A People Special to God

"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (1 Peter 2:9-10).

Jesus Christ founded the New Testament Church, a spiritually transformed body of believers, in the city of Jerusalem on the biblical festival of Pentecost exactly 50 days after Jesus' resurrection from the dead.

Between the time of His resurrection and the founding of His Church, Christ appeared to His apostles for 40 days, further enlightening them concerning the nature of the coming Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). During that time "He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father" (verse 4). He explained to them: ". . . You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (verse 8).

Later He inspired the apostle Paul to explain the crucial importance of the receiving of the Holy Spirit in the process of becoming a truly converted member of His Church: "Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead [symbolically] because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness" (Romans 8:9-10).

Read the full article at www.ucg.org/booklets/CJ/apeoplespecial.htm

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