Set Apart By Jesus

Going viral is a common phrase nowadays that is used for sharing something through email or social media that quickly spreads to thousands or even millions of people online. While it may be a piece of news, a fad, or something funny, most things that go viral on the internet are harmless and go away as quickly as they came. But, when it comes to our health and our bodies, things that go viral can be deadly.

For example, in the mid-1300s, when a dozen merchant ships arrived at a port in Sicily, they were found to be carrying the dead and dying bodies of sailors who had the plague. It was so contagious that the infections became uncontrollable. As people were infected and traveled elsewhere, they took the plague with them. Within 5 years, 1/3 of Europe would die from the disease.

Much like the plague, sin spreads and ravages people's lives. Even though God provides a divine remedy to sin, most people are unaware of how it works. So today I want to talk about how to live out the truth that, in Christ, we have victory over death and sin. Are you set apart by Jesus? PRAYER.

I explained in a previous message concerning holiness that we are holy in the sense that we are set apart from the rest of the world. Being set apart is also the meaning of the term sanctification. The concept of being set apart in Christ is a major truth and that theme is woven throughout the New Testament. Even though the theme of being set apart in Christ is prevalent throughout the New Testament, sanctification remains one of the least understood aspects of discipleship. So, the Apostle Paul did his best to make this truth understood. He wrote to the Christians living in Rome.

Romans 6:5-7 – “For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin,”

Paul taught that believers have been made free from the enslavement of sin. He based that teaching on the themes of death and resurrection. He argued that when Christ bore our sin on the cross physically, we as believers participated in His death spiritually to become free of sin. When He died, God's divine wrath against sin was satisfied, once for all, and Christ secured forgiveness for anyone who would believe in Him. Since then, in a theological sense, the moment any individual repents and places their faith in Christ, the power of Christ's sacrificial offering is bestowed on that individual.

Not only are we united with Christ in His death but we will also participate in the likeness of His resurrection. Even though Christ died, He now lives. He defeated death and sin. Jesus's literal and physical resurrection from death demonstrates the Lord's absolute power over death and authority over the grave. Praise God!

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Everybody wants to be free. No one wants to be enslaved to their passions and the basic instincts of human nature. But at the same time, each of us has experienced times when we have fallen short of God's best, or, in some cases, we have acted in ways that were completely unbecoming and unacceptable for a child of God. Yet as believers who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we are set free from sin's grip through this process of sanctification.

Regarding believers, Paul explained that our former unredeemed nature has now died in Christ. This means that the old self that existed before our spiritual conversion and rebirth has now been crucified. When you accepted Christ, your sinful nature was put to death. Since that moment, you have entered a new spiritual dimension. That's when we are redeemed, set apart from both the penalty and the power of sin.

When Saul was knocked off his horse on the road to Damascus and he experienced first-hand the resurrected Jesus, Jesus explained to Saul what he is now preaching in the Romans passage. Jesus told him:

Acts 26:17-18 – “I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

Saul, now known as Paul, remembered that and carried that theme with him as he preached elsewhere. He said to the Galatians:

Galatians 5:16 – “I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh.”