We miss something if our manner, outlook and standards all mirror the times in which we live. Doing so would mean that we are living as a part of this world—that we are not different from everyone else.
But we are!
Here is what Jesus Christ stated—both about His disciples and Himself: “‘They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world’” (John 17:16).
However, we know that Jesus Christ was born in the nation of Judah and except for those who knew Him personally, He blended in with the people of His time–so much so that it was necessary for Judas, in betraying Him, to identify Him from among His disciples (compare Matthew 26:47-49).
What Jesus had that totally separated Him from both His countrymen and the rest of the world was His membership in the Family of God—from which He also drew His citizenship (compare John 8:23;18:36).
Christians, those converted individuals who have been called by God to come out of this world, are now also citizens of God’s Kingdom (compare Philippians 3:20); we are “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20); we are to live “as sojourners and pilgrims” (1 Peter 2:11); and, we are not to misuse this world (compare 1 Corinthians 7:31).
As such, we have a different status than those among whom we are to live. We have been given the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, and “now we are children of God” (1 John 3:2). Along with our RIGHTS to the promises of God, we also have DUTIES, and if we fulfill them, then we will be unmistakably different—a stark contrast to an age that is writhing in its own, final death-throes!
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