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"But you are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of His possession, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who did not have mercy but now have mercy." (vs9-10)

While gentile preachers proclaim these words to gentile Believers as though belonging totally to them, and those who believe in "kingdom theology" use this passage to support their dogmas, and while it is certainly true that there are parallels for gentile Believers; the terminology here is uniquely and distinctly -JEWISH-. Some will even preach from the kjv about Christians being a "peculiar people"...that's why the world thinks we are "strange" or "odd"...or they will teach various forms of legalism IN ORDER THAT their followers might be purposely (but unnecessarily) weird.

Now, while the dictionary does define "peculiar" as "unusual, eccentric, odd", the further definitions as might have been the case in older usage English give us, "distinct from all others, belonging distinctively or primarily to one person". It's a word that also applies to a case where, say, a particular species of animal is found only in one limited area of the globe, it would be said that the species is "peculiar to that area"

So, let us understand the "Jewishness" of this passage.

An "elect race". Race is a word related to genetics. Seed. God called out Abraham from Ur, and as the family grew, distinct from the surrounding peoples, they became known as "Hebrews". (Gen14:13, 39:14,17, 40:15, Ex1:16, etc)  God's promises to Abraham were to him and his "seed". (Gen12:7, 13:15-16, 15:5, etc)  There are some who object to the term "race" to differentiate the various peoples of the world, because all of humanity is one race: if blood types are matched up properly, the blood from one person can be transfused into another from -anywhere- on earth; it matters not whether white, black, yellow, red, or purple with pink polkadots; tall, short, fat or skinny. Thus Paul spoke of "one blood" (Ac17:26) from which all the nations spring.

But the term "race" has also become, through common use, to be understood to indicate the global divisions as families spread out and became national and regional groups. Those nation groups from common ancestry way back there after Noah's flood also became known as "races". When there are squabbles between whites and blacks, it is called racism. When there were squabbles between Japanese, Koreans or Chinese, even though they are all "oriental" and of generically similar features and skin tones (although they, amongst themselves, can tell the differences between each other), it was also racism.

Thus, keeping in mind that Peter is writing to the Diaspora, the "elect race" he is addressing is the (physical) "seed" of Abraham. Israel. Jews. God elected Abraham and his seed to be a nation in the 'land' (Ge12:7, 15:7, etc) that would follow and be obedient to God.

Thus, the "royal priesthood". When Israel came out of Egypt, He commissioned them, "And you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." (Ex19:6a)

What is a priest? Looking up the word in a dictionary or lexicon doesn't do much for us. They basically say a priest: is a priest: is a priest. Defining the word by itself. Thus, we must understand from Biblical examples, based on what the priests did.
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The priest was a go-between between sinful man and the righteous holy God. The priest gave God's commands to man. (Heb7:11) And he would atone for man's sin before God. (Heb9:7,25) He would adjudicate between people (De17:9) and as such they were also "rulers" of the people. (Ac23:5) They were God's servants. (Ex28:1)

God placed Israel at the crossroads of the then-known-world. (The Americas hadn't yet been "discovered" by those who had not migrated over after the Flood)  Trade and traffic between Europe, Asia and Africa passed through the region where God placed Israel. As a national priesthood, Israel was supposed to proclaim "light to the Gentiles"  But they failed, nationally. Instead of spreading knowledge of God to the world, they took on all the world's idols.  But Jesus came through Israel, and is proclaimed to the world (Lk2:32, Ac13:47, 26:23); and fulfilled God's promise to Abraham, "and in you and in your Seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Gen12:3, 28:14)  And any Believers in Christ, from Israel, are obeying the command. When the "world" was turned "upside down", those were Jewish apostles and missionaries who did so. (Ac17:6)

Believing Jews represent God's original intent for the nation of Israel as a "holy nation". Holy, meaning to be distinct. God's -sole- possession. Yes, if a person is understanding the older English: "peculiarly" God's, as distinct from the world. In that case the kjv word "peculiar" would be another way of saying "holy". Set apart...unto God.

When Israel was in Egypt, they were as nothing...they were slaves. God delivered them out of Egypt at Passover, but "most" of them rebelled and were displeasing to God (1Co10:5) and were judged "because of unbelief" (Heb3:19)

Now, in Christ, those who believe are once again "the people of God" (vs10)  What? Through the Law? No. They "now have mercy". Grace.

Is Faith in Christ a dreaded thing? Something to be ashamed of? Something to hide in the closet, lest somebody know?

"...that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (vs9b)

God is -LIGHT- and "in Him is no darkness at all" (1Jn1:5)

So, let's see here: Salvation is a wonderful thing, to proclaim God's praises. His light is marvelous. It is all -GOOD-! 

So why is it, then, that so many of those calling themselves "Christian" adapt the world's ways, allegedly for the purpose of "winning" them? Is it that, in their place as God's holy unique possession they are unwilling to be peculiarly distinct? The world notices that they are different, and pokes fun? After all, according to the schoolground mentality, the odd one out is to be laughed at and ridiculed. They might repeat the mantra "Do your own thing"...but only if it is not pure, righteous and holy.

Peter begs...

"I beg you as foreigners and sojourners, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against your soul" (vs11)

The Believer has God's holiness, God's seal, God's light. Why? oh Why? would we wish to be contaminated with the world's filth? Is it -that- much fun to stumble around in the darkness, instead of enjoying the Light?
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It would be like having a stop sign, or pole mounted traffic light. These objects are for the purpose of standing out in plain view to give direction to drivers. That is their function. Most everything else around them is different... plants, buildings, fences, etc. To have the fleshly lusts would be like allowing bushes and trees to overgrow, surrounding the signs, obstructing them from view. Drivers coming along, not seeing anything there, continue on, and two come at the same time, collide, and the people die. Peter is saying to cut away the overgrowth. Get those signs back out in plain view, so they can serve the purpose for which they are there.

In the case of the Believer, it is to display God's Righteousness to the world. A person cannot do that if they are grubbing around in the world's lusts. Just as a person cannot feed on God's Pure Word with sin in the way (vs1), we also cannot proclaim His praises if we are covered in the mud of the world.

How does this translate into specific behavior? After all, Peter earlier said to "behave yourselves" (1:17) Our holiness and the praises of God are seen by the world through our behavior. They cannot see our hearts or thoughts; but they can see what we do and say.

"...having your behavior honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation" (vs12)

What is honorable behavior?  Do not most people know? What are good works? Do not all people have a "conscience" (Rom2:15) Yes, some consciences are "seared" through repeated disobedience and rebellion. (1Ti4:2)  But if you have a room full of guys engaged in course talk and conversations, and some high official comes along, or a supervisor commands to "Clean it up guys", do they not immediately know proper behavior?  People know they should not steal; otherwise, when they have stolen, and are asked if they stole, why do they lie, saying they have not stolen, if stealing is OK? Thus, at the least, we should behave in universally known 'goodness'.

However, we also know that righteous people are falsely accused, mainly because they are God's 'possession', and the world hates God and anything belonging to God; and the righteous person's goodness brings to light their own evil. And this has certainly also been true of Jews, particularly the Diaspora. Somebody spreads false rumors that Jews drink the blood of children, or this or that; and pretty soon the rumor becomes "fact" as far as the population is concerned, and persecution ensues.

Believers should live lives that are at least as "good" as the world's standards. Then, when an accusation is made, and investigation conducted, nothing will be found; like in the story of Daniel before he was thrown to the lions. (Dan6:3-5) There was nothing they could find by which to accuse him, except as they then contrived a law which they knew Daniel would disobey, because it involved his relationship with God.

When Daniel's three friends, and himself were tried, by fire (Dan3) and lions (Dan6), what was the outcome when they were exonerated? In both cases the king/s gave due credit to God. (Dan3:28-29, 6:26-27) God was glorified.

There might be persecution, but if the accusations are false, and there is eventually any shred of justice, the Believer who has "behaved" himself will see God glorified.

These are the guiding principles and foundation. In the next lesson, and following, we will see some specific cases with specific guidelines in several key areas of behavior. Some which the world recognizes, and some which the world might not be attuned to; but which the Believer, adhering to the Higher calling, should observe in obedience to God.

I have to agree with that this part of the bible belongs to Israel. And it sad that people believe that there are Priests today, and  that under Jewish Law, that to be a Priest , you had to be a Levite. And to be a HIGH PRIEST , you had to be   and actually descendant of Aaron , and the lame or halt and blind couldn't serve, as Priests.

Hello Dan P,

It's fascinating to note that there are elaborate plans and procedures in Israel right now to RESUME the operation of Priests according to Old Testament law. By elaborate, I'm talking about the utensils for the rituals, Priests trained, and much more. The stage is being set and MIGHT already be READY for Temple Rituals. There is PROBABLY MUCH MORE already in place that the world hasn't been told about.

I might also add that there are possible signs all over the world that a massive stage is just about set that would allow the fulfillment of Bible Prophecy. For many reasons, conservative Christians CAN say that the End Days of this Age of Grace MIGHT BE NEAR! Only GOD knows the Time, and it will be HIS Appointed Time set before the foundation of this world. However, there is a massive amount of specific world events that appear to be at LEAST a preview of the End Days. When could the Tribulation Period start? I don't know and neither does any other man. A huge amount of information does indicate that the time could be soon. How long is soon? Only GOD knows.