Knowing what we know separates us from those who believe differently. Others might casually recognize this fact, but it certainly should be more than apparent among those who have been called by God.
It is God’s intention and according to His purpose that how we live is unlike others. Jesus prayed for His followers, and we must never lose sight of the deep implications of what He requested from the Father:
“‘I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth, Your word is truth’” (John 17:14-17).
We see from this that it is God’s TRUTH that sets us apart from others.
The apostle John emphatically draws the contrast between Christians and those who follow another path: “We know that WE are of God, and the WHOLE WORLD lies under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19).
The Word of God describes those who are guilty of disobedience as walking in darkness—as not practicing the truth (compare 1 John 1:6). Although we all were once guilty of this destructive way of living, we are to be different: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).
Our separation from those who are deceived is as distinctly and vividly contrasted as light is to darkness! We have become parted from the ways of this world! Yet, as we continue to serve God, the somber darkness of this age deepens. Remember—Jesus said, “‘YOU are the light of the world’” (Matthew 5:14).
Having come this far, how do we face what is surely going to happen? We know the prophecies of God, and believing them, we definitely don’t want the same fate as those who defy God and impudently rebel against His revealed Truth. Even as we now live in–but separate from– the world, so must we continue, and we find this promise:
“But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever BRIGHTER unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18).
