Introduction

Peter is setting forth a standard among much persecution. He calls believers to stand strong and reminds them of who they are. Peter sees the church being fractured through violent acts of persecution and doubt. These acts introduce fear, anxiety, anger, and many more emotional responses. When we clothe ourselves with these ungodly characteristics, we become inactive in our call and pull away from our loved ones and God. We go silent and turn inward. Many of us stop talking openly and quickly forget the truths of God and His promises for our lives and others. We make room for lies that build foundations of discontent and separation. Peter is a calling to the churches and us to be unified through our identity in Christ.

Denying Doubt

• “To deny” means to refuse to grant something requested. Doubt is a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction. So, when we deny doubt, we are choosing to refuse a lack of conviction and uncertainty to control what we are willing to give and do for God.
• Today’s persecution looks much different than what Peter was addressing, but it has the same result.
• Fear can cause the church to go silent, which causes doubt. We don’t have the apostles with firsthand experience leading us, and this leaves room for doubt to form in our hearts and minds.
• We believe today, the number one form of persecution is doubt. We are left to our own understanding and coping methods when we doubt.
• When we give over to doubt, we become apathetic and turn inward once again. When we turn our attention inward, we turn away from God (James 1:5-6).
Dispelling Doubt
• When we actively decide to deny doubt, doubt loses its power, and we can dispel doubt. These are a few areas in which we can begin to dispel Doubt. These actionable areas require us to take steps of faith to refute passivity.
1. Sabbath: When we have a sabbath, we set aside the busyness of our lives to spend time with God to hear Him and receive breakthroughs. When we have listened to God and are refreshed in His presence, we are reminded of who we are in Him and find a new sense of our relationship with Him (Philippians 4:9).
2. Prayer: We need to be committed to a life of prayer. Jesus came to redeem all of us and wants to be a part of every aspect of our lives. It can be easy to move through our day without acknowledging God or asking Him for His help or opinion at times. He desires to be a part of everything we are involved in.
3. Action: We must force ourselves into positions where we must cling to God. “Oh God, I need You” moments. We must be put into situations beyond our capabilities to see our strong God in action and to allow Him to rescue and experience His faithfulness. Only in these situations do we see actions to His words, “You are a people for God’s own possession.”
 To be rescued by God, we must be willing to put ourselves in “dangerous” situations.
 When we put ourselves in positions needing to be rescued regularly, God always shows up. The faithfulness of our God cannot be understood with our human thinking (Isaiah 55:8).

Declaring Truth

• That you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light: This privilege is not so we can grow proud but so that we can proclaim the praises of Him who has done such great things for us.
• Since believers indeed have a new life principle (chosen generation), a new access to God (royal priesthood), a new government (holy nation), and a new owner (His own special people), it will affect the way the believer lives life.
• When we understand who we are, we can declare the truth with conviction, understanding that doubt is the opposite of declaring the truth. Doubt is a lack of conviction.
• “But we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession so that I may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called me out of darkness into His marvelous light; for we once were not a people, but now we are the people of God; I had not received mercy, but now I have received mercy.”
• Doubt will come after us, especially when we try to step out in what God calls us to do.
• What we do about doubt when it arises makes all the difference. We must be in the habit of taking a sabbath, praying, taking steps of action, and finally declaring truth over our doubt.

Conclusion

Peter is pressing us because our effectiveness is only limited by our own doubt. Something happens to us when we choose to put ourselves in dangerous situations. We become bolder. We become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and God rescues us, and we become more effective. When we look at heroes of our faith, such as Peter and Paul, we often wonder how they did such great things for God. The reality is they put doubt to death successfully and chose to be rescued, and in doing so, they changed their own reality. The reality of doubt has been put to death. The reality of who they are in Christ was fed and nurtured and took its rightful place, and as a result, they found their true identity.

If we choose to step forth in who we are in Christ and put doubt to death, what will God do through us, and what peace will we walk in because doubt can’t be compartmentalized? Doubt, when fed, metastasizes and sucks the life out of every part of us. Doubt is a cancer to humanity’s eternity. If we can take hold of this passage and choose to be rescued, we become the church. The church Christ has always intended us to be: a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a people of God’s own possession.

Discussion Questions

How do you typically handle doubt when it arises?
After hearing this message, have you had any new ways you plan to handle doubt when it comes upon you? Share with a friend.
Declaring truth is a powerful tool. Reread 1 Peter 2:9-10 and declare it again over yourself or take turns declaring this over a friend.