What is Being Set Apart For God?

Last on the blog, in the Divine Purpose series, we discussed What is Holiness? And I wanted to elaborate on that and get into being set apart for God. What makes one holy is following the leading of the Holy Spirit, being separate from the World, living life Christ’s way, and standing out for God. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are not only being saved from Hell, but we are telling God that we want Him to lead our lives. That’s why Jesus is our Lord because we are to follow His leading, and as we do that, we get closer to Holiness, and as you become Holy, you are being set apart for God.

Some people may wonder what that means, but it means being a vessel for God, someone God can use for His glory because you have purified your life through yielding to the Spirit and not the flesh. Being set apart means forsaking the ways of the world and taking up the ways of God. It means saying no to things you used to say yes to; it means staying home doing Bible study over going to the club. It means not cursing and using your words for edification instead of destruction. It means not taking on the attitude of others but having a positive outlook when things seem bleak. It doesn’t just mean not drinking and smoking, but being dead to your flesh in every single way possible and 100% yielding to the Holy Spirit. So, it can include things we don’t want to do or things we thought we couldn’t do. But through Jesus and His Spirit, we have the power to be set apart for His glory.

We Are Dead

When we give our lives to Christ, we partake in His death and resurrection. That means as Christ died to sin, so did we, and it also means that as He rose with all power and authority, so did we. We have the same power as Jesus through His Spirit, and we can live as Christ did, which will set us apart for God. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me; and the life I live now in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” This verse perfectly encompasses what it means to die as Christ died. When we give our lives to Jesus, we are to live like Jesus. Be a light in the world like He was when He walked on earth and showed people the goodness of God. So, it would be a good idea to read the Gospels, especially if you are newly saved, so you can see the characteristics of Jesus that you are supposed to display.

Whatever habits and behaviors you had before, if Jesus didn’t do it, I would change my ways. For example, if you can’t envision Jesus cursing, and in the scriptures, He never did when He spoke, you should stop cursing. But it goes further than that because things today weren’t possible in Jesus’s day, like smoking weed or tobacco. However, as a Christian, I wouldn’t smoke at all. Why? Because the Bible tells us, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (‭‭I Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ ‭NKJV)‬‬.

Weed prevents us from being sober, and it opens doors for the enemy to walk through, the same with alcohol. They prevent us from being completely used by God. If you feel that you can go to church high or drunk and proudly let people know you’re high or drunk without feeling convicted or ashamed, then proceed. But there’s a reason you wouldn’t go to church high or drunk, or at least not with anyone knowing, because in your Spirit, you know that is wrong. That is not something that would please God. Would you feel okay about smoking weed and listening to worship music? Probably not, because you know the two don’t mix. One is of the world, and one is of God, who called us not to be conformed to the world to be set apart. It doesn’t matter if it is a natural herb or if alcohol is legal; the Bible says, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful.” I Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭12‬. So we can’t just do things because it’s okay in society; things that seem right to society are, most of the times, the things God tells us to stay away from. You cannot glorify God by being high or drunk, and being set apart is giving God glory in everything you do. To live your life to please God, not the world, to tell the world no and God yes. God will never tell you personally to smoke weed, drink alcohol, or smoke cigarettes.

‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ says, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which is God’s.” Treat your body like a holy vessel because that is what it is. The Holy Spirit dwells in you once you receive Jesus, so don’t use your body to sin, and this particular chapter in Corinthians talks about that. Do not use your body to smoke, drink, have sex out of marriage, curse, fight or abuse people, dance sexually, overeat, argue, lie, etc.. Use your body to glorify God! Be different; don’t try to fit in or be like everyone else. The road to hell is broad, but the path to righteousness is narrow. Jesus says in Matthew 7:13-14 to “enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

The gate to destruction is Hell, and many are on their way there. Don’t follow them; go in by the narrow gate that leads to life, eternal life with God, and be the few. It is difficult because people will criticize you for being pure, not drinking, not having sex, smoking, cursing, etc.; they’ll call you lame and boring. But have the backbone to take the insults and keep pushing for Jesus. God will reward your righteousness! Not only with eternal life, but you will see earthly blessings and things in your life come together like you’ve never imagined. When you take a stand for Jesus, Jesus takes a stand for you! So be dead to the World and be alive to Christ!

Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” We are not to live according to the standards of the world but to the standards of God. That’s why transforming our minds is essential, and we do that with the Bible. By reading scriptures and discovering how God thinks and conforming to that. As a result, we live our lives according to the will of God and demonstrate that to the people in our lives. People are supposed to see God’s goodness and His will by the way we act, speak, behave, and how we treat others. If your actions and life, in general, don’t demonstrate the goodness of God, start reading your bible more and educate yourself on what living like Christ looks like.

Being set apart is truly living by the mantra that we are dead to the world, dead to the flesh, but alive in our Spirit and Jesus. Galatians 5:16 says, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” To be set apart, you must continually build up your Spirit and not just hear the Word but do the Word. You build your Spirit by reading the Bible, praying, attending church, listening to teachings and sermons, fasting, tithing and giving, listening to Christian music, and just putting yourself in God’s presence. This is how you make it easier to walk in the Spirit because the more you’re in God’s presence, the less you’ll want to please your flesh. From experience, the more time I spend with God, the less I want to partake in worldly activities because I want to please God, get souls saved, and have His favor and blessing surround my life, and that outweighs anything the world has to offer me. Remove yourself from worldly activities, and living for God will be much easier.

God called us to be so much more in life; I Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” We are royalty, and royalty doesn’t just hang anywhere or just do anything. Some things look distasteful for royalty to do, and some things look distasteful for children of God to do. We must live a separate life that glorifies God and His Kingdom; that is how we get people to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The way we live our lives is how we share Jesus! Next week, I’ll go in-depth on worldly activities we should separate ourselves from and how living a holy life looks in reality! I hope this helped, and God bless!