“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.
Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God;
once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
(1 Peter 2:9–10)
At the heart of the gospel is not a program, an event, or a religious system, but a people. Jesus did not come to create a religious crowd. He came to form a redeemed people—a community transformed by grace, shaped by love, and sent into the world to live out faith in everyday life.
The church, therefore, was never meant to be defined merely by meetings, programs, or religious activity. Scripture speaks of the church first as a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession. These are not organizational labels; they are identity statements. They describe who the people of God are before they describe what the church does.
One of the subtle dangers facing the church today is the temptation to confuse gathering with formation. It is possible to attend faithfully, participate actively, and yet remain unchanged in everyday life. When faith is confined to church spaces, it loses its power to shape identity, reorder love, and transform how people live in the world.
But the gospel was never meant to stay inside church walls. It is meant to be embodied—lived out in real people, expressed through real love, and made visible in real life. The church Jesus is forming is not a religious crowd, but a redeemed people whose faith shapes who they are, how they love, and how they live.
The question, then, is not simply what kind of church we attend, but what kind of people we are becoming.
1. Real People — Redemption Restores Identity and Calling
“Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.” (1 Pet. 2:10)
The gospel begins with who we are.
Real people are not perfect people.
They are authentic people.
From the beginning, the gospel never invites people to fix themselves before coming to God. Grace always makes the first move. We are welcomed as we are—with our struggles, limitations, doubts, wounds, and weaknesses. Scripture is unembarrassed about the human condition. We were once “not a people”—disconnected, broken by sin, limited by weakness, and without mercy—yet God did not wait for improvement before He acted. He met us in our reality.
This is the freedom of the gospel: we do not have to pretend.
Real people do not hide behind spiritual performance. They do not wear religious masks to appear strong, mature, or flawless. They acknowledge their weaknesses honestly. They name their struggles truthfully. They bring their whole selves before God and into the community of faith.
Grace does not deny our brokenness; grace meets us there. But grace never stops there.
The same mercy that welcomes us also calls us forward. The gospel does not say, “Come as you are and stay as you are.” It says, “Come as you are—and follow Me.” Grace is not permission to remain unchanged; it is power to be transformed. Salvation is not only about acceptance; it is about becoming.
Come as you are—but don’t stay as you are.
God does not redeem ideal people; He redeems real people. People with struggles, limitations, unfinished stories, and fragile faith. Grace does not require pretending. In fact, grace dismantles pretense. As the apostle Paul writes, God’s power is made perfect not in strength, but in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
“God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise… so that no one may boast before Him.” (1 Corinthians 1:27–29)
Real people are not perfect people. They are authentic people—people who acknowledge their struggles, limitations, and weaknesses without hiding behind spiritual performance.
Real people understand this. They do not confuse authenticity with complacency. Being real does not mean celebrating brokenness or excusing patterns that God desires to heal. It means refusing to hide while submitting to God’s transforming work. We do not pretend to be better than we are—but neither do we resist becoming better than we were.
Transformation in Scripture happens through obedience. Grace meets us where we are, but it changes us as we walk with Jesus. Growth is often slow, sometimes painful, and rarely dramatic—but it is real. Not instant perfection, but faithful movement forward.
“God loves us not because we are good, but to make us good.” – Augustine of Hippo
This is why the church must be a place where people feel safe to be honest, yet encouraged to grow. A place where weakness is acknowledged, but transformation is expected. A place where people are loved deeply, yet challenged lovingly.
The church is not a showroom for the perfected, but a workshop for the transformed.
Real people live in this gospel tension every day:
- fully accepted
- continually formed
- honest about weakness
- faithful in following
They come as they are—but they do not stay as they are.
They follow Jesus in truth, in obedience, and in hope.
And this is how God forms not a religious crowd,
but a redeemed people.
Yet being real does not mean being passive. The gospel never leaves people merely comforted—it commissions them. Salvation restores not only relationship with God, but purpose. We are not saved to spectate, but to steward. Scripture repeatedly names believers as stewards of grace (1 Peter 4:10) and ambassadors of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:20).
Believers are also described in Scripture as soldiers—not of violence, but of disciplined obedience and readiness (2 Timothy 2:3–4). An army does not exist for comfort but for mission. Likewise, disciples do not follow Jesus selectively; they submit to His lordship fully.
The church is not a showroom for the perfected, but a workshop for the transformed.
POINT 2 — REAL LOVE: THE PRIMARY EXPRESSION OF THE CHURCH
Love is not merely a Christian virtue; it is the defining mark of the church. The church may have correct doctrine, excellent structure, and faithful traditions, but without love, it fails to embody the gospel it proclaims. Scripture never presents love as optional or secondary. Love is the visible expression of a redeemed people—evidence that God’s mercy has truly taken root.
Theologically, love is not something the church invents; it is something the church participates in. God Himself is love (1 John 4:8). Therefore, when God forms a people for Himself, love must necessarily become the dominant characteristic of that people. Love is not only what the church teaches; it is what the church is.
Biblically, love flows in three inseparable directions: loving God, loving one another, and loving others—the lost and the needy. These are not separate missions; they are one unified expression of the life of Christ in His people.
1. Loving God — Love Expressed Through Worship and Obedience
The first and greatest expression of love is love toward God. Jesus makes this unmistakably clear: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). This command establishes God as the center of all Christian affection, allegiance, and devotion.
Theologically, loving God is always a response, never an initiative. We love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). Grace precedes obedience. God’s love revealed in Christ awakens love in us. Therefore, love for God is not driven by fear, guilt, or religious obligation, but by gratitude and awe.
However, Scripture consistently defines love for God not primarily as emotion, but as obedience. Jesus Himself connects the two: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Loving God means aligning one’s life under His lordship—submitting our desires, priorities, and decisions to His will.
In this sense, worship is not limited to singing or liturgy. Worship becomes a way of life. Obedience, faithfulness, and reverence are all acts of love toward God. A church that truly loves God will seek His glory above comfort, His truth above convenience, and His will above personal preference.
The church is not called to impress the world with its strength, but to reveal God’s love through its life.
Love toward God anchors the church vertically. Without this love, the church easily becomes human-centered, driven by trends, opinions, or cultural approval rather than by faithfulness to Christ.
2. Loving One Another — Love Expressed Through Covenant Community
The second expression of real love is love toward one another within the community of faith. Jesus declares, “By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). Notice that Jesus does not say the world will recognize His disciples by their knowledge, giftedness, or influence, but by their love.
Theologically, the church is not merely an organization; it is a body and a family. Members are not united by preference or similarity, but by shared grace. This makes love within the church both essential and demanding. Loving one another means bearing with weakness, forgiving failures, speaking truth with humility, and persevering through tension.
Scripture is realistic about this love. It does not assume perfection. Instead, it repeatedly calls believers to practice love: bear with one another, forgive one another, serve one another. This language assumes conflict, difference, and struggle. Real love is not sentimental; it is covenantal.
Loving one another is where theology becomes visible. Grace received from God must be extended to others. A church that truly loves one another becomes a place of safety without becoming a place of complacency—a community where people are accepted as they are, yet lovingly encouraged to grow.
When love governs the church internally, competition gives way to care, judgment gives way to patience, and isolation gives way to belonging. This love preserves unity, sustains discipleship, and reflects the character of Christ to the world.
3. Loving Others — Love Expressed Through Mission and Compassion
The third expression of real love is love toward those outside the church—particularly the lost, the marginalized, and the needy. Biblical love never turns inward permanently. God’s love is missional by nature. He loved the world and sent His Son (John 3:16). Therefore, a church shaped by God’s love must also be sent.
Jesus consistently moved toward those on the margins—sinners, the poor, the sick, and the excluded. Love compelled Him not only to preach the kingdom, but to demonstrate it through compassion and mercy. In Scripture, loving others is not merely an act of kindness; it is participation in God’s redemptive mission.
Theologically, this outward love flows naturally from identity. Those who were once in darkness but have been called into God’s light (1 Peter 2:9) now become bearers of that light. Love for the lost expresses evangelistic concern; love for the needy expresses God’s justice and mercy. Both are inseparable.
A church that loves God but ignores the suffering of others contradicts the gospel. Likewise, a church that serves without pointing people to Christ risks reducing love to humanitarianism alone. Biblical love holds both together—truth and compassion, proclamation and presence.
When love toward others becomes central, the church resists becoming a closed community. Instead, it becomes a living witness—a sign of God’s kingdom breaking into the world through ordinary acts of faithfulness, generosity, and courage.
One Love, Three Expressions
Loving God, loving one another, and loving others are not three different agendas. They are one love expressed in three directions. Remove one, and the others are distorted. Together, they form the visible life of the gospel.
This is why love must be the primary expression of the church. Love reveals that we are truly God’s people, shaped by mercy, formed by grace, and sent for His purposes.
Where love reigns, the church becomes what it was always meant to be—not a religious crowd, but a redeemed people who make Christ visible to the world.
POINT 3 — REAL LIFE: FAITH LIVED EVERY DAY
1 Peter 2:9–10 “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 marvelous light.
Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God;
once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
Real life is not religious activity added to life.
Real life is life reordered under Jesus.
Peter reminds us that salvation is not only about forgiveness; it is about identity and purpose. We are called out of darkness and brought into light—not merely into a new belief system, but into a new way of living. To belong to God as His people means that every part of life now takes place under His reign. There is only one life lived under one Lord.
This is why real life cannot be confined to church gatherings or religious moments. To be “God’s people” means that faith moves into the ordinary spaces of life. Light, by nature, is meant to be lived in and seen. The calling of God reorders not just what we believe, but how we think, choose, speak, work, and relate. Faith stops being an event we attend and becomes a framework that shapes everyday life.
Peter’s phrase “that you may declare the praises of Him” does not refer merely to singing or verbal testimony. Biblically, praise is declared through a visible way of life. A people who live in the light reflect the character, values, and lordship of the One who called them. This aligns with Paul’s sweeping exhortation: “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17). Paul is not exaggerating; he is articulating a Christian worldview—life integrated under Christ.
Abraham Kuyper captured this truth memorably when he said:
“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!’”
Kuyper’s insight is not merely poetic; it is profoundly biblical. If Christ has called us out of darkness and claimed us as His own possession, then no part of life is spiritually neutral. Our homes, workplaces, businesses, relationships, and responsibilities all fall under His authority. Real life begins when this confession moves from theology to practice—when Christ’s lordship actually reorders our priorities, reshapes our values, and reforms our habits.
This is where faith becomes visible. Peter does not describe God’s people as those who merely believe correctly, but as those who now live differently. Real life is not measured by how active we are in church, but by whether Christ is shaping how we live when no one is watching. It is seen in integrity rather than compromise, obedience rather than convenience, faithfulness rather than performance.
In this sense, real life is not about becoming more religious; it is about becoming more aligned with the light. It is the quiet, consistent alignment of everyday life—relationships, work, and responsibilities—with the reign of Jesus. This is how the people of God make the gospel visible: not only by what they confess, but by how they live.
CLOSING — THE CHURCH WE ARE CALLED TO BE
This is the church Jesus is forming.
Not just a gathering—but a people.
Real people, not pretending, not performing, but being transformed by grace.
Not shallow affection—but real love.
Love that is honest, obedient, and visible.
Love that reaches God, one another, and a broken world.
Not religious activity—but real life.
We live in the world, and who we are in Christ must shape how we live in it.
Our faith is not hidden inside church walls; it must make a difference in our everyday lives—
so that others can see the light of Christ through us.
This is how the gospel becomes visible.
Not only through what we say,
but through who we are
and how we live.
This is not a perfect church—
but it is a faithful one.
A church of real people, living in real love, expressing real life in Christ.
And this is how the world will know
that we belong to Him.
budi hidajat 