Chosen generation
What does it mean that “you are a chosen generation” (1 Peter 2:9)?
In 1 Peter 2:9, the apostle Peter describes believers in Jesus Christ with these remarkable words: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (NKJV). Other translations render the expression chosen generation as “chosen people” (NIV) or “chosen race” (NASB).
Is the phrase you are a chosen generation speaking of predestination and election—God’s predetermination of who will be saved—or does it mean something else?
In this passage, Peter weaves in Old Testament Scripture to define some of the extraordinary spiritual riches that Christians possess in Jesus Christ. He draws specifically from Isaiah 43:20–21, where God speaks of “my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise” (ESV). Peter also borrows the exact words found in Exodus 19:6, in which God identifies His people as a “royal priesthood.” God’s chosen people are no longer restricted to the Hebrews of Israel only; His holy nation now embraces the church of Jesus Christ, which includes both Jews and Gentiles.
Peter is reminding the church precisely how valuable every member is to God. When Peter says, “You are a chosen generation,” he is emphasizing God’s loving initiative in salvation. God draws us to Himself and places us, “like living stones,” as part of His church (1 Peter 2:5).
Peter is also stressing God’s ownership of our lives, as He is the One who chooses the “chosen generation.” Throughout history, God has claimed for Himself a people to be His very own prized possession. Believers in Jesus Christ are the people God has chosen to possess. We may be ordinary people, but because God owns us, our lives take on immeasurably great value.
The doctrines of predestination and election are unmistakably biblical (Mark 13:20; Ephesians 1:4–5; Revelation 13:8; Revelation 17:8). God chooses people to be the objects of His unmerited favor and grace, not because of their worthiness or anything they do to deserve it. At the heart of God’s choosing a people is His love (Deuteronomy 7:7–8; 10:14–17; Hosea 11:1, 4; 14:4; Jeremiah 31:2–3). Nothing can adequately explain the love of God for sinners; it must be received by faith.
God dwells among His people (Exodus 25:8; John 14:16–17). His chosen generation is His inheritance, His prized possession, His treasure (Deuteronomy 32:9; Exodus 19:5). He shelters them, carries them in His arms, bears them on His shoulders, holds them in His hands, and seats them at His feet (Deuteronomy 33:3, 12, 27; Isaiah 49:16). He loves them with a jealous love and insists that they worship Him exclusively (Exodus 20:5). He has given them His name (Numbers 6:22–27). All of these wonderful riches have come to us not because we deserve them or have earned them, but because God chose us in His mercy and love to belong to Him.
The second half of Peter’s statement describes the believer’s response to being God’s chosen people: “As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9, NLT). The NIV says, “That you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Declare means “to advertise, to proclaim.” The incredible blessings that Christians have inherited in Christ are not only to be received with gratitude but are to motivate believers to testify of the goodness of God and Christ. We are like panels of stained glass through which the sun pours, illuminating the darkness. Positioned just where God has placed us, we channel His marvelous light and spread the multifaceted glory of His goodness and love.
