Building up believers and the New Testament church

Education of Children

In the World But Not Of the World

A second foundational area that must be clear in our vision is that God is calling men out of this world unto Himself. God is not building in the world or in its system. The whole Adamic race (old man) was judged at Calvary, and a new creation (new man) was begun in Christ Jesus. There can be no mixing of the two, and anyone who makes himself a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of Christ (James 4:4). When we use the term "world," we are speaking not of land and trees, but of the godless system of society and government which does not acknowledge God, but operates completely separate from God and refuses to come under His authority. In fact, Satan is called the god of this world, or age (2 Corinthians 4:4).

We must see this separation that God has made, or we will try to mix what God is doing in the church (which is pure and holy) with what Satan is doing in this world (which is full of sin). God is calling men out of the world and its system, into Christ.

Jesus prayed not that we would be taken out of this world physically, but rather that God would keep us in the world (John 17:15). His purpose is fulfilled as we walk as He walked. Jesus was never afraid to go anyplace as He did the Father's will, but He was never a part of either the religious system or the governmental system pf His day. He never stooped to its level, and when men tried to trap Him, He said, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Luke 20:25). He could attend weddings, visit the homes of sinners, and go into the temple, but in each place He remained in control of the situation and glorified God. Yet He has called us to walk as He walked, and He has given us the Holy Spirit that we may also be led, and walk in the power of God as salt and light in this godless age. No rulebook will take the place of the Holy Ghost, and men's wisdom will not be sufficient for us to walk in this world and be salt and light.