Christians are told in Scripture to be in the world
but not of the world. Christ Himself, before being crucified, prayed for those
that were His.
They are not of the world, even as I am
not of it. John 17:16 NIV
In John
18:36 Jesus says…
…My kingdom is not of
this world…
In a recent
post I wrote of how many of the references to prison in Scripture are speaking
of a spiritual prison. It is the prison of darkness….the prison of sin…that all
people live in. The elect are saved from this prison when Christ saves them. It
is in spirit, through His Spirit, that we are saved, because we are not of this
world but are of the spiritual world…the heavenly realm.
For our
struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12 NIV
In light of
that…that those that belong to Christ are to be in the world but not of it…that
I would like to look to 2 Corinthians 6 and 7. In 2 Corinthians, Paul is
addressing those in Corinth that are dealing with divisions and false prophets.
In other words, they are facing worldly troubles among them. So Paul responds
to them in light of what is happening among them. Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the
grace of God in vain. 2 For he says,
“In a
favorable time I listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”
Behold, now
is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
There he speaks of salvation and how it should not
be received in vain. Peter Bulkeley (1583-1659) wrote the following…
This may serve
to be a warning to all such people the gospel of Christ is come; let them in
the fear of God take heed lest they neglect so great salvation, and let them
with thankfulness and love entertain the grace which is brought unto them by
the revelation of Jesus Christ…The time of grace is coming unto thee: this is
the accepted season, now is the day of thy salvation. Oh, be wise to consider
it, and walk worthy of it, esteeming the gospel as thy pearl, they treasure,
they crown, thy felicity! Thou canst not love it too dearly. (The lesson of the covenant, for England and
New England)
Think for just a moment…of the magnitude of what
salvation truly is. Think of what it means to receive such a gift. Think of how
the salvation of the elect came to be…
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he
chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in
his sight. In love 5 he predestined us
for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure
and will— 6 to the praise of his
glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. Ephesians 1:3-8 NIV
Christ Himself spoke of this very
election, of those that were chosen. He prayed for them in His final hours…
After
Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father,
the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you
granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all
those you have given him…6 “I have revealed you to those whom
you gave me out of the world….9 I pray for them. I am not
praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.
John 17:1-2,6, 9 NIV
But it’s to
the next verses that I wish to look…
3 We
put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our
ministry, 4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in
every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings,
imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;
If we consider all of the above from an earthly…in
the flesh…standpoint, we see only the horrors in life. No one likes to
experience afflictions of any kind, hardships are met with groaning’s and
resentment, calamities are seen as something we must survive. In our day and
time we can hardly fathom the idea of beatings but the very thought of being
beat makes us shudder and wonder how anyone survived such things.
Next Paul
speaks of being imprisoned…this in the physical, confinement kind of way…and
once again our flesh rebels at the very idea of being imprisoned. Riots are something
we seldom experience in America and when we do, they are usually the product of
those wishing to do evil. Labors…or work…is easier to understand but still, we,
in our modern times, can’t fathom the kind of work the people of biblical times
had to do. But work and sleepless nights are things our minds can grasp, even
hunger, we can understand and empathize with. Although I doubt our modern
American bodies and minds can fully understand the kind of work, reasons for a
sleepless night and hunger that Paul speaks of.
But all of those things are experienced in the
flesh and if we face them in the flesh we quickly become discouraged and lost.
We lose sight of that which is important as we struggle through the troubles of
the flesh, the troubles of the world.
But Paul goes on to tell us how he experiences
those things…to give us the example of how we are to face them…
6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness,
the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the
power of God; with the weapons of righteousness…
There we see a reaction that is not of the flesh.
It is through the power of God with weapons of righteousness that those things
can be faced and survived in the flesh.
We are treated as impostors, and yet are
true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold,
we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet
always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet
possessing everything.
I particularly like the last of the above verses…
as having
nothing, yet possessing everything.
If we think of that in light of the understanding
that we are to be in the world but not of the world…we are to have nothing
(worldly) and yet we will possess everything (eternity)…it takes on a slightly
different meaning, it shows us how to survive the world and its afflictions. We
are to be true, living even as we’re punished, sorrowful but rejoicing, poor
yet rich… as having nothing, yet
possessing everything.
And still the thought remains…we are to be in the world
but not of the world. We are to have nothing and yet we possess everything. In
the flesh that doesn’t make sense. There is no way…in the flesh…to possess
everything if we have nothing. But it isn’t in the flesh that we possess
everything, it’s in the spirit. Because we are not of this world, we are of the
kingdom of God…
You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in
the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ
is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the
Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the
Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised
Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his
Spirit who lives in you.
Romans 8:9-11 NIV
Realm is defined as kingdom in the oxford
dictionary. Romans 8:9 clearly tells us there is a realm…kingdom…of the flesh
and a realm…kingdom…of the spirit. Christ said His kingdom is not of this
world…so what is His kingdom? It is a kingdom of the spirit. And that Spirit
gives righteousness to those that have Christ in them.
We are to deal with the fleshly afflictions with
weapons of righteousness. We must deal with fleshly afflictions with Christ. My
husband is fond of saying, ‘Look to Christ.’
We must look to Christ, we must focus on Christ.
It is in…and through…His righteousness that we can withstand those fleshly
afflictions. There are times when afflictions seem to come at us one after
another, in an unending line of troubles.
When we face those troubles in the flesh we
quickly loose heart. We are bogged down and emotionally drained and hurt. But
when we face them in the spirit even though we still hurt, even though our
emotions still bog us down and we may from time to time lose heart, we know
that we are not of this world and therefore these things are but fleeting
troubles that will be used for our good and for the glory of our Lord.
When we face every day as a stranger in a land
that is not only foreign but as a land that does not belong to us and is not
our home then those troubles take on a different meaning. We still suffer and
hurt in the flesh, we still wish for things to be different than they are, but
we understand that there is a reason for what is happening and that we are of a
spiritual kingdom that is not of this world and has no concern for the things
of this world but is of an eternal nature and is therefore concerned with that
which is eternal.
2
Corinthians 6 goes on to tell us…
14 Do
not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness
with lawlessness?
Those that are in Christ gain righteousness
through Him. He has taken us over and lives within us, living through us…so
that we live through Him. The world is the domain of Satan. Satan is the god of
this world, he is the ruler of darkness, the father of lies. He is, you might
say, the mastermind, the owner, of sin. And sin is lawlessness.
And what partnership does righteousness have with
lawlessness?
Many a story has been written about the ‘good’
girl that falls in love with the ‘bad’ boy. Many a movie has been made about
the same thing. But if we were to think of true goodness, righteousness…what
partnership is there between good and bad, righteousness and lawlessness? Can
light and darkness ever mix? Can good and bad ever partner and not cause the
conversion of one or the destruction of the other?
Can the ‘good’ girl really marry the ‘bad’ boy
without the ‘good’ girl going bad or the ‘bad’ boy changing his ways?
Can a rotten apple be stored long with a fresh
apple? Can a mushy banana be kept with nice firm banana’s very long before the
rotten mush of the bad banana oozes out and infects the good, firm banana’s?
Can good kids play with bad kids very long before
they pick up bad habits?
I know someone that has said that my husband’s
faith is a testimony for Christ simply because my husband lives what he
believes. I know exactly what that person meant. I have told my husband often
that I can see Scripture in him and that I can see him in Scripture.
He is a living example of much of the teachings of
Scripture. He lives out the example of what a Christian should be before me every
single day. I know better what it means to be a Christian because my husband
lives out his faith, lives out the teachings of Scripture before me.
My husband, when placed among those that are not
Christians, is in the midst of them but he is not of them. He lives in this
world in a way that he is in the midst of it but is not of it.
Christians should live in the world, be in the
midst of it, but be not of it.
When a person swims underwater they are in a world
that is not their own and can never be their own. They may put on all sorts of
gear, wear special clothes, pump air in through tubes designed to let them stay
underwater for hours, but no matter what lengths they may go to they will never
be able to stay in the underwater world indefinitely. It is a world that they
are not a part of. It is a world that they can never be a part of.
With the right preparations they can be in that
world, experience it, touch it, even taste it, but they can never truly be a
part of that underwater world because they are not designed to live in that
world. They have a home that is not of the world they are in. And they know,
even as they live in, for however long, that underwater world, that they can
never be a part of that world.
Fish swim past them, sharks may come close, they
may touch the bottom of the ocean and hold tiny wonders in their hands, but
they cannot be a part of that world.
Such is the life of the Christian in this world.
We live in it. Move within it. Experience it. Even enjoy it. But just as the swimmers
home is above and beyond the water…the Christians home is above and beyond the
world.
The swimmer may be in the underwater world but
they can never be of it. And the Christian may be in the earthly world but we
can never be of it.
Or what
fellowship has light with darkness?
Have you ever walked into a dark room and been
unable to see anything? For most of us the answer to that is yes. When you flip
on the light the room is flooded with brightness so that we are able to see in
the darkness. We can now see where before the darkness blinded us. But have you
ever noticed that the darkness and the light never mix?
Where there was darkness, now there is light. The
light doesn’t mix with the darkness. Even in a dimly lit area the light and the
dark do not mix. One may encroach upon the other but they cannot mix. Never is
there a swirl of dark and light. Never do you see a mixing of the two as you do
when you mix food coloring into water.
And have you ever noticed that the darkness never
overrules the light? Always it is the light that overrules the dark. Even a
tiny flashlight has the power to push the dark away. And the smallest of flame
on a candle or match will push the darkness back.
Never does the darkness push the light back.
Always light has the power to overrule the dark. And overrule it it does.
The light often banishes the darkness completely
and even when it doesn’t it pushes the darkness to the far reaches…far beyond
where the light is…because darkness cannot live where there is light.
Not even when we’re talking about a dark room and
a light bulb.
Children are often afraid of the dark. They fear
the night. What seemed perfectly safe and even welcoming and enjoyable in the
daytime is often scary in the dark. They seem to somehow know that darkness is
not a good thing.
That is a physical darkness that is easily cast
away with the flip of a switch. A nightlight removes the fear that comes in the
darkened room.
But in the spiritual realm…in the world where
Christ is light and evil is darkness. The darkness…the evil…cannot live where
Christ…light…lives. He cast the darkness to the outer reaches where they cannot
touch that which is light. Because the two…darkness and light…cannot mingle.
They have no fellowship.
15 What
accord has Christ with Belial?
None. Because they do not mingle. One is light.
The other darkness. One is holy. The other evil. There is no mixing of the two.
Or what
portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?
For anyone that is truly in Christ they will
completely understand that part. A true believer…a fully converted, saved by
the Lord, regenerated soul…in it’s human form will understand the difficulty of
sharing anything with an unbeliever. Even the most simple of conversations are
often difficult. The things that matter to the unbeliever hold no interest to
the believer. The believer struggles to find a way to show even a small amount
of interest in that which the unbeliever loves.
When my husband and I first met we talked much of
Christ and Scripture. We both very much enjoyed speaking of those things and we
enjoyed speaking with each other because we could speak of those things
together. We would talk for hours going between the ordinary of our lives and
the things of Scripture with an ease that flowed and was enjoyable to both of
us.
But try and talk to the unbeliever about even the
tiniest detail of Scripture or Christ and you often lose them. I have spoken
with many a professing ‘Christian’ and although they claim faith in Christ if
you take the conversation very deep into Scripture they will quickly get
themselves out of the conversation.
They will jump out of the pool and run far away
from the side. Even with the professing ‘Christian’ there is only so much that
you can say to them about Christ. And often they will want to take the
conversation back to the things of the world and not the things of Scripture.
The believer…or Christian…on the other hand is
like a dry sponge dipped in water. They soak up all that they can and beg for
more.
16 What
agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living
God; as God said,
“I will make
my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
17 Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
18 and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
17 Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
18 and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”
Go out from
their midst and be separate from them. Oh, how the Christian lives in the
world as if they are visiting a foreign planet. We cannot love that which those
of this world love even when our closest relationships depend on us finding a
way to love something of the world so that we can connect with those we love.
We are forigners in a country…world…that speaks a different language. We cannot
join the conversations because even when we understand the words we cannot
share the meaning behind them.
We live as strangers amongst even those that we
love. We are alone, walking in the midst of many, except for those times when
we come into the company of others that belong to Christ.
In Spiritual prisoners I wrote of the fences that
surround our nations prisons. And I wrote of how those fences mark the line between
prison and freedom. When you cross that line, in fact even before you cross
that line, before you ever make it to the other side of the fence, you are in a
world that is all it’s own. In fact it is so different from the world as we
know it that it may as well be a different planet.
The men and women that live within those fences live
in our country but they are not of our country. To the majority of people in
our country they do not exist. Many of them do not exist to their very own
families. They are locked away behind those fences and therefore they are
forgotten…or ignored.
The majority of the people in our country are
unaware of prison. They may have a general idea of it, they know it’s out there
somewhere, but to them it does not exist. And neither do the people that live
within those fences.
And for the people that live within the fences
they must watch the world as if they live within a glass snow globe…or a
goldfish bowl…they are locked away where they may only experience live as it
happens in our world through television, books, newspapers and letters.
They are forced to live life, as it exists in our
country, vicariously through those things. They can only experience a city
street when they see it in a movie or read about it. They can only hike through
the woods, go for a walk in the park, go to the grocery store, or experience
family life through the words or scenes of someone else.
They are very much in our country but they are not
of it. They live in a world that has its own rules and its own culture.
The world and all its cares are but a distant
reality to them. Even for those that have close family on the outside they can
do nothing for their families but worry and pray.
They live in our world but they are not of it.
They are locked away from the world by fences and
locked doors meant to keep them from being a part of the rest of society…the
rest of the world.
They are kept separate from the world by physical
barriers that do not allow them to interact with the world as it is. And they
live in a world that is totally foreign to most Americans.
Because they are in the world but not of it.
Life and laws have forced them to be separated.
They were taken out of the midst and made separate.
The Christian is in the world but not of it.
Christ has taken us captive…taken over our spirits…and transformed us so that
we live and move within the world but we are not of the world.
2
Corinthians 7
takes us further into understanding that…
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse
ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to
completion in the fear of God.
So many of the
things that the unregenerate enjoy are things that are defilements…they are of
a sinful nature. Even those things that are clean and good are often elevated
to idol status and therefore cannot be considered good.
But the
believer must refrain from turning anything into an idol and putting anything
above the Lord. It is a commandment that we cannot keep. Even the most faithful
of believer cannot love God with all their heart, with all their mind, and with
all their soul every day, all day, putting Him above all else.
We are fallen
creatures that will fail daily. But we try hard to please our Lord and He,
thankfully, has placed a heart in us that does not desire the things of the
world the way the unregenerate do.
2 Make room in
your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have
taken advantage of no one.
3 I do not say
this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die
together and to live together. 4 I am acting
with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with
comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.
5 For even when
we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every
turn—fighting without and fear within. 6 But God, who
comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by
his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he
told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced
still more. 8 For even if I
made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for
I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I
rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into
repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.
There is much
to be gained from the above verses. We can see much of what mattered to Paul in
those verses. We see what gave him pride, comfort and joy. We see too what grieved
him. Paul gives us insight into the things ‘we’ experienced and how they got
through them. But he also gives us insight into how the things he said affected
others to the point that they repented.
10 For godly grief
produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly
grief produces death.
Oh, the wisdom, the understanding in that single
verse. Godly grief produces repentance that leads to salvation but worldy grief
produces death. If we remember from chapter 6 we saw much of the difference
between suffering in the flesh and suffering in the spirit.
In the flesh we weep, and moan, and cry. We grieve
but it is a grief that is of the world for the things of the world. It is a
grief that is in this world and it leads only to eternal death.
But there is a different kind of grief. It is the
godly grief that makes us ache and hurt…and repent…for the sins that we commit.
It is the grief that makes us cry out to the Lord and beg him for mercy and
that he might save us. It is a grief that goes deeper than the emotions and
hurts our very soul. And it is a grief that through repentance leads to
salvation.
Because it is a grief that is of the spirit…a
godly grief…and it is not of this world even though we feel it while we are in
this world.
11 For see what
earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to
clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what
punishment!
Here we have
the believer that is in the world but is not of it. So many things that have
been produced in the believer. They are eager for their Lord. Eager to leave
behind their sins…even when they struggle to do that very thing. They are eager
to learn the Scriptures. They are eager to gain favor with the Lord. They are
eager to be in the spirit with the Lord.
They experience
indignation at the things of the world even while the world…and those of the
world, the unbelievers, the unregenerate, are indignant at them and their
faith.
They fear the
Lord to the point that they exalt Him above all else. They understand the power
held by their Lord and cannot help but such a fear that they are left trembling
and longing for the very Lord that holds such power.
And oh, how
they long for the Lord. So much so that it is a physical ache within them. An
ache that is so deep that there is nothing physical or emotional that can touch
it. It is a longing of the spirit that can only be quenched with the Lord and
the more of the Lord they experience, the more of Him they want.
No matter how
outspoken they are or how quiet they are in nature they cannot help but speak
of the Lord and the Scriptures. They have a zeal for Them that cannot be
contained no matter how hard they might try, and try they do because they often
find themselves among those that do not want to hear of their Lord or the
Scriptures.
And all of that
becomes a punishment while in this world. The regenerate believer is punished
for their way of life, a life that must be removed from the ways of this world
because the believer aches and hurts when they encounter too much of the world.
When I think of
punishment as I understand it from this verse I must admit that while we are
punished in this world by our faith, often losing family and friends for the
very faith that makes us who we are, I must admit that the punishment is pleasure.
What joy it is to live to the Lord even when the world is disdainful of our
very reason for living.
Though many may
claim a faith in Christ, they will often tell us we are wrong for ‘taking’ our
faith to such extremes.
There is
punishment of being in the world but not of it…but what sweet punishment it is.
At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the
matter. 12 So although I
wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the
sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for
us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. 13 Therefore we
are comforted.
And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the
joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. 14 For whatever
boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything
we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. 15 And his
affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the obedience of you all,
how you received him with fear and trembling. 16 I rejoice,
because I have complete confidence in you.
I will admit
that I see little of being in the world but not of it in those verses. I am,
however, including them because I said I was going to look to 2 Corinthians
chapters 6 and 7. And those verses are the completion of those chapters. And
they very nearly throw me off my train of thought and topic.
These verses,
like a few of those above, seem more about what Paul and others are
experiencing, and less a lesson on being in the world but not of it. But even
in these verses we can gain some insight into just what it is like for a
Christian in this world.
Paul speaks of
our Titus’ spirit was refreshed by his encounter with other believers. Why
would Titus be so refreshed from visiting with other believers unless his time
when not with believers left his soul alone and ‘thirsty’ for the edification
that comes through talking with other believers?
We see in those
last verses that Paul speaks of Titus’ affection for the believers and of the
obedience they had. We also see that these believers received Titus with fear
and trembling and that they should rejoice.
But…I still
admit I see little of being in the world but not of it in those last verses.
Which is of
little matter because there was so much in the rest of 2 Corinthians 6 and 7
that speak of just how we are in the world but not of it.
I once told my
husband that being regenerate is like having a huge secret from the rest of the
world. We know something that others don’t, even many that profess Christ, and
yet if we tell them what we know, they either don’t believe us or they think we
are heretics.
Even those that
profess Christ…most of them want the ‘Christ’ that enjoys all the things of
this world…or at least the things of the world that they enjoy. They don’t want
to admit that Christ might ask something from them in exchange for the love
that he pours onto them.
They don’t want
to admit that the lives they lead are nothing like the life Christ spoke of or
that the Scriptures teach of. They want the world…to be in the world…and to be
of it. And they think that being a ‘Christian’ allows for that.
But they do not
understand that for the person who has been taken captive by Christ…whose
spirit is not there’s but the Lord’s…that we do not chose to be of this world
or not of it. We made no choice for Christ, did not choose to serve Him, did
not decide to make things difficult for ourselves by following the Scriptures
to the extreme.
We are captives
of our Lord and He has placed us in a foreign world. We cannot love the things
of this world, even if we try. We cannot live for this world as so many do because
this world is not our home…it is a place we are visiting much the way the
swimmer visits the underwater world. We are here but for a time and just as our
Lord is concerned for the things of the eternal…so are we.
They do not
understand that while they speak to us of movies, videos games, and music bands
we are aching for the condition of their souls. They do not understand that
while they ask us why we won’t partake in this or that, we are wishing we could
sit them down and share the secrets we know.
They do not
understand that while they are worshipping that video game…and yes, they are
worshipping it when they desire it, long for it, go to great lengths to get it,
and rush home to play it for hours…we are thinking of the tightrope they walk
that dangles them over the open pit of hell and how we can do nothing to
enlighten them to the danger they are in.
They do not
understand that while they try to get us interested in the things of this world
it is the eternal that we think of. They do not understand that even when we
speak with them of hunting or fishing or television that even while our minds
are temporarily occupied with the things of this world, so that we might find a
common ground to converse with them, that our spirits are connected to the eternal
and may in fact be crying out for them even as we laugh and talk with them
about things we cannot put any value on.
They do not
understand because they are in the world and are of the world.
And we cannot
join them in their world but for a very brief time because we are in the world
but we are not of it.
In fact we may
be in this world but we can never be of it.
Because while
we are in this world…
For we do
not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 ESV
And though we may try to find a common ground with
them we are kept from this world as sure as the prisoner is kept from the
outside world by the fence that marks the boundary line where prison ends and
the world begins.
We go through our days…our very lives…living in
this world…
But our
citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Philippians 3:20 esv
Because…
We are in this world but not of it.
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