Post by poetsunshine on Sept 22, 2010 11:47:23 GMT -6
SPIRITUAL UNION WITH CHRIST
JOHN 17:21...THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE; AS THOU, FATHER, ART IN ME, AND I IN THEE, THAT THEY ALSO MAY BE ONE IN US; THAT THE WORLD MAY BELIEVE THAT THOU HAST SENT ME.
I. IN THE WORLD, BUT NOT OF IT.
JOHN 17:15-19.
Living holy lives in this world may at times seem like an overwhelming responsibility.
The world offers many attractions to sin. We may think how much easier holy living would be if Jesus would just take us out of this world.
Yet Jesus prayed just the opposite in His high priestly prayer. He asked the Father not to take us out of the world, but to protect us from Satan’s influence.
How does God protect Christians from the evil so widespread in our culture?
Our protection from the evil around us is in our separation from it. This separation involves our understanding of our relationship to the world and our dependence on God’s Word.
Jesus pointed out in His prayer that we are no more a part of this world’s godless system than He was.
Our aim should not be to escape this world, but to be sanctified—set apart—from it.
We cannot escape the ungodly culture around us, but we can use the truth of God’s Word to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.
We must determine to be in the world, but not of it.
Jesus sanctifies us by His Word. When we read and study Scripture, we plant it in our hearts and minds so we can live it out in our actions. This builds a protection within us against the world’s attractions to sin.
Jesus is the highest example in this separated, sanctified living. The Father sent Him into this world, and He sends His followers into it.
He does not remove is from it, in spite of the evil that fills it. Instead, He sends us into it to share His good news.
He had sanctified himself in relation to this world. He separated himself to God’s will, following the plan the Father had laid out for our salvation. He gives Christians the power to live a godly, separated life also.
JOHN 17:21...THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE; AS THOU, FATHER, ART IN ME, AND I IN THEE, THAT THEY ALSO MAY BE ONE IN US; THAT THE WORLD MAY BELIEVE THAT THOU HAST SENT ME.
I. IN THE WORLD, BUT NOT OF IT.
JOHN 17:15-19.
Living holy lives in this world may at times seem like an overwhelming responsibility.
The world offers many attractions to sin. We may think how much easier holy living would be if Jesus would just take us out of this world.
Yet Jesus prayed just the opposite in His high priestly prayer. He asked the Father not to take us out of the world, but to protect us from Satan’s influence.
How does God protect Christians from the evil so widespread in our culture?
Our protection from the evil around us is in our separation from it. This separation involves our understanding of our relationship to the world and our dependence on God’s Word.
Jesus pointed out in His prayer that we are no more a part of this world’s godless system than He was.
Our aim should not be to escape this world, but to be sanctified—set apart—from it.
We cannot escape the ungodly culture around us, but we can use the truth of God’s Word to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.
We must determine to be in the world, but not of it.
Jesus sanctifies us by His Word. When we read and study Scripture, we plant it in our hearts and minds so we can live it out in our actions. This builds a protection within us against the world’s attractions to sin.
Jesus is the highest example in this separated, sanctified living. The Father sent Him into this world, and He sends His followers into it.
He does not remove is from it, in spite of the evil that fills it. Instead, He sends us into it to share His good news.
He had sanctified himself in relation to this world. He separated himself to God’s will, following the plan the Father had laid out for our salvation. He gives Christians the power to live a godly, separated life also.
