But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)
God called Israel to be “a chosen people”, "kingdom of priests" and a "holy nation" on behalf of the people of the world. When Jesus became the Great High Priest of the New Covenant, the New Testament believers became the spiritual heirs to Israel's priesthood. 1 Peter 2:9 speaks of one unified body of believers in Christ as the “new Israel” of Christ (cf. Galatians 3:7-8) functioning as a community of royal priesthood.
This calling is corporate and is one of fellowship with Christ and one another.
While we have all been commissioned and gifted for the purpose of serving the world, each of us is accountable to the Lord for our part in fulfilling that call.
It is interesting that Peter terms us as a royal priesthood. In the Old Testament, the monarchy and priesthood were strictly separated and restricted from ordinary Jews. Kings came from the line of Judah and priests came from Aaron’s family of the tribe of Levi. Two kings were judged by God for trying to combine the priesthood with kingship (cf. 1 Samuel 13:8-14’ 2 Chronicles 26:1-12).
The merging of priesthood and monarchy is possible when Jesus became our high priestly king of the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7;17; cf. Psalm 110:4). We have been given the honour and privilege of being a chosen people, a royal priesthood and holy nation because we have been united with Christ. The name "saints" or "holy ones" was chosen by the New Testament writers to characterise our vocation and mission as the priesthood of believers.
In the Bible, priests function together and work together as a community. In the same way, we are called and purposed in Christ to participate and collaborate as members of one body in Christ (Ephesians 4:4-5) until Christ unites all things to Himself (Ephesians 1:10). Thus, an unbiblical sense of individualism and isolation has no place in the kingdom of God. Rather, God has chosen us as saints sent into the world to transform every sphere of God’s domain.
As a community of saints, how do we faithfully live out the principles and practices of the kingdom in our world?
It is by going back to our first love and to intimacy with Christ. After all, our faith is first and foremost a relationship, rather than an activity. Then our worship, work and service become something we do with God and for His glory.