Set Apart

“External religious worship [religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world.” James 1:27 (emphasis mine)

“And now [brethren], I commit you to God [I deposit you in His charge, entrusting you to His protection and care]. And I commend you to the Word of His grace [to the commands and counsels and promises of His unmerited favor]. It is able to build you up and to give you [your rightful] inheritance among all God’s set-apart ones (those consecrated, purified, and transformed of soul).” Acts 20:32

We are called "God's set-apart ones". Set apart from what? From the world is the obvious answer we are given in James 1, but in practical terms what does that look like?

I have heard, and would agree, that it is Jesus Christ who separates us and sets us apart, that the work is not ours and while yes, once again I would agree that is true, it is not the whole truth. When Jesus was talking about forgiveness He said this,

“In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.” Matthew 6:14 The Message

I cannot afford to be passive and simply say that God has set me apart and I have no responsibility for anything else.  James would obviously disagree as in the above scripture he implies responsibility on our part. 

Now , unspotted to me speaks of purity. To be pure you must keep yourself from anything that would contaminate you.  It goes way beyond religious observance straight to the heart. Jesus says to his disciples when they asked him the meaning of a parable:

“But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It’s from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That’s what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands—that’s neither here nor there.” Matthew 15:17 The Message

The real question is, “What corrupts you?”  I believe prayerful study of the Word and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit are a crucial part of our responsibility to discovering all of the varied contaminating influences.  And how do we separate ourselves from them? Jesus put it this way:

“Let’s not pretend this is easier than it really is. If you want to live a morally pure life, here’s what you have to do: You have to blind your right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer. You have to choose to live one-eyed or else be dumped on a moral trash pile. And you have to chop off your right hand the moment you notice it raised threateningly. Better a bloody stump than your entire being discarded for good in the dump.” Matthew 5:29 The Message

I cannot afford to be passive; I have to be aggressive against corruption. As an example if I want to guard against lust then the moment I have a lustful thought I must cast it down, the moment I see lust on tv I must shut if off, I must be aggressive and vigilant against that corrupting influence.  As Jesus says, it’s not easy, and I definitely cannot do it alone, but I must do my part and I know that God is faithful to do His. For I surely do not want to be educated above my obedience level.

And that is my challenge, to cooperate with God to keep myself unspotted from the world. I must prayerfully go before the Father and ask Him to reveal what is corrupting me and then aggressively and diligently guard against it.