Peculiar People
October 1st, 2000Peculiar People
Titus 2:14-15
I am looking a group of peculiar people. Verse 14 in the King James Version says that Christ came to “purify unto himself a peculiar people.” That doesn’t mean that Christians are “weird”, though some may fit that characterization. Peculiar as used here means - “that which is one’s own, belonging to one’s possessions.” Christians have been selected by God from the mass of sinful humanity for his own possession. This is the language of the covenant. It comes right out of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the Jews were God’s special people. Today all who trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are declared to be God’s own special possession. I don’t think that we fully appreciate this fact. This is probably due to our lack of familiarity with the Old Testament. We are called the people of God, and are in special covenant relationship with Him.
This morning I want us to look at two things: 1) How we became the people of God and 2) what it means to be the people of God.
I. HOW DID WE BECOME THE PEOPLE OF GOD?
1Peter 2:9-10 says, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, Once you were not a people but now you are God’s people.” How did we as Gentiles - non-Jews, who at one time were not God’s people, become God’s people? Peter said, “you are a chosen race.” The fact is that if you belong to God, it is because of His sovereign, gracious choice of you before the foundation of the world. You were chosen before time. From eternity God set His love on the elect for salvation. But election does not tell us the method that God used to save us and make us His own, it simply says that He chose certain ones to be His people.
Titus 2:14 speaks of three aspects of the work of God to make us His peculiar people - 1) Substitution, 2) Redemption and 3) Purification. All three of these concepts are found in the Old Covenant, and were fulfilled by Jesus Christ, our Great God and Savior. First of all, We became the people of God by substitution. Christ “gave Himself for us”. Paul builds on the “sacrificial imagery of the worship of Israel in the Old Testament, where animals were presented by priests to God in place of sinful worshippers.”(Douglas Milne) On the cross, our Lord Jesus gave His life “for us”. The Greek word “huper” can mean “in behalf of, or in one’s stead.” Christ’s death was not only on our behalf, but it was also instead of us. Gordon Clark illustrated the difference from a situation in baseball. He said, “A sacrifice bunt is for or on the behalf of a runner on first or second. But a pinch hitter goes to bat for or instead of another player.”
Many Liberal theologians in the past contended that the New Testament did not teach a vicarious or subsitutionary atonement. But Christ clearly died “instead of” me. He died in my place. He stepped up to die the death and suffer the punishment for sin that I deserved. 1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” Christ suffered in the place of all God’s chosen people. This substitution involved what is known as the “great exchange”. My sins were laid to His account, and His righteousness was imputed to my account. This was necessary in order for us to be His special people.
Another picture that Paul uses in this verse from the Old Testament is “Redemption.” We became the people of God when God redeemed us. To redeem is to “buy back.” It draws its meaning from the marketplace. This word is used in other places to refer to the release of a slave or prisoner by the payment of a ransom. God redeemed His people Israel from slavery in Egypt. More importantly, Christ has redeemed His people from slavery to sin. We once belonged to sin and were held captive by the evil one. While we were in slavery to sin, we could not enjoy fellowship with God. Christ paid a costly ransom price for us in shedding His own blood for us.
1 Peter 1:18-19 says, “you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” Only the precious blood of Christ could redeem us. During the Last Supper Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is being poured out for you.” As you partake of the cup this morning, remember how great a price was paid for your soul. His blood is the most costly payment ever made to redeem utterly unworthy sinners.
Verse 14 says Christ “redeemed us from every lawless deed.” In Greek “lawless deed” is one word - “anomia” - without law. To be lawless is to live in contempt and violation of the law of God. Every deed you performed before you came to Jesus Christ was lawless. You lived as a law unto yourself. This is what we call “relativism” today. You do whatever you decide is right for you. But God calls every human being to live by His perfect and holy law - inwardly and outwardly. Since we have broken God’s laws, we deserve to be punished. But Christ died on the cross to redeem us from lawlessness. On the cross God treated Jesus as if He were the worst lawbreaker of all time - as if He had not kept the law at all. And yet we know He indeed kept the law perfectly. He was considered a lawbreaker so that we might be counted as righteous. So, for those who trust in Christ as their Redeemer, not only are your sins not counted against you, but also Christ’s perfect record of keeping of the law is counted as yours. Right now, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, God accepts you as if you were sinless and as if you were a perfect lawkeeper.
Christ has redeemed you that you might be counted as perfectly righteous in his sight. But not only has He given you a righteous standing before Him, He has redeemed you in order that you might become righteous in practice. 1Corinthians 6:20 says, “And you are not your own, for you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” If Christ has redeemed you, then no longer are you to serve sin, but Him. He owns you now. You are not your own and cannot do as you please! You have been redeemed not for your personal happiness, but for His glory. You were freed from sin but you are now His possession.
The third way that Paul says believers become God’s people is by “purification”. Christ “purified for Himself His own special people.” John Gill wrote that “all mankind are filthy and unclean by nature, in all the powers and faculties of their souls; nor can they cleanse themselves from their impurity of flesh and spirit, by anything that they can do.” Since God is perfect in holiness and hates sin, His people must be purified if they are to enjoy fellowship with Him. Habakkuk 1:13 says, “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and can not look on iniquity.” In Matthew 5:8 Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart! For they shall see God.” God cannot look upon evil, and evil men cannot see God. So, there must be a purification so that God will be able to look upon us favorably, and so that we will one day see God.
Under the Old Covenant, much was done in order to render purification to those considered unclean. Purity in the Old Testament was both ceremonial and moral purity. The distinction between clean and unclean was part of the fabric of life for the Jews. Under the Mosaic Law, ceremonial purification was required for four acts: 1) The birth of a child, 2) Contact with a corpse, 3) Certain diseases, such as leprosy, and 4) A running sore.
In the Old Testament, spiritual realities were conveyed through outward signs and symbols. Take for example the purification necessary from the defilement of death. An unblemished Red Heifer had to be burned completely, and its ashes mixed with water. The water and ashes were then sprinkled upon the unclean person. In Numbers 19 we read, “He who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean. Whoever touches the dead body of any man that is dead, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD. And that soul shall be cut off from Israel. Because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is still upon him.” Without this ritual cleansing, a Jew was not allowed into the Tabernacle to bring worship to God.
There is one ritual cleansing that is still done today in the church - sprinkling with the water of baptism. It is a ritual purification that represents the cleansing of the blood of Christ. It is necessary to be baptized in order to be numbered among the people of God. That is why we baptize little children, because they are to be counted among God’s people - they are part of God’s covenant family. But what is far more important is the reality that baptism represents. It represents being cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 9:13-14 says, “For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
You must be cleansed from your sins by an inner purification - the purification of the heart or conscience. Acts 15:9 says, “And He put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.” James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse our hands, sinners; and purify your hearts, double-minded ones.” Has your heart been made pure by the blood of Christ? And are you daily seeking His forgiveness and cleansing from sin? Every time we sin, we become defiled by that sin. How do we under the New Covenant become purified? By doing what the apostle John said in 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” No need to go through some elaborate ritual, but simply turn to God in prayer, repenting of your sins, confess them to the Lord and He will cleanse you.
So, the three aspects of the work of God to make us His peculiar people - are 1) Substitution, 2) Redemption & 3) Purification. But now, briefly, we need to look at:
II. WHAT IT MEANS TO BE THE PEOPLE OF GOD
It means to be in covenant relationship with God. It means that you stand in a closer relationship to God than any created being. It is to become a son or daughter of God through faith in Christ. To be part of His people is to be able to say that you belong to God and He belongs to you. Can you say that? Can you join in with the words of the Song of Solomon and say, “My Beloved is mine, and I am His?”
Exodus 19:5 says, “And now if you will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to Me above all the nations; for all the earth is Mine.” To be among the people of God is to obey His commandments and keep His covenant. Obedience will mark you out as one of His. If you are a Christian, then you want to please Him. You obey Him precisely because you belong to Him and because He has changed your heart. Jeremiah 31:33, referring to the New Covenant said, “but this shall be the covenant that I will cut with the house of Israel: After those days, says the LORD, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Is His law written upon your heart? Do you love His law and desire to keep it?
Deuteronomy 7:6 says, “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a special people to Himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” If you belong to God through faith in Christ, then you occupy the most favored position of all people on earth. You have been chosen by God to be His - forever! You have been placed within the covenant and therefore within the circle of blessing. Outside of this covenant all are under the curse. What an awesome privilege to be one of His people! But along with great privilege comes great responsibility.
Why has God purified you to be one of His people? Paul said that Christ has “purified for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” If God has chosen you, it is so you would be zealous for good works. Are you zealous? Or are you lethargic, hesitant and indifferent in your service to Christ? God wants people that are serious about doing His will. He didn’t save you to grudgingly do His will. He didn’t redeem you so that you half-heartedly obey His word. He is looking for zealots - those who will do anything God says at a moment’s notice with great enthusiasm.
You may have to try and restore a marriage that is breaking up. You may reach out to someone that is down and out and rejected by society. You might help a drunkard overcome his sin. The Bible says, “Know that he who turns back the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” If you are a Christian, you are part of His “peculiar people”- His own special possession and treasure. May God fill you with zeal for His honor and glory - zeal to do good works out of gratitude to such Great God and Savior, who has died in your place, redeemed you and purified you from sin.
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