Chosen Pilgrims

This world is not home for the believer.

I can’t say it enough. Today, I’m going share some snippets of my studies on 1 and 2 Peter done in 2015 that will touch on the idea of believers being aliens. The study will not be long or intrusive upon your day; but hopefully, it will give you a nugget of scripture you can meditate upon as you live life.

Believers are aliens

I love studying Peter because he starts off with something dear to my heart – the fact that believers are aliens.

Yes, it’s true. We are pilgrims in this world on a journey Home.

We are not to look like world-dwellers.  If we are living a life pleasing to God, we can’t fit in, no matter how hard we try.

And why would we want to?

This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.
I am writing to God’s chosen people
who are living as foreigners
in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.

1 Peter 1:1 New Living Translation

Temporary residents

Peter introduced himself simply as an apostle (sent one) of Jesus Christ. He didn’t explain or justify his position. He could have said he was the most influential leader in the early church. He could have said that Jesus spoke to him in the Gospels more than any other person. He just said he was an apostle.

He addressed his letter to the temporary residents (or pilgrims or strangers, depending on the bible translation you are using) of the dispersion. Both Jewish and Gentile Christians left Jerusalem when Judah was conquered by Babylon and had scattered.

A temporary resident realizes that this is not his or her home. This is not the final destination. Why should we expend such effort to build a kingdom here when eternity will find us living in a much much better place? In light of this fact, how should we be spending our time?

Don’t get to feeling settled here. Why?  Because you were chosen for something else!

Chosen to be different

If you are only temporarily here, what does that look like in your own life?

It should remind us that our focus should be on Him and His plans and purposes for our life. I’ve heard it said, “How can I build His Kingdom, when I’m too busy building my own?”

Now, let’s look at verse 2:

God the Father knew you and chose you long ago,
and his Spirit has made you holy.
As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
May God give you more and more grace and peace.

1 Peter 1:2 New Living Translation

Chosen to be set apart

Some versions use the word elect instead of chosen. God elected us, or chose us, according to foreknowledge. In other words, God chose us because He knew we would have a heart for God. He knew we would respond to the Holy Spirit’s promptings.

But, it’s not like we are puppets, even though we have a heart for God, we still must respond and choose to be obedient.

Being set apart is describing sanctification. It’s your choice, do you want to live a set apart life focusing on Him? Or do you want to be like, and look like, everyone else?

If there is no change in lifestyle, no evidence of obedience to His word, then it is doubtful you’ve really elected to be His.

We can’t do it on our own which is why the blood of Jesus has to be applied to our lives.  If we could do it ourselves, then Christ’s death on the cross would have been unnecessary.

Notice in this short passage, God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus are all mentioned in Peter’s description of our salvation.

Remember, you are temporarily here and chosen to be set apart. Next time, we’ll talk about hope.

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Thanks for dropping by my piece of the internet! I want to always share my post, A Ticket Home, for those who might not know the way Home.

Also, I’m thrilled to tell you the book, “A Family’s Legacy: Passing Down Love, Wisdom and Tradition,” is now available. One of the chapters in that book was written by me; and I now have an Amazon author’s page that has all the details. Click here.

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All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy.