The Psychology of the Elect
Living as a Called Out People.
There is a particular kind of person in this world, maybe you’ve met one of them, who almost seems to revel in uniqueness. They don’t fit in with the group, but they do not want to either. Maybe it is a personality quirk, differing interests or just good old-fashioned social awkwardness. And while many, especially young girls, are bound and determined to be accepted, that they are the odd one out does not really seem to bother them. As a matter of fact, it is almost worn as a badge of honor. Worse yet, it becomes a source of sinful pride. “I don’t fit in because I am better, I am more enlightened, I am…” and on, and on it goes. We sure can make idols out of the strangest things.
Now please recognize that I am by no means condemning being the kind of person who does not fit in with our modern sinful culture. I am that kind of person. Christians (the Holy-Spirit indwelt kind) are those kinds of people. But the question I want to set before you is, why are Christians unique? Is the reason we differ, and understand things most people don’t, because we are better? Not at all.
The text of the New Testament addresses Christian people in this fascinating way:
1 Peter 2:9–10 (ESV)1
9 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. 10 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.
The first thing you may notice is that these various titles Peter uses to describe us, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession” are all titles used of the Jewish people under the Old Covenant (See Exodus 19:5-6 as an example).2 The ancient Israelite race was specifically chosen by God, not because they were in any natural way better than other races but because of the promise God made to Abraham (see Deuteronomy 7:7-8). He was going to take, out of all the people living on the earth, Abraham and make him the father of a great people (Genesis 12:2), but all of this is being done specifically and ultimately to glorify God Himself. God leads the people out of their bondage in Egypt, sending plague after plague upon their rulers, so that He can show the world just how magnificent He is (Exodus 9:16). And in leading the people out of that land in order to inhabit the land promised to them, the specific design and plan God has in mind is to mark them out and distinguish them, so that they are better than other peoples, and that other peoples recognize they are better (Deuteronomy 4:6-8). But the thing that the people of Israel forgot time and time again was that the source of their greatness was not anything intrinsic within them; the source of their greatness and uniqueness was that they had been tremendously blessed by God.
As it was with our forefathers under the Old Covenant, so it is with us under the New (as there has only ever been one covenant people of God). We Christians are that unique, holy, and chosen race, marked out over and against the rest of the world. But (again, just as it was with the Old so it is with the New) the purpose of this is not to glorify ourselves, or that we get to feel better or fall into some kind of arrogance, but rather that we “may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
Our whole purpose, then, is to glorify God. As Westminster’s Shorter Catechism so excellently puts it, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” It is said that God has called us “out of darkness into his marvelous light.” The specific calling in view here is God’s effectual calling. It’s not the kind of call you can hang up on. Rather, it is a work of God where He has a specific end in mind and that end is accomplished.
We were in darkness when we were called. But to say that we were in darkness is really just to say we were like all other men, dead in trespasses and sin, following the course of this world, and “the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:1-3). But a transformation, a real one, has taken place. Though we once walked in darkness, we have seen a great light and walk as children of the light (Matthew 4:16, Ephesians 5:8).
There is a certain sense in which, by God’s grace, we have been enlightened in ways the unbeliever has not. I do not mean to say that salvation will get you through Harvard, but I also don’t think wisdom can be measured by academics or IQ. The fact of the matter is, if words have any meaning at all, then those who have the fear of the Lord receive knowledge, wisdom and understanding (Proverbs 1:7, 9:10, 15:33). Those with God’s light see light (Psalm 36:9). We have God’s revelation in Scripture, and so we know basic things about the world, humanity, life, and death that others don’t. How can one understand human life on earth apart from the knowledge that man is God’s creature, he is fallen in Adam, and needs redemption through Jesus Christ? The concepts of sin and grace are not just theological points to use in preaching and evangelism; they are essential to the understanding of the human condition.
Now, we sort of sit on the outskirts of the world as a result of this. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we become monks and ignore the world and the things in it, for that is the totally wrong attitude and is not wisdom at all.3 I am just saying that we are different. We shine, to steal a phrase from the new agers. The Apostle Paul talks about the aroma we possess in contradistinction from the unbeliever (2 Corinthians 2:14-16). We possess such great blessing; we have treasures the world knows not of. And I hope it pierces you to the heart with humility to recognize that what we have we only have by grace and the sovereign determination and dispensation of God Almighty.
Romans 9:10–13 (ESV)
10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
If you want to meditate upon who you are, and your place in the world as a Christian, think about these things. Go for a walk out in public some place, leave the headphones in your car for once, and just think. Think about God, and then think about the people you walk past. And think about what you possess that they don’t, what you have received that has been withheld from them. It is a devastating thought, especially when you remember that you deserve exactly none of it.
Now, all of this is vain and pointless unless we remember that these truths are to drive us to duty. Remember back to my introductory paragraph, when we considered the person who jus revels in being different from everyone else. We do not want to just sit around and think about ourselves all the time, like some 14-year-old wannabe poet. If we are gracious people at all, we will have a heart for those who remain in darkness. We will be zealous to advance the wisdom we possess, not just putting it to use practically, but also spreading the knowledge and message of grace in Jesus Christ.
Back of it all, none of this, not our life, is really about us anyway. It is all about God and for God. May He increase and we decrease.
One random thought. Sometimes even we get discouraged by loneliness, but we should remember that if we are following God’s will then we are on the right path. As one poet put it:
I won’t lose a friend by heeding God’s call
For what is a friend who’d want you to fall?
A sermon I preached on this text can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjDhBz9gBYY&list=PL5MA4MNecb6mCMkRXPNXxIyP7uvkyBA3v&index=6
For a specific Biblical and Theological exposition of the relationship between the covenants, Israel and the Church see my article on the topic here: https://www.ljramsey.org/p/the-church-and-israel
See these ideas fleshed out in an article here: https://www.ljramsey.org/p/in-defense-of-protestant-piety
Thanks for sharing, brother 🙏