Devotional 30 August 2025

August 30, 2025 • Steve Torres

1 Peter 2:11-12.jpg

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9–10, ESV)

Peter continues his unfolding vision of the Christian life. We’ve seen the call to reject the world’s deceit (1 Pet 2:1), grow up through the Word (v.2), and come to Christ, the rejected Stone who is now the Cornerstone (vv.4–8). We are being built as a spiritual house and royal priesthood (vv.5,9–10), a people set apart. Now Peter turns to how this identity shapes life in exile: a twofold calling, internal and external.

First, Peter says, “abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (v.11). This is not a casual warning but battle language. Paul speaks of this same war in Romans 7:23 and Galatians 5:17. The believer’s exile begins in the heart: sin must be resisted, and the Spirit must reign. Proverbs 16:32 declares that a man who rules his spirit is greater than one who conquers a city. The inward fight is decisive, for it is here that Christ’s lordship takes root.

Second, Peter commands, “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable” (v.12). Like Israel in Babylon, Christians are called not to withdraw but to seek the good of their city. Jeremiah 29:4–7 shows God’s will for His people even in exile: “Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce… seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you… for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” Faithfulness is not passive retreat but active witness. We are “sojourners and exiles,” yet agents of light (Matt 5:14–16). Holiness is visible; it disturbs darkness (John 3:19–20). Even when slandered, the believer’s life should leave enemies speechless, so that on the “day of visitation,” when God judges or saves, they will glorify Him (Phil 2:10–11; Luke 19:44).

This has been the pattern of God’s people throughout history. Christians have been willing to give up everything for Christ, even their lives, while also building schools, hospitals, churches, and legacies of mercy and truth that remain today as monuments to God’s glory. We plant gardens, raise families, and serve communities not because this world is unshakable but because God’s kingdom is. Our lives declare that the rejected Cornerstone reigns, and His kingdom endures forever (Dan 2:44).

To live as exiles is not to hide but to fight sin within and reflect Christ without. This is how God’s people bring glory to Him: a holy people in a hostile land, fearless because their hope is anchored in the unshakable kingdom of Christ.