Set Apart for God

By Alexandra Copeland

1Corinthians 1:18(NLT) says, “18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.” I have had the opportunity to be around very intelligent people, some considered to be the brightest in Christian society. I also know incredibly smart individuals that do not practice the Christian faith in any regard, and many of them have no interest in learning about Jesus Christ. The world admires their intelligence and often puts them on a pedestal, but 1Corinthians 1:18 speaks truth to their condition. They have plenty of knowledge, but lack wisdom. The good news of Jesus Christ is foolish to them because the devil has blinded their eyes and kept them from seeing the truth. Of course, as God’s children our responsibility is to pray for them, but we can never overlook the awesome reality that God handpicked us to know the truth. He set us apart for His purpose.

This is an important truth that should be anchored in our hearts, particularly for those that have been ostracized by the in-crowd or feel as though you don’t fit in with everybody else. God has called us to be a holy people. To be holy is to be set apart for His purpose. 1Corinthians 6:20 (NKJV) tells us, “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1John 4:4 (NLT) also tells us, “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.”

Adam and Eve lost the fellowship and communion with God that He wanted between us and Him. We can learn many things from having a record of their beginnings and the end of their ‘set-apart-ness’ for God. They bowed to the devil by doubting God’s Word. God told them what would happen if they ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, but instead of holding God’s Word preeminently in their hearts—instead of believing wholeheartedly in God’s omnipotence and being fully persuaded in His love, protection, and desire for their best, they did a switcheroo in their minds. In their hearts, they transferred authority away from God’s Word and gave it to the enemy. This was a ‘bow’ on their parts, and it cost them everything.

Sin caused us to be enslaved in enemy territory, and we couldn’t catch a break. We were caught up in the catch-22 negative cycle of sin and law, where making ourselves right depended on crossing every ‘t’ of the law and dotting every ‘i’ of it. Doesn’t take rocket science to figure out that righteousness was the number one goal here, and it didn’t take God's people long to figure out that really bad stuff happens when the intent of your heart isn’t lined up with the righteousness of God. Before our Lord and Savior showed up to rescue us, life was a constant unwinnable fight against satan’s darts.

Romans 6:6 (NLT) says, “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.” God, through His infinite mercy, has set us free through Jesus Christ to live this life of liberty, love, and light. We must accept the reality that everyone that we know and that knows us is not going to get what we’re about.

Heavenly Father purchased us from the treacherous grips of hell, and He did so not because we deserved it, but because He loves us so much. The commitment we make to Him when we become born-again is that we will allow Jesus Christ to be the head of our lives. In John 15:19 (NLT) Jesus said, “The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.” He chose us, and because of him, we are holy and set apart for God’s purpose.

Those who are headed for destruction do not have to be. It is their choice to deny the truth of God’s Word and the power of His might. Those of us who know and trust it must be extremely thankful that He set us apart with a holy calling. We can bask in the liberty of Christ, and employ his love by praying for those that are lost, witnessing his gospel to those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, and walking confidently in the knowledge that we belong to God, and He, as our loving Heavenly Father, belongs to us.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.