It is quite popular in our times to celebrate our unity as people. To celebrate that we are all one. What I mean is it is very popular and quite acceptable to recognize that all human beings are equally special, equally acceptable, equally valuable, equally loved, and equally children of God and “heaven-bound” (for those who believe in an afterlife). However, it is unacceptable in the world, and even in most churches, to recognize that not all people are equally loved by God. And it is unacceptable to recognize that God has “special children” who He favors more than others of His children. But let me ask you: “who had Christ’s favor in this situation between Mary and Martha”? Since Jesus recognized that, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42). Do you want to hear Jesus say: “Well done, you have chosen the good portion!” or to hear Him say, “you were too busy and distracted to listen to Me”?
However, first we must know it is a matter of fact that God’s children must be born from God, from above, from Heaven, since “those who are in the flesh (Adam) cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh (Adam) but in the Spirit (Christ), if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. [Since] anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Rom. 8:8-9). I notice personally, that many within the Church do not like to recognize this distinction between the child of God and the child of the Devil. For it is not popular or accepted to recognize it, is it? In our day “Unity” is the word of the hour, and “One World,” and the “New World Order,” and “Love one another no matter what.” However, the Body-of-Christ is called to love one another. But beyond this, there are distinctions.
Though it is true when Jesus arrived that many did reject the love of God and the call to be children, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (Jn 1:12-13). “This means that it is not the children of the flesh (Adam/sin) who are the children of God, but the children of the promise (of Christ) are counted as offspring” (Rom. 9:8). “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him [being rejected by the world for the sake of Christ] in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom. 8:16-17). Those who are “of God” are no longer of Adam, or of the flesh, but are children and in God’s household, since it says, “Cast out the slave woman and her son (Hagar and Ishmael/flesh), for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman (Isaac/Christ).” So, brothers, we are not children of the slave (flesh) but of the free woman (Christ)” (Gal. 4:30-31). Since “the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever” (Jn 8:35).
Above it is spelled out clearly that those who “belong to Christ” do not at the same time belong to “Adam/flesh/slavery/sin/the world.” In other words, the New Testament repeatedly says WE ARE VERY DIFFERENT from every other human being on the face of the planet who is not a child of God through being born again. We are in fact so different internally that it is like water and oil, or light and darkness, or good and evil, or heaven and hell, literally. So, let me ask, “why do you care what the world thinks of you”? Of course, you may not care. But usually, our actions give us away. We know that in the “Last Days” this distinction between Light and Darkness, and those who are of God vs those who are of the Devil, is going to become increasingly clear and even hostile. So, let me ask you, “do you feel the hostility yet”? I am convinced that if Jesus does not come soon to rapture His Church, we are going to face great persecution in America. So, with that, have you settled this issue for yourself? Do you TRULY know your identity, where you are born from? Are you so convinced of Who you belong to that you live accordingly? Or are you finding yourself compromising, and therefore, not living as a child born from heaven, as Holy, and set-apart to God? I am not asking, “do you still sin or mess up.” I am asking “do you know in your heart that you are His.” Are you living like a child who resides in the Father’s house, relying on your good Father for daily life and needs? Or are you living like a slave, being unsure of your place in the House? Well, here are a few passages of scripture that can act as a mirror and can help confirm your identity:
“If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (Jn 15:19). Do you feel this tension between yourself and those outside of Christ? As Jesus would say, you are from above, they are from below (literally).
“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (Jn 3:19). You are light, the world is darkness. Therefore, the darkness should feel uncomfortable being around you. They don’t want to be around you since you expose them for who they are, “separated from Christ and in sin.” Unless of course, they no longer desire to remain in darkness. Then they are drawn to you because they want what you have.
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household” (Matt. 10:34-36). Again, here is another example of that distinction felt between the sons of God and the sons of the Devil. They simply have nothing in common really.
“Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me” (Jn 15:20-21). In other words, in our generation, you should experience persecution for being a Christian. Or as some have put it, “if you were put on trial for being a Christian would there be enough evidence in your life to convict you?” This next verse fits perfectly here: “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Tim. 3:12-13). Are you being found guilty by this world for being a follower of Christ? I pray you are.
The purpose of this post was to clearly express the reality of, and the distinction between, the light and the darkness in this world. Pointing to the reality that there are only two choices, and those two choices are exact opposites and should find no true common ground. And if we seek to merge these two opposing forces together, it will only bring destruction to one’s own faith, family, Church, community, city, state, and world. “For we [children of God] are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor. 6:16-18, emphasis mine).
Therefore, do not try to blend, merge, or bring together that which does not “go together.” But how are we to be Salt and Light to the world then? We will be salt and light only by walking in the light and truth of the glory of God in Christ. Simply, by “being separate” or “Holy” and “set-apart” from the world will those who want what we have be drawn to our light. We do not have to “force or coerce” anyone into salvation. We will lead them to Christ by offering something which they could never find in the world; hope, and a Savior from Heaven, who is outside of this world.
Aletheia: Truth in the Darkness 