The Daily Word of Righteousness

Justice for the Nations, #9

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (I Peter 2:9)

When God calls the members of the Church out of the world He does not signify by this that everyone else is going to Hell. Rather, the Church is a royal priesthood whose role is to offer sacrifices of praise and holiness to the Lord.

If everyone else were assigned to Hell the Church would have no inheritance. For whom would we serve as a royal priesthood?

God has called us out from the world to be His Presence among the nations so the islands of the sea will wait joyfully for His law.

If all the nations are assigned to Hell, how then can the Servant of the Lord bring justice to them? Are Christ and His Body to bring justice to the nations of the lost?

Who, then, is assigned to Hell? The wicked are assigned to Hell whether or not they believe in Christ. Hell is not the devil's Hell, as the saying goes, it is God's Hell. Hell is where God places the wicked of the earth, many of whom, according to Peter and Jude, assemble regularly with the Christian people.

The division between the wheat and the tares is not between the believers and the nonbelievers but between the righteous and the wicked. This does not mean we can reject Christ and be saved by practicing righteousness.

The issue today is not between the saved and the unsaved. In fact, the term "unsaved' does not appear in the Scriptures. The issue in the Gospels and the Epistles is between the elect who are following Christ and the elect who are living in the flesh.

No person can come to Jesus Christ unless the Father draw that individual. What about the remainder of mankind—those whom the Father does not draw to Jesus? Those who do good will enter eternal life at the last judgment. Those who are wicked will be cast into the Lake of fire.

What about the Christian who does not serve the Lord? He will be beaten with many stripes. He may be cast into the outer darkness. He may suffer the loss of all reward, only his spirit being saved in the Day of the Lord.

The Bible, with its blessings and curses, is written primarily to God's elect, both Jews and Christians. The rest of the world is waiting for the elect to decide to serve God according to our calling.

The Jews have never accepted the fact they are a chosen nation, much preferring to be like the rest of the world.

The Christians also enjoy prospering in the world and address the warnings of the Scriptures to those who are not called to be saints. Romans 6:23 and Hebrews 2:3 are cases in point. Neither of these verses has anything to do with those who are not called of God. They are addressed to sinning, lukewarm Christians. Yet they are preached consistently to the people of the world.

To be continued.