People of God
The people of God are the community God forms, preserves, and claims as His own throughout the biblical storyline, beginning in His purpose for humanity, developed through Israel, fulfilled in Christ, and expanded through the church as a redeemed people gathered from every nation.
Open the book storylines index
Return to the storyline index when you want to compare the wider canonical movement of Scripture by book.
Without the theme of the people of God, the Bible can be misread as a collection of individual spiritual experiences rather than the story of God forming a holy people for His name. This theme explains how God calls, shapes, disciplines, preserves, and commissions a people to belong to Him. It also helps readers understand the relationship between Israel, the church, covenant identity, and the final gathered people of God in the new creation.
The Bible is not only about how God saves individuals. It is also about how God creates a people who belong to Him. He calls them to know Him, worship Him, live under His rule, and show His truth to the world.
Storyline Function: The people of God theme shows that God's redemptive purpose includes forming a distinct community that belongs to Him, lives under His word, and displays His character in the world.
Gospel Connection: Through Jesus Christ, God gathers, redeems, and unites His people, bringing them into one new covenant community by grace.
Church Formation: This theme teaches the church to understand itself as God's redeemed people, shaped by the gospel, indwelt by the Spirit, and called to holiness, unity, worship, and witness.