Three Streams

We cannot follow Christ and still be absorbed in this world, the gospel call is a call to be set apart! We are set apart both from something and for something! Believers in Christ are set apart from the world and for the gospel.

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” 1 John 2:15

Set apart from the world

We are born into this world and according to the word of God the world is fallen, in opposition to God and controlled by satan.

“We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”1 John 5:19-20

This is the simplicity of the gospel! We are born in a world that is seperated from God, we are born in darkness, we are blind and spiritually dead to things of God. We are set apart from God to sin, self and satan. While the world considers this freedom it is infact bondage. The original lie that satan sold to the Adam and Eve was ‘disobey God and you shall be free.’ He lied, they were decieved and they disobeyed and the result was the chaos, death and confusion rampant in the world today. The world is hostile to God, the gospel call is an offer of forgiveness and an invitation to escape the snare of the world and return to the freedom of the Father.

Set apart for the Gospel

We are set apart from the world and for the gospel, this means our position has changed. Gospel means goodnews, once our lives were bad news now they are goodnews! Once we were darkness now we are light! This is our position, we have been redeemed, bought back from slavery into a place of freedom. In the past our lives reflected the condition of our hearts we engaged in works of darkness and rebbellion now our lives should live out the freedom of our hearts.

Instead of deeds of darkness we should perform works that witness to the change that God has made in our hearts. We are set apart for the goodnews, our lives should reflect the goodnews that saved us. Nothing else should steal our love, it should be God first! As the passage quoted earlier informs us we cannot love the world and love God. It is one or the other. Jesus said ‘where your treasure is, there is your heart’! Our profession may be Christ, but if our life reflects the baggage of this world then our profession is a deception and we are not set apart for the gospel! Are you set apart? Do you understand that to follow Christ is to REPENT, that is to change your mind about this world and to turn from sin, self, satan and the world? If your conversion bypassed this process you may actually have bypassed genuine conversion!