So there goes Paul again...quoting from that Old Testament as if it might have anything to do with us NT believers today....

“Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord...and I will be a Father to you and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Cor. 6:17-18)

This seems to be a reoccurring theme, or ‘call’ ...that we hear God make throughout the Bible. I mean, from the very beginning, God called Adam out from hiding behind the bushes in his nakedness (Gen.3). God would later call Abram out from his native homeland and family in order to follow Him so that He could establish covenant with Him and to be the Father of a nation in relationship with Himself (Gen. 12). And then there were the several million descendants of Abraham who were now living as slaves in Egypt (Ex. 3:7-8). God then raised up Moses to lead the people out where their lives of slavery would be a part of their past as He led them into a land of peace and rest where He could bless them.

Oh, let’s not forget Peter’s reminder how those who do respond to this call are a ‘chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people ...who have been... called out of darkness into His marvelous light...” (1 Pet. 2:9).

This should be good news to all since this gospel invitation is extended not just to the original ‘seed of Abraham’, but to the Gentiles as well. Remember what Jesus commissioned Paul to do in Acts 26:17-18? He was being sent to take this message to the non-Jews to “open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins...and, an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me”. And IF....we respond to this call and IF...we belong to Christ, we too become ‘Abrahams’ seed and heirs according to the promise’ (Gal. 3:26-29)

But clearly...not everyone will respond in faith to this call, to ‘come out of darkness’ and to be ‘separate’. In fact, Jesus seemed to indicate that there would be ‘few’ who walk this path (Matt. 7:13-14). That’s not to say many wouldn't ‘mouth words’ of devotion, but their hearts would be elsewhere (Matt. 15:8; 7:21-23; 2 Tim. 3:1-7). Yet there would be clear identifying signs (fruit) of those who were walking ‘in the light as He is in the light’ (1 John 1:6-7) Those who do know Him will be keeping His commandments and ‘walking just as He walked’ (1 John 2:3-6). And if they are truly abiding in Him...guess what they will no longer be doing? You should have this verse memorized by now, but just in case- go read 1 John 3:6.

Friends, let me ask you a question. If we claim to be a follower of Jesus, yet continue to ‘sin’, which is breaking the commandments of God (1 John 3:4)...then according to Jesus, we remain a ‘slave to sin’ (John 8:34). And since most ‘believers’ today readily admit that they continue to be ‘sinners...saved by grace’ ...since they continue to ‘sin’... then how ‘separate’ or ‘different’ are we than those who are ‘in the world’ and still in darkness? Is that not a fair question to ask?

Oh, but you were taught that as ‘children of God who trust in Jesus...we are no longer punished for our sins since Jesus took our punishment on the cross for all past, present and future sins’, you say? Then help me get this straight...

Suppose a half a dozen folks are in traffic court waiting to settle some traffic citations, and one of them is a ‘believer’. If five of the six are found guilty and have to pay their fines, but the one who is a ‘believer’ , even though he broke the law...has his ticket dismissed because his dad happens to be the judge he’s standing before...is that the ‘difference’ that ‘separates’ him from the other five? (Go read that again if it was not clear the first time).

And if you do agree with that comparison...then is it any wonder that a non-believing world rolls their eyes at the modern day ‘church’ who try to pass off that old cliché of an excuse that “Christians are not perfect, just forgiven”. IF we are not walking out transformed lives in the power of His Spirit who supposedly dwells in us and set us free from sin and darkness...have we really heeded the call to ‘come out and be separate’? (Rom. 8:10-11)

Trust me, when I say I know how this has to sound to many who might be out there today and see themselves as ‘damaged goods’...yet may have stumbled across this blog post and are reading it today. The landscape is littered with countless numbers of people who started a sincere walk with Jesus, but for one reason or another...have ‘crashed and burned, or at best...threw in the towel for a host of reasons.

Some of you might not be aware of this, maybe even confused by my admission to this...but I was right there with people just like that. You just have no idea. Some of us are good at ‘painting a brave face’. But as I have shared here over the past five years, I was in a place where my own ‘walk of faith’ was at best, on ‘auto-pilot’ and ‘life support’. When I tell you I was ‘dead inside’...trust me- I was spiritually dead...inside. And despite years of trying to ‘find that door’ out of my darkness, I was resigned to the fact I was ‘done’. Then, the ‘Door’ found me and once again...called me out of darkness into His marvelous light. If I have said it once, I’ve said it multiple times...my life was forever changed.

As I type these words out this morning, my heart is burdened for so many who were like myself...spent, discouraged and still in darkness. And like that that woman with the ‘issue of blood’...who had spent all her money on doctors and was no better off than before, I too...had one more ‘chance’ encounter with the One who gave His life to redeem me. And in the process of bringing me back to life, similar to what Jesus did for Lazarus (spiritually), I find myself standing over a valley of ‘dry bones’. I see the landscape filled with so many damaged souls who are lifeless and dried up. And just as Ezekiel heard the Lord ask “Son of man, can these bones live?”(Ezek.37)...I find myself wanting to step up and say in response: “Yes, Lord, I know they can...for I too was in that dusty valley of death. I too...was buried in that miry clay.”

And He redeemed me from the pit...and set my feet upon His Rock..(Ps. 40:2). And He wants to do the same for you as well.  Being on the 'Rock' is a good place to be, especially because of what is coming our way Matt. 7:24-27; 24:37-39)