us to recognize that sin and darkness leads to death and destruction, separating us from blessing and rewards (Romans 6:16Romans 6:16 commentary).
Scripture exhorts believers to lead lives as dedicated stewards of the gifts of God and serve Him as faithful witnesses (Matthew 25:21Matthew 25:21 commentary, Revelation 1:3Revelation 1:3 commentary). It exhorts us to trust that His ways are for our best, and lead to the greatest of rewards (Hebrews 11:6Hebrews 11:6 commentary, 2 Corinthians 5:10, Revelation 3:21Revelation 3:21 commentary).
When a lost person believes in Jesus Christ for eternal life, God transfers them into His marvelous light in terms of their relationship with God, because we are placed into Him and He is light (1 John 1:5; Ephesians 5:8; Colossians 1:12-13Colossians 1:12-13 commentary). Believers then have a choice of whether to walk in fellowship with God. We can choose to walk in darkness (1 John 1:6; Romans 12:13Romans 12:13 commentary; Ephesians 5:11) or walk in the light (Ephesians 5:8). Peter’s desire is that believers walk in the light.
Peter now explains why believers should walk in the light and proclaim God’s excellencies. He begins with for, indicating the reason or purpose, 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 (v. 10).
Verse 10 quotes Hosea 1:10Hosea 1:10 commentary, 2:23Hosea 2:23 commentary. Hosea prophesied that because of Israel’s rebellion God was going to judge His disobedient people by using Assyria to conquer them and scatter them far away from their homeland.
At that time, it seemed like God abandoned Israel as His people, for they received no mercy. But Hosea predicted that when the Messiah came, Israel would be reconciled and be shown mercy, even though they had rejected God. Peter now uses this prophecy from Hosea to show how in God’s plan, through the coming of Christ, He could take any rebellious sinner and make them His people and show them mercy.
Peter calls on these believers to recognize that they were without God, lost in sin, separated from Him with no hope. But now through Christ they are justified in His sight through the grace of God (Romans 3:23-24Romans 3:23-24 commentary). Accordingly, they have been born into a royal family and been given great gifts with lofty responsibilities that can lead to great rewards. To recognize the reality of our position in Christ should lead any believer to be motivated to live consistently with that position.
This is a great reason for believers today to proclaim the excellencies of God’s loving and compassionate nature that brought us out of darkness into His marvelous light. In the next passage, Peter will exhort believers to live in the light. He will exhort us to abstain from the world and persist in doing good deeds as unto the Lord.
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1 Peter 2:9-10 meaning
In 1 Peter 2:9-10, the Apostle Peter continues to use scripture to prove that believers in Jesus have an identity even greater than being a “holy priesthood” to the LORD (from 1 Peter 2:5). He begins this section with but, signaling a contrast between the disobedient people who stumble over Christ from 1 Peter 2:8. He says 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 (v 9).
Peter takes the descriptors for believers in Jesus from various Old Testament scriptures:
Peter takes Old Testament terminology and applies it to the church of Jesus Christ (all believers in Him). The church does not replace Israel in God’s plan, as the Apostle Paul makes clear in Romans 11Romans 11 commentary (Romans 11:26-29Romans 11:26-29 commentary for example). God has a program and prophecies yet to be fulfilled for Israel. All God’s promises to Israel will be fulfilled (Romans 11:29Romans 11:29 commentary) and all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26Romans 11:26 commentary).
God also has a program for the church which is being fulfilled and will be completely fulfilled. Peter used these terms because they are similar in function, not because they imply sameness in identity. However, in this case, Peter’s immediate audience is Jewish believers, so they would fit into both categories.
Each of the descriptors Peter uses for these New Testament believers also applied to all of Israel. God’s covenant/treaty with Israel was made directly with the people (Exodus 19:8Exodus 19:8 commentary). Similarly, these terms apply to the church as a whole as well as to each believer.
As Deuteronomy 7:6-8Deuteronomy 7:6-8 commentary states, God did not choose Israel because of any accomplishment or capacity. He chose them because He loved them. In a similar manner, God grants grace freely to all who believe (John 3:16John 3:16 commentary, Revelation 21:6Revelation 21:6 commentary). In this manner, both Israel and the church is a chosen race.
In 1 Peter 2:5, Peter asserted that believers in Jesus are to be a “holy priesthood” who are to offer up “spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Such sacrifices include being a living sacrifice, living our entire lives in service to God (Romans 12:1-2Romans 12:1-2 commentary). Israel was to serve a priestly function to other nations, showing them a better way to live by leading them to the LORD through their example (Exodus 19:6Exodus 19:6 commentary).
Similarly, the church is to show a better way to the world by making disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey Jesus’s commands (Matthew 28:18-20Matthew 28:18-20 commentary). That Peter inserts the word royal to modify priesthood points to the reality that being born spiritually into God’s forever family is to be born into the family of the King of Kings. Having been given a royal birth, each believe then gains a royal inheritance.
Romans 8:17Romans 8:17 commentary tells us that part of that inheritance is possessed unconditionally; God is always our inheritance because He is our Father regardless of our behavior. However, Romans 8:17bRomans 8:17 commentary also says it is required that we suffer as Jesus suffered if we are to be joint heirs with Him. To be a joint heir means being restored to our original design to steward creation in harmony with God and one another (also see Hebrews 2:5-10Hebrews 2:5-10 commentary).
The ancient Israelites were required to cross the Jordan and possess the land in order to receive the inheritance they had been granted (Genesis 15:18Genesis 15:18 commentary, Hebrews 3:15-19Hebrews 3:15-19 commentary). In like manner, New Testament believers must walk in obedience and live as faithful witnesses in order to overcome as Jesus overcame and thereby participate in His reign (Revelation 3:21Revelation 3:21 commentary).
The word HOLY refers to being set apart unto the LORD. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36John 18:36 commentary). So just as Jesus’s kingdom in this era is spiritual, the term NATION should be considered as being spiritual during the current era. The primary citizenship of a believer in Jesus should not be of this current world, but of a heavenly kingdom (Philippians 3:20Philippians 3:20 commentary, Hebrews 11:9-10Hebrews 11:9-10 commentary).
Therefore, the term Holy Nation should be taken as a spiritual picture of a people dedicated to live for and serve God in this era, an era where the world is fallen. Israel was called to be such a nation and thereby be an example to the world (Exodus 19:6Exodus 19:6 commentary).
Similarly, New Testament believers are to live by faith as heavenly citizens in a broken world. We are to live out the principles of a heavenly kingdom of light while dwelling in an earthly kingdom of darkness. In the new earth, when the earth is made anew, the kings of the nations will bring their glory into the New Jerusalem, so the current spiritual reality will take full form (Revelation 21:24Revelation 21:24 commentary).
Romans 8:17Romans 8:17 commentary tells us that all believers are “heirs of God.” This infers not only that God is our unconditional inheritance, but that we are also His inheritance. If a believer in Jesus is God’s own possession, then we can be certain that no one can pluck us out of His hands. Thus, we have assurance that we belong to Him regardless of circumstances.
Peter explains the goal for using these Old Testament terms to describe the believers’ position of belonging to God’s royal family—as priests and servant-leader citizens of heaven living in this fallen world: so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (v 9).
The phrase so that indicates a purpose. The purpose believers should derive from the realities of their position in Christ is that you may proclaim the excellencies of God. The phrase you may proclaim is the English translation of a single Greek word that appears in the New Testament only once, in this passage. The translation may indicates a mood in Greek grammar that the action indicated may or may not take place.
The point seems to be that Peter recognizes that each believer has been granted by God with stewardship of choice for what actions to take. So, Peter is exhorting his disciples to believe the reality of their position in Christ. If they recognize the great responsibility and stewardship of their royal, holy, priestly, position of leadership then it will perhaps spur them to action. The may will become a “will.”
All believers are privileged with this incredible calling. Peter exhorts believers to recognize their amazing position in Christ, and because of that recognition proclaim the excellencies of God. The Greek word “arete” translated as the excellencies is a word Peter uses two other times in his letters (2 Peter 1:3, 5). 2 Peter 1:5 translates “arete” as “moral excellence.” The term seems to refer to the subject’s moral character. In this case the subject is Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. It is God who has called us (Galatians 1:6Galatians 1:6 commentary).
What Peter exhorts believers to do is to proclaim the excellencies of God. This would infer that we are to proclaim the character of God. In the succeeding verses, Peter exhorts some specific actions that indicate what he has in mind when he writes proclaim the excellencies of God:
In all this, the picture is of a believer who is living completely consistent with the responsibilities they have as stewards of God, members of His royal family, appointed as priests to share light with those in darkness.
These excellencies are of Him who has called you, referring to God. Peter uses the word called seven times (1 Peter 1:15, 2:21, 3:6, 9, 5:10; 2 Peter 1:3). It has the basic idea of inviting someone to receive a special benefit. The benefit mentioned in this context is summoning you out of darkness into His marvelous light. That Peter says you means that he is calling these believers to make a choice to live in light rather than in darkness.
This means that believers can choose to live in darkness. The way believers live in darkness is to follow the flesh and the ways of the world. This is why the Apostle John exhorts believers not to love the world or the things in the world (1 John 2:15-16). The Greek word translated “love” in this passage from 1 John is “agape,” the love of choice. As believers, we choose whether to walk in the flesh and fulfill its lusts which leads to destruction, or to walk in the Spirit and gain life (Galatians 5:16Galatians 5:16 commentary).
Unbelievers live in spiritual darkness (Acts 26:18), separated from God. To summon an unbeliever out of darkness and into light would be to share the good news with them that Jesus died for their sins, and invite them to believe and be born again (John 3:3John 3:3 commentary, 14-15). However, Peter is writing this letter to believers (1 Peter 1:1-2). So his exhortation is that you (believers receiving this letter) might choose to come out of darkness and into His marvelous light.
God has called believers out of darkness and into light. We are invited, urged to make this choice. But we are not compelled. God granted us stewardship of our choices. Believers are born into His family as a free gift. Just as physical birth is granted by grace, so is spiritual birth (Ephesians 2:8-9). How we then live is a matter of stewardship, of making choices. As members of a royal family we have great responsibilities with great consequences.
Scripture invites believers to recognize their position in Christ as royal priests and stewards, and live up to our responsibilities and possess our inheritance (Matthew 24:46-47Matthew 24:46-47 commentary, Colossians 3:23Colossians 3:23 commentary). God’s word exhorts us to recognize that sin and darkness leads to death and destruction, separating us from blessing and rewards (Romans 6:16Romans 6:16 commentary).
Scripture exhorts believers to lead lives as dedicated stewards of the gifts of God and serve Him as faithful witnesses (Matthew 25:21Matthew 25:21 commentary, Revelation 1:3Revelation 1:3 commentary). It exhorts us to trust that His ways are for our best, and lead to the greatest of rewards (Hebrews 11:6Hebrews 11:6 commentary, 2 Corinthians 5:10, Revelation 3:21Revelation 3:21 commentary).
When a lost person believes in Jesus Christ for eternal life, God transfers them into His marvelous light in terms of their relationship with God, because we are placed into Him and He is light (1 John 1:5; Ephesians 5:8; Colossians 1:12-13Colossians 1:12-13 commentary). Believers then have a choice of whether to walk in fellowship with God. We can choose to walk in darkness (1 John 1:6; Romans 12:13Romans 12:13 commentary; Ephesians 5:11) or walk in the light (Ephesians 5:8). Peter’s desire is that believers walk in the light.
Peter now explains why believers should walk in the light and proclaim God’s excellencies. He begins with for, indicating the reason or purpose, 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 (v. 10).
Verse 10 quotes Hosea 1:10Hosea 1:10 commentary, 2:23Hosea 2:23 commentary. Hosea prophesied that because of Israel’s rebellion God was going to judge His disobedient people by using Assyria to conquer them and scatter them far away from their homeland.
At that time, it seemed like God abandoned Israel as His people, for they received no mercy. But Hosea predicted that when the Messiah came, Israel would be reconciled and be shown mercy, even though they had rejected God. Peter now uses this prophecy from Hosea to show how in God’s plan, through the coming of Christ, He could take any rebellious sinner and make them His people and show them mercy.
Peter calls on these believers to recognize that they were without God, lost in sin, separated from Him with no hope. But now through Christ they are justified in His sight through the grace of God (Romans 3:23-24Romans 3:23-24 commentary). Accordingly, they have been born into a royal family and been given great gifts with lofty responsibilities that can lead to great rewards. To recognize the reality of our position in Christ should lead any believer to be motivated to live consistently with that position.
This is a great reason for believers today to proclaim the excellencies of God’s loving and compassionate nature that brought us out of darkness into His marvelous light. In the next passage, Peter will exhort believers to live in the light. He will exhort us to abstain from the world and persist in doing good deeds as unto the Lord.