Out of this World

“If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:19)

Jesus spoke to His disciples about how the world hated them. The world loves its own. “For if you love those who love you, what thanks do you have? For sinners also love those who love them.” (Luke 6:32) The world does not love its enemies. When Jesus tells us to love our enemies, He is telling us to do something completely different from the world. The world hates their enemies. Christians stand not only directly opposed to what the world loves but pray and advocate against what they love and try to expunge the works of its originator. So, the world hates Christians. The world has succeeded in creating a damper on the Name of Jesus. Try to mention Jesus and the world cries, “Hater,” or labels you judgmental. And although their attempts to legally designate the Bible a hate book have failed, the fact that they have declared it and encourage that mindset should alarm us.

We are not of the world because Jesus has chosen us out of the world. “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it to you.” (John 15:16) God knew each one of us before the creation of the world. And He loved us. He chose to save those who obey Him, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Lord God established a way for man to choose Him. And for those who did choose Him, He has made a way for us to be blessed for eternity, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation concerning our sins.” (1John 4:10) The way and only way God has determined to save humanity is through the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus.

You may ask how those in the Old Testament would be saved if Jesus, the Redeemer hadn’t been born again. Again, we come to the infinite world of God. Even if the Redeemer hadn’t been born, those born before Jesus knew about the Savior to come. They believed in Him and lived their lives in expectation, obeying God as God had ordained for that time. Remember also that the Lord is not concerned with numb works for the works’ sake, but He looks at the heart and intentions. Just look at the life of David. He did works, but his heart was always toward the Lord. And even if he failed miserably, his heart is what saved him because he loved the Lord. There were many who followed the Law and loved God. The Bible is written only about a few, the leaders, shakers and movers of that time and how God dealt with the nations because of their ability or inability to move their people toward a godly life within the God established requirements.

So the question is this. Are people in the Old Testament saved? The answer is yes. But, they were saved after Jesus redeemed them. I guess you could make the assumption that the erroneous idea of Purgatory comes from the Old Testament where those who obeyed the Lord before Jesus, were waiting for the Redeemer when they died. We look at what Jesus spoke about to His disciples about Lazarus and the rich man. When Jesus healed a man (Luke 14:1) at a Pharisee’s house on the Sabbat , He started a barrage of parables to teach the crowd. But in chapter 16: 19 He starts differently. He is not relating a parable but an actual event. “There was a certain rich man...” So Jesus is speaking about actual people and an actual event. Like I say many times, we have no idea of God’s world, the spiritual world and what transpires there. He tells how the rich man ends up in hell and can see Lazarus, the beggar, in the bosom of Abraham. (Luke 16:23) Abraham and Lazarus were not in heaven, but in a pleasant place. Abraham tells the rich man who wants Lazarus to take him some water, “And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.” (Luke 16:26) Abraham and Lazarus could not be in Paradise until Jesus redeemed humanity. And that happed after Jesus’ death. Jesus tells the thief hanging on the cross next to Him that he would be with Him in Paradise. “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43) The thief who declared Jesus Lord was saved and went to heaven to be with Jesus that very day when Jesus was seated at the right hand of the Father. He didn’t have to go to that waiting place. Jesus never tells us the name of that place. Some call it Purgatory and believe it still exists. But the Bible tells us that Jesus went to hell and led the captives free. So it may have been a part of hell that was not torturous. “Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that He ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things.)” (Ephesians 4:8-10) I know that it’s not too clear what happened and that we can’t imagine what really transpired. We have to make some assumptions based on what Scripture reveals.

So, we see that God has made provision for all who love and obey Him. That obedience I am talking about is our first act of obedience that begins our relationship with the Lord. It’s believing what God did in sending Jesus. It’s believing on Jesus, Who He is and what He did. It’s believing in the redeeming work of Jesus. And it’s surrendering to Him, spirit, soul (mind, will and emotions) and body forsaking the lust of the world. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1John 2:15-16)

In summary, the world hates us. John tells us in his epistle to not love the world. It is full of lust, desire for what feels good to the flesh, looks glittery to the eyes and lifts man’s ego when there is nothing to be proud of because all blessings in spirit, soul and body come from the Lord, even for the sinner. All knowledge, all wisdom, all talent and skill are given to man from God. John writes what Jesus says to us in his Gospel, “... I have chosen you out of the world...”  The Lord saw into the future and saw at the creation of the world, that we would choose Him. It’s just too marvelous to understand. To the Lord, the past, present and future are all present at the same time. So it’s hard for us who are so dependent on time and time past, present and future to wrap our heads around that concept. God saw those in the future who would love and obey Him. And those are who He took out of the world, the world system of the devil.

Let us pray:

Father God, Your knowledge is just too wonderful for me to understand. Your Love is too great for me to understand. But Father God, I believe. I believe Your Word. I believe in Jesus. And I believe all the marvelous things You have revealed in Your Word concerning those who love and obey You. Help me in my struggles here in this world. Keep me from desiring anything in this world. It is nothing compared to what You have prepared for those who love You. I pray for Your strength in spirit, soul and body. I pray for Your Will to be done in my life. Help me to choose You each time when the world presents its lust of comfort instead of holy labor, its glittery draw to my eyes and the pride that doesn’t belong to me. Keep me to be focused on You. Help me to be obedient to Your every Word and teach me how to obey not for obedience’s sake, but because of my love and devotion to You. Help me to have the right motives in all that I think, say and do. Be exalted and glorified in everything concerning me my Lord. Holy and Worthy are You. In the Name of Jesus I pray, amen.