“Religion which is pure and undefiled in the sight of God, even the Father, is this: to look after orphans and widows…and to be keeping one’s self unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27) (Emphasis mine)
As the earth rises over the surface of the moon in this NASA photograph, I hope the truth about the world is rising in your consciousness as you read this conclusion to the blogs concerning the Lord Jesus rescuing repentant sinners from this present evil age. (Galatians 1:4) To access the other five parts on this subject, scroll to the end of this post.
There is one word in the New Testament (NT) that describes born again believers and their relationship to the world. When the Apostle Paul writes the Ephesians, he addresses his letter “…to the saints,…”. The word translated “saints” in the English language is “hagios” in the Greek language and to the Greek it meant “devoted to the gods”. The Greeks used it when they dedicated a temple or a person to the worship and service of one of their pagan gods.
Our New Testament authorities tell us the English words “saint, sanctify, sanctification, hallow, holy, holiness” are all translations of Greek words from the root word hagi. The verb hagios means “to set apart for God”, and refers to the act of the Holy Spirit setting apart for God the sinner who places his faith in Jesus Christ “rescuing us from the domain of darkness and transferring us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” .
(Colossians 1: 13).
The writers of the NT used this word hagios to designate those people who have been separated from the world, Satan’s kingdom, for the purpose of worshiping and serving the true God through His Son, Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit, through the NT writers, took this word to a higher level by adding a moral component not found in pagan usage. The pagan religions were not concerned with the morals of its followers. The major pagan temple in Corinth had 3000 “sacred” harlots. The eastern religions were very immoral and this is why many Greeks and Romans were drawn to the Jewish religion with it’s high moral standards. In the book of Acts you see Paul preaching in the synagogue to Jews and Gentiles.
Concerning our behavior or morals, the God that we have been “set apart to” says this to us, His adopted children:
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who has called you, be holy yourselves also in your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY , FOR I AM HOLY.””
(I Peter 1: 14-16)
And in 2 Corinthians 6: 16- 7:1 God says:
“I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THERE GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. THEREFORE, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; and I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.
“Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
Notice it is “let us cleanse ourselves“. So after salvation, in 2 Peter 1: 4 we are told:
“….applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence,….”
Notice that the scripture says we should be diligent to add moral excellence to our faith. Moral excellence or virtue is “morally good behavior or character, or the conformity to a standard of right”. Our Heavenly Father sets the standard of right behavior which is holiness or separation from what He says is evil. Not what we may think is evil but what He says is evil or defilement. His standard is shown in the life of Jesus. The Holy Spirit gives the believer the desire and power to change his behavior which will result in him forsaking evil. In other words, if we are a liar, we stop lying. If we are immoral, we stop being immoral. If we are greedy, we become a giver. If we are one who hates, we become a forgiver and a lover of people.
Throughout the New Testament we are exhorted to forsake our futile way of life inherited from our forefathers and “become conformed to the image of His Son…” (Romans 8: 29).
In conclusion, the evil age that we live in is manifested in the evil characteristics of the kosmos (world), which is Satan’s ordered kingdom and the possible source of seduction of every born again believer. We have been separated from this evil by God at salvation and are separated to the worship and service of Him, being conformed to the image of His Dear Son over our lifetime and eternity and overcoming the world so that we do not consider it precious anymore.
Only by yielding daily to the Holy Spirit can you have the victory over Satan, your indwelling sinful nature and the world. God is on our side and will give us the victory if we will just exercise our will to chose obedience to Him instead of sin and trust in the Holy Spirit to empower us to overcome.
ANYTHING in your worldly interaction that neutralizes or quenches your worship and service to God The Father, is not from the Father but is from the either the world, Satan or your own indwelling sinful nature as a source and should be repented of and forsaken. The world is full of “unclean” things and we should not even “touch” them.
God bless you. I hope you have been blessed by this rather long study. Thank you for your time.
” …He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him, who died and rose again on their behalf.” (Emphasis mine – II Corinthians 5:15)
Carl
Psalm 119: 38 