1 Peter 2:1-5,9-12 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

1Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. 2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

4As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight, 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

11Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul. 12Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

Changed Lives

When we believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, it is to produce in us changed lives. We are no longer to live as we lived before as slaves to sin, but we are now to be servants of our Lord, living holy lives pleasing to Him. All such things as malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander, lying, cheating, adultery, idolatry, and immorality are to be put out of our lives. And now we are to follow our Lord Jesus in His ways, according to His words and those of His apostles written down for us in the Scriptures.

We are not saved from our sins merely on a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and merely for the purpose that we might end up in heaven one day with God, and not in hell. Our lives are now to be surrendered to the Lord to doing His will and purpose for our lives. He is now to be Lord over our lives, and He is the one to be directing our paths, and no longer our sinful flesh. We are to be those who are seeking to know and to do the will of God for our lives who are doing the will of God, empowered by God, not by the flesh.

A Chosen People

When we believe in Jesus Christ with God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in Him, which is not of our own doing, i.e. not of our human flesh, it is because God chose us to be His. And by faith in our Lord we are now crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in Him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as servants of righteousness in walks of obedience to His commands. So if that was not your experience, if you did not have a heart change, then perhaps your faith was not of God.

And God did not choose us just so we could skip hell and go to heaven when we die. He chose us to be HIS possession, with Him now directing our paths and leading us in the ways of righteousness. And He chose us that we might now proclaim the excellencies of God who called us out of darkness (sin) into His wonderful light (truth and righteousness). We are to be His who are not only living godly lives surrendered to our Lord, but who are now sharing the message of the gospel of our salvation with the people out in the world.

Conduct Yourselves with Honor

We who belong to Christ by God-persuaded faith in Him are now to abstain from the sinful desires of the flesh. Sin must no longer rule over our lives. Now God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – is to be Lord over our lives, directing our paths, showing us which way we are to go. And our lives are to be surrendered to Him, to doing His will. And we are to be seeking Him to know His will and purpose for our lives, and then we are to be following Him in obedience wherever He leads us in doing His will for us.

And this is not to say that we will be absolutely perfect in every respect or that we will never sin again (see 1 John 2:1-2) now that we belong to Christ. But the Scriptures are quite clear on this subject of what biblical faith looks like and what it should result in. And they teach that if sin remains our practice, and if obedience to God is not what we practice (by habit), that we do not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God. For as followers of Christ we are to be living holy lives pleasing to God, in the power of God.

The Gospel

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to Him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) Him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to His commands, in His power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls Him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in Him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

A People for God’s Own Possession
An Original Work / October 29, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Your Word

Based off Psalms 119
An Original Work / December 27, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Praise You with an upright heart as
I learn of Your righteousness.
I seek You with all my heart;
Do not let me stray from Your law.
I have hidd’n Your word in my heart
That I might not sin against You.
Open my eyes that I may see
Wonderful things in Your word.
I am a stranger on earth.

I have chosen the way of truth;
My heart is set on Your word.
I will walk about in freedom,
For I have sought out Your truth.
Teach me knowledge and good judgment,
For I believe in Your law.
Your hands made me, and they formed me;
Give me understanding, Lord.
I put my hope in Your word.

Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light unto my path.
You are my shield and my refuge;
In Your word I put my hope.
My heart trembles at Your word, Lord.
May my lips o’erflow with praise.
May my tongue sing of Your truth, Lord.
Your salvation, Lord, long I.
Your word, Lord, is my delight.