1 Peter 2 Devotional

Mercy That Makes a People

“Once 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.”1 Peter 2:10 (BSB)

Peter describes believers with a picture of building. Jesus is the living stone, rejected by people but chosen and precious to God, and those who come to him become living stones built into a spiritual house (2:4-5). Peter then piles up titles: a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God (2:9). And he says plainly how they got there. Once they were not a people and had not received mercy, but now they are God's people and have received mercy (2:10).

The chapter goes on to hard instructions about submitting to authorities and enduring unjust treatment (2:13-20). Peter grounds them in Christ, who suffered without sin, did not threaten when insulted, and entrusted himself to the God who judges justly (2:22-23). He bore our sins in his body on the cross, and like straying sheep we have been brought back to the Shepherd of our souls (2:24-25), language Peter draws from Isaiah 53:5-6. Those who have been shown such mercy can live honorably even among people who misunderstand them.

To think about: How might remembering that you have received mercy change the way you respond to someone who treats you unfairly?