Are We Marked by Christ?

The first of the Elected Officials series, this post was written by student body President Jakob Myers from Nebraska.

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. (1 Peter 2:9)

What does it mean to be a royal priesthood? What does it mean to be people of the Lord’s own possession?

The Lord has posed these questions since the beginning of time. To dig further into them, I think we need to look back into history. Way back. Back to when the Israelites wandered the desert. It was on Mt. Sinai that the Lord, Yahweh, gave the Israelites a list of Commandments to guide their daily lives. Today they are known as the Ten Commandments. In our culture, everyone knows what these Commandments are, but we struggle to see how they fit into our daily lives. It’s easy to push them aside and reason we don’t need them because we have Jesus. Although we are no longer under the law, the commands are still very relevant to us today. In particular, I believe one is most often misunderstood and should radically change how we live our daily lives.

In Exodus 20:7, we read, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” What does it mean to take the Lord’s name in vain? The modern understanding of this Commandment usually refers to cursing. In reality, this Commandment seeks to do more than correct our vocabulary. To reveal this more profound meaning, let’s look at the cultural context of the time that the Lord gives this command.

In the chapter before, Moses came down with the Ten Commandments, the Lord had called upon Moses, and told him in verse 6, “… you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” What does it mean to be a priest? Moving forward a bit to Exodus chapter 28, we find a very specific description of what the life of Head Priest Aaron was like. In this description, there is a crucial passage found in verse 36, where the Lord describes how Aaron should dress. He states, “You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the Lord.’”

This passage suggests that wherever Aaron went, he carried a golden engraved plate on his forehead, stating that he is “Holy to the Lord.” Or in other words, Aaron takes the name of the Lord with him at all times.

How does this apply to us today? The significance of this is that the Lord declared us as His royal priesthood. Meaning we are a people that carry His name with us, wherever we go. In Numbers 6:27, when the Lord describes the blessing Aaron shall speak over His people, He states, “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

In this context, the Lord commanded His people not to take or carry His name in vain. In actuality, God wasn’t correcting our speech, but rather is commanding us to live in a way that brings glory as we are His name bearers.

As people who have entered into the grace of the new covenant in Christ, we have become a royal priesthood. We are a people that bear the Lord’s name. This truth should radically change the way we live our lives as Christians. We can recognize that everywhere we go, we carry the Lord’s name.

As Christians living in the new covenant, we should still be asking, do we live in a way that glorifies His name? Is our life, every moment of it, a life that represents Yahweh well? Do we walk with Christ so that our actions, words, and thoughts reflect the love He showed us?

Are we marked by Christ?

Editor’s Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of TeenPact Leadership Schools. To learn more about our Vision & Values, please visit teenpact.com/vision-values/.