OK. Who’s heard (or said) something similar to these phrases:
Thank goodness we have Christian liberty. There is now no condemnation, so I can do ____________
There’s nothing in the Bible that specifically condemns __________.
Jesus wasn’t legalistic; He condemned the legalistic Pharisees, therefore, I can wear_________ or do _________, because all things are permissible (1 Corinthians 10:23 out of context and mistranslated).
*Most of the blanks are filled with practices of the world.
The mentality behind these, however, misses the point completely.
When you know the role and purpose of the church, you’ll better understand how the Christian should look individually and how the church should look collectively.
First, the church as most know is the body of Christ. The original word is Ekklēsia = called out/called forth. Ekklēsia is baptized disciples (the genuinely saved) called out/forth not only to gather together but called out from being part of the unsaved world. Obviously, that’s a crucial identifier, being that’s the word chosen in God’s Word to refer to His adopted children, Christ’s body, the temple of the Holy Spirit.
The Temple was a significant, holy, sacred place. The Most Holy Place in the Temple housed the Ark of the Covenant, which symbolized the Lord’s presence with His people—the same Ark which when Uzzah simply tried to steady it, touching it with good intentions, God struck him dead (1 Chronicles 13:9-12).
Yeah, it was that holy.
Since the New Covenant, however, under Christ’s shed blood, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and promise of return, we who surrender to Him—baptized Christian disciples—become that temple, and the Holy Spirit dwells in us as His temple, a promise fulfilled that He is with us (remember the Ark in the Temple and His presence) until the end of the age. 1 Corinthians 6:19/ Acts 2:38/ John 14:15-31/ Matthew 28:20b/ Romans 8.
It’s biblically clear that we (once saved and filled with His Spirit) now are set apart from the profane as holy and sacred. This is done through the Holy Spirit’s moral power—what He bestows on us at the indwelling’s event of baptism which begins sanctification, obedient righteousness. We are saved from death and enslavement to sin, and we are saved for good works and obedience, for the command to make disciples, and for being representatives of Christ, honoring and glorifying God in all we do in Jesus’ name. Our good works, righteousness, and spiritual fruit does not save us, no, but they are a solid result of salvation, and when they are not present, when there is no fruit or righteous works, that’s a red flag we are in false conversion. The Holy Spirit gives us regeneration, new motives and new desires.
“If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.”
If we are Christ’s church and temples of His Spirit, baptized disciples genuinely saved and set apart as saints, holy and distinct from any other creation, then we should understand God owns us. We do not own ourselves any longer (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and it should be noticeable. We are known by our fruit! If we mirror the world, then we aren’t truly set apart. We should mirror the one who owns us and dwells in us, both inwardly and outwardly. In word and deed. In works.
We must have a complete faith, one that is fulfilled with works. If there are not works, that faith is incomplete; it’s dead. And if it’s dead, we are not saved and are living a false faith.
“Works are needed to complete our faith. Faith without works is an incomplete faith. A dead, non-existent faith. In James 2:14-26, we see this described. Faith is likened to a spiritual body. A body without action is a dead body. We are saved by faith but not by faith that remains alone. Faith without works, an incomplete faith (false faith/false conversion) is a dime a dozen. Faith is to be completed by works; works is a sign of faith, evidence that one is saved. A faith not showing is a faith not living. We are known by the fruit we bear (or lack)” (MPCC notes from Completing Our Faith by Thomas Kilian).
In his book, The Faith Once for All, Dr. Jack Cottrell states, “The first thing to understand about the church’s nature is that it is a group of people who are qualitatively different from and distinct from everyone else on earth. …Thus the human race is divided into two groups: the church, and the not-church” (400).
We are a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9). The biblical word for holy is hagios, meaning “set apart for God, to be, as it were, exclusively his. … Just as the Israelites claimed for themselves the title [holy/saints], because God selected them from the other nations to lead a life acceptable to him and rejoice in his favor and protection so this appellation is very often in the N. T. transferred to Christians. … [Holy] fundamentally signifies “separated” (among the Greeks, dedicated to the gods), and hence, in Scripture in its moral and spiritual significance, separated from sin and therefore consecrated to God, sacred” (Blue Letter Bible).
“The church is a spiritual nation entered by spiritual rebirth, its citizens coexisting in this world side by side with noncitizens and being distinguished by their lifestyle rather than their location” (Cottrell 401).
If we back up to 1 Peter 1 we can see a few hallmarks of one truly born again (a true convert, a true Christian), which translates to the church as a whole. These examples are:
- one who is sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Christ (vs. 2)–again, works coming into play, for as we are sanctified and act obediently, works and the fruit of the Spirit will overflow naturally
- one who is rejoiceful in trials (vs. 6), proof of genuine faithfulness—not easily swayed away in difficult circumstances, but steadfast
- one who doesn’t see God/Jesus yet loves Him, believes in Him, rejoices and glorifies Him (vs.8)
- one who prepares his mind (renewed mind Romans 12:2, set on things above and on righteous things—Colossians 3:2/ Philippians 4:8) for action and is calm and collected in spirit (vs. 13)
- one who is obedient and no longer conformed to former ignorant ways (vs. 14)
- one who is holy in conduct (the key theme to this blog entry) (vs. 15)
- one who was transformed (an apparent change, no longer living in sin, but living in consecration) from sin by the blood of Christ (vs. 18)
- one who is purified by obedience to truth (vs. 22)
- one who has sincere, brotherly love (vs. 22)
- one who has a pure heart (vs. 22)
1 Peter 1:15–16 really ties the calling of the church together, as it is an echo of the Old Testament Scripture of Leviticus 19. Holy here is still the same “hagios,” but this time, its accompanying meaning is used— “pure, sinless, upright” (Blue Letter Bible).
Therefore, we can appropriately say to be the church, to be holy as the holy temple where the Holy Spirit resides, is to be set apart from the profane world, from the unbelievers, by being pure and sinless and sacred in both our word and conduct. In every aspect of our being. Nothing is separated from that, but Christ reigns in every part of our lives. Does this mean we live perfect, sinless lives? Not by any means, however, it does mean that we acknowledge weaknesses and/or a sinful area in our lives, repent (stopping them and surrendering them completely to the Lord, having a complete mind shift), and continue in spiritual growth and maturity, looking more like Christ every day.
In this next section, I wanted to conduct a little experiment. To be open and honest, as is always my goal, I have debated on adding this, but still feel the need to share. That may change as I continue to pray about it, however.
I’ve used Living Waters as my sample source, being they conduct interviews with a wide variety of individuals. Although I do not agree 100% with Living Waters and their teaching points and opinions, they do offer a few beneficial perspectives for growth.
*If you look into Living Waters, please do so with spiritual caution and wisdom, testing the spirits and using sound doctrine of Scripture to compare biblical truth against opinion and claim.
While reading, ask yourself, “Am I called out as the church? Am I noticeably distinct from unbelievers? What am I doing, and how am I living in a manner which is set apart from the world?”
To begin, I want to take a look at a few ways of the profane world (ways of the flesh) in which Christians should separate themselves (walking by the Spirit—Galatians 5):
These include things like our overall speech and conduct, modesty, bodily alterations such as tattooing and piercing, foul language, using “woke” practices such as “pronouns,” participating in certain days which glorify sin and the demonic such as Halloween, watching pornography and choosing worldly entertainment, partaking in alcohol, drugs, tobacco and vaping products, gambling and lottery, practices of the occult, etc.. The list is long, again, these are just a few.
Mark Spence with Living Waters has this to say in reference to tattoos, but it can apply to any worldly conduct:
“I had a roommate one time…and he started getting tattoos all over his arms and his neck and everywhere… But I asked him for his motive. ‘Why are you getting all these tattoos?’
And he said, ‘well, the apostle Paul said, “I become all things to all people that I might win some,” right?’
…I got a question for you. So you get in this elevator, and up comes this elderly couple inside this elevator, how do you become all things to them?
He paused for a moment, and he looks at his tattoos, and he goes, ‘I guess I couldn’t.’
I go, ‘well, you really couldn’t at that moment. You might get them all afraid’… What is your motive? …Because there’s no such thing as a ‘cool’ Christian. You’re going to be hated for His name’s sake. You can’t impress people with Jesus when you’re trying to impress them with yourself.”
You can’t impress people with Jesus when you’re trying to impress them with yourself.
Mark Spence-Living Waters
We, Christians, must be incredibly cautious not to water-down or completely eliminate our Christian witness (2 Corinthians 6:3), destroying our representation as ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5). Don’t do anything which may cause another to stumble in any manner (1 Corinthians 10:31-32/ Matthew 18:6). Incidentally, this fully goes by being set apart. Holy. Doing everything we do for the glory of God in the name of Jesus Christ.
Emeal Zwayne with Living Waters also has this to say, “One of the things Christians oftentimes overlook is the importance of wisdom in our lives. We’re always looking for ‘Is it right? Is it wrong?’ and we don’t think ahead down the pathway of wisdom.”
Per James 3:17, “wisdom from above (godly wisdom) is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” Here we see it again. Wisdom from above is first pure. Pure here is “hagnos,” with its etymology (the root word) being “hagios”—what we’ve just been discussing, holy. Notice how Scripture singles out pure as first, primary, *then* comes its other aspects.
To continue with Living Waters as a resource, this next section is provided to help you see the whole point in sum a little better:
The following are pictures of individuals. Can you rightly point out who stands for Christ as a genuine Christian set apart (if any) and who doesn’t as an unsaved individual?
Truth Revealed: (At the time the photos were taken, not sure where they stand today)
Picture 1– Is a self-proclaimed Neo-Nazi who hates Jews, including Jesus. Notice the cross tattoo on the forehead.
Picture 2– Wears a cross around her neck and claims she is working on stopping the use of blasphemous foul language; however, she also claims to speak with familiar spirits (a demonic influence), and she has false beliefs about Jesus (that He was married to Mary Magdalene and refers to Him as “family” or a familiar spirit [a word known in witchcraft/the occult]).
Picture 3– Is a self-proclaimed Christian. Claims he gave his life to the Lord in January 2000 and reads the Bible daily. Claims the way he looks is “just a fashion statement,” and that “we live in a fallen world, so people judge by outer appearances, but God looks at the heart” and “most of [his] appearance came before walking with the Lord.” Ray Comfort asks him, “Could you reach them (the unsaved), without that thing through your nose?” He replies, “By all means, yeah.” And Ray proceeds with 1 Corinthians 8:13.
Picture 4– A man with makeup, earrings, long nails, and is a self-proclaimed gay Christian (Catholic) who goes to church regularly.
Picture 5– Is a self-proclaimed agnostic.
Picture 6– Is a self-proclaimed Christian. Is also, self-admittedly, a drug addict, watcher of pornography, and blasphemer—lacking respect and taking God’s name in vain—among other things.
Being separated from the world, from unbelievers and their practices (submitting to Jesus fully, and not upholding others higher than He) is a hallmark of the church, so much so that Jesus Himself said He didn’t come to bring peace but came to divide in Matthew 10:34-39 and Luke 12:49-53. You see, those in Jesus’ time did a lot of paganistic things, just like people do today, but Jesus didn’t participate in or condone those things to build rapport with them. He was “friend of sinners” (Luke 15), yes, but as a true friend, He was quick to tell them to leave their lives of sin (John 8:11), calling them the sick in need for repentance (Luke 5:30-32)—of the flesh and worldly ways—calling them to take up their cross and follow Him as The Way (Mark 8:34-38). He spoke truth, because He is Truth (John 14:6). And sometimes He wasn’t what we would call “nice” about it either. That’s obvious by how He rebukes the Pharisees in Matthew 23.
All in all, when we are reborn (saved), we are born into a new culture, our citizenship is no longer of this world. Just like when we are reborn and have to learn the language of the place of our new citizenship—Heaven and prayer, so we also have to look at the culture of that place. When we are born into certain cultures, we naturally adopt certain behaviors and customs. Likewise, when we are born again, we transfer our citizenship from the earthly, profane world to Heaven—a place of holiness, righteousness, truth, love, and justice. If we are truly born into the “culture” of Heaven, we will become its product. If we aren’t, and we still look like our first land, the world, if we are not walking by the Spirit and still walking according to the flesh, perhaps we need to reevaluate where we stand in Christ.
How are you setting the example of being holy and set apart as Christ’s church, His ambassadors, a holy nation, a chosen race and royal priesthood if you are joining in with the rest of the world?
“Have nothing to do with fruitless works of darkness says.”
So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,” and
“A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
“But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.’
Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
References
Cottrell, Jack. The Faith Once for All. College Press Publishing Company. 2002
Kilian III, Thomas and Jennifer Rivera. Completing Our Faith. June 12, 2022. Retrieved June 23, 2022, from facebook.com/mpchristiancc
Blue Letter Bible. Retrieved June 13, 2022, from blueletterbible.org
Living Waters. 180 Movie. September 21, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2022, from https://youtu.be/7y2KsU_dhwI
Living Waters. This is Why You Don’t Talk to Demons. April 5, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022, from https://youtu.be/jOvyiN4hiPI
Living Waters. A Christian Shares the Gospel with an Agnostic. October 27, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2022, from https://youtu.be/DKjSezK3nXQ
Living Waters. I’m Gay and I Go to Church. August 17, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2022, from https://youtu.be/xvhMQ-oQV2k
Living Waters. “I Gave My Life to the Lord.” January 17, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2022, from https://youtu.be/6L7v6IY_tKI
Living Waters. Are Tattoos a Sin? March 7, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2022, from https://youtu.be/mBCjxmoVo0s
Living Waters. How to Speak to Someone Who Was Lukewarm. August 23, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2022, from https://youtu.be/gKAwglkyHck
All Scripture (unless otherwise noted): English Standard Version Bible. 2021. BibleHub.com and
English Standard Version Bible. 2016. Crossway