WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT GOD’S PEOPLE?

God’s People - His Treasured Possessions

(Deuteronomy 7:6-11, ESV) 

God Has Authority & Ownership - Exodus 19:5 all the earth is mine

Satan Has Power & Captives 1 John 5:19 the whole world lies in the power of the evil one

God Punishes the Wicked Exodus 19:4 You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians

Deuteronomy 7:10 repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face.

God Chooses to Save Some

Exodus 19:6 you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

  • His Choice Is Good & Loving: Don't Question Deut 7:7 the Lord set his love on you and chose you
  • His Choice is Independent & Unconditional: Don't Try Deut 7:7 It was not because you were more in number
  • His Choice Is Covenantal & Lasting: Don't Quit Deut 7:8 the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery
  • His Choice Is Valuable: You are a Most Valuable Possession Deuteronomy 14:2 “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”

Treasured Possessions

(Exodus 19:4-6, Deuteronomy 7:6-11; 14:2; 26:16-19, Malachi 3:16-18)

  • Treasured Possessions Learn about their Owner Deut 7:9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God
  • Treasured Possessions Love their Owner Deut 7:9 the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations
  • Treasured Possessions Listen to their Owner Deuteronomy 26:16 This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul.
  • Treasured Possessions Let their Owner Lead: Hold His Hand Exodus 19:5 if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples

Malachi 3:18 Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him

God’s People - Faith-filled Baptism

(1 Peter 3:18-22, ESV) 

FAITH = Walking with God & Never Dying

Enoch (Genesis 5:21-24)

  • (Genesis 5:24) Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. 
  • (Jude 1:14-15 – Enoch’s prophesy of Jesus’ 2nd coming) 
  • (Hebrews 11:5) By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.  
  • (John 11:25-26)  everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die

FAITH = Hearing & Obeying

Noah – Flood (Genesis 6-9)

  • (Hebrews 11:7) By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. 
  • (1 Peter 3:19-20) a few…were brought safely through water

FAITH = Exiting Slavery (Repentance) 

 Israel – Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-31)

  • (Hebrews 11:29) By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 
  • (Jude 1:5) Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

FAITH = Entering a Relationship (Belief)

Israel – Jordan (Joshua 3 & 4)

  • (Joshua 4:23-24) the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” 

FAITH = Inheriting God’s Spirit

ELIJAH TO ELISHA(2 Kings 2)

  • v.2,4,6,“As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”
  • (2 Kings 2:8-9) Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground. …Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” (2 Kings 2:12-14 – Elisha crosses over Jordan) 
  • (2 Kings 13:20-21) the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet. 

JESUS TO US: Grants & Offers Faith

US TO JESUS: Public Pledge of Loyalty

Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (1 Peter 3:18-22)