On the night He was betrayed, Jesus prayed for His disciples, saying, “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours” (John 17:9). God’s true servants are not of the world, as they have rather been set apart for His special purpose. This does not mean that we are called because we are special. On the contrary, 1 Corinthians 1:26–29 dispels that idea. We are the weak of the world—of ordinary birth, strength, and wisdom.
Yet we are Christ’s—and we are of God the Father, as John’s next verse explains. “And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them” (John 17:10). Imagine that! God is glorified in us! In other words, He is glorified in what He is doing in and through us. So, while we did not begin as special, we are nevertheless called to something very special. Notice how Peter makes this point: “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; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:9–10).
He goes on to explain that with this calling comes responsibility. “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation” (vv. 11–12).
Firstfruits of God
God designated a special Holy Day each year to remind us of our calling. Today we call it Pentecost, but in the Old Testament it was called “the day of the firstfruits” and the “Feast of Weeks.” We read, “Also on the day of the firstfruits, when you bring a new grain offering to the Lord at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work” (Numbers 28:26). But while we are the firstfruits of God (James 1:18), it can be difficult for us to comprehend all that this means.
We understand that God’s Feasts revolve around the harvest seasons in the Promised Land. Christ was the first of the firstfruits of the barley harvest. We are the firstfruits of the wheat harvest—and the Feast of Pentecost has profound meaning for those who are called during this age, as well as for those called later.
Several layers of meaning come with each of God’s special days. Passover pictures not only the events that happened in Egypt, but also the role of Christ as our Passover Lamb. The Days of Unleavened Bread remind us of Israel’s journey out of Egyptian slavery, from which we learn that sin is not freedom; sin is bondage. For seven days we practice putting out the leaven of malice and wickedness, feeding instead on the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:7–8). When we respond to God’s calling, we enter into a lifelong journey out of spiritual Egypt, out of the bondage of sin. The Last Day of Unleavened Bread was when Israel was “baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Corinthians 10:1–2). Their crossing the Red Sea pictured our baptism, and baptism itself has many layers. It pictures a burial and coming up to a new way of life, just as Israel physically left Egypt behind and began a new life on the other side of the sea. But there is much more to baptism.
Baptism pictures what Christ literally did for us, so we are figuratively buried and resurrected with Him in a watery grave. When Saul—later called Paul—was struck down on his way to Damascus, a man named Ananias was told to “go, for he [Saul] is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:15–16).
Ananias laid hands on Saul, who regained his sight, then commanded Saul, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). Here we see, from Ananias’ instruction to Paul, that baptism pictures our sins being washed away. But our spiritual cleansing is not as simple as Naaman being healed of leprosy after dipping in the Jordan River seven times (2 Kings 5:10–14). Our cleansing involves being immersed in the word of God.
We often read Paul’s instructions regarding marriage without focusing on their larger meaning—marriage of the Church to the Lamb of God. To participate in that marriage, we must be cleaned up by God’s word. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” The full meaning is clear: “This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:25–27, 32). We must individually and collectively be made ready for that great day:
“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God” (Revelation 19:7–9).
Layer Upon Layer
We see that God’s Festivals and Holy Days contain many layers of meaning—and this is certainly true of Pentecost. That momentous day began at Sinai as a covenant between God and Israel. It was a marriage covenant, which is one reason why the Jews read the book of Ruth during this Festival. And there are, of course, other parallels—some understood by the Jews and some only understood by those of us in Christ. Ruth left her homeland behind for a new home in Israel. She came to Judah at the time of the barley harvest and continued gleaning until the end of the wheat harvest. Boaz redeemed her and married her. The parallels to our calling should be obvious.
It was on the first Pentecost that the Ten Commandments were given in codified form. Later, the day became also a celebration of the early harvest. Israel was God’s firstborn (Exodus 4:22), His firstfruits (Jeremiah 2:3). Yet the Sinai covenant was only a type of the new covenant that would come.
Israel had the same problem that we see in our world today. People want to be right with God, but they use human reason so as not to do right by God. After reminding Israel of the Ten Commandments, nearly 40 years after the covenant at Sinai, we read that God moaned over Israel’s hardened heart. “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments” (Deuteronomy 5:29). Many see God’s commands as burdensome—whether as a formal doctrine, or simply as an uncomfortable feeling inflamed by the prince of the power of the air, who directs the course of this world. Satan convinces mankind that God is making harsh, unrealistic demands of us and keeping us away from what is good.
Sadly, humanity fails to understand the purpose of the commandments: “that it might be well with them and with their children forever” (v. 29). But far from being a burden, John tells us emphatically that “His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3), and James tells us that the commandments are a “perfect law of liberty” (James 1:25). It is the violation of His law that places us in Egyptian bondage. We can see that people’s problems often involve clearly defined sins. Couples move in together prior to marriage and find themselves squabbling over who owns the television, who did not keep up his or her part of the rent, and who takes care of the dog. Recreational drugs create a whole host of problems. Adultery destroys marriages and leaves children in confusion.
Two Spirits
We know that there are two spirits in the world. One is broadcast by the prince of the power of the air, who promotes disobedience to God’s laws. This spirit seems right to men and women everywhere, but its way does not end well. The other is the Spirit of God that was poured out on the first Day of Pentecost following Christ’s resurrection. God gave it to Christ’s servants to remove their human hostility against God’s law. This was prophesied hundreds of years earlier by the prophet Ezekiel:
“Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God (Ezekiel 11:19–21; see also 36:26–27).
Hebrews 8:7–9 quotes a prophecy made long before, in Jeremiah 31:31–34, revealing that God is putting His laws in our minds and writing them on our hearts. Our old hostility, whether overt or passive, has been removed—though we must always be on guard against attitudes that can rear their ugly heads if we are not careful. After repentance, upon entering into our baptism with commitment and sincerity, and after receiving the laying on of hands by a true servant of God, we are given the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit. We become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). Do we understand the magnitude of what that means?
The Spirit of God unites with the spirit in man, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together” (Romans 8:16–17).
Yes, we are begotten by the very seed of God. “Whoever has been born [begotten or conceived] of God does not sin, for His [God’s] seed [Gk. sperma] remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born [begotten or conceived] of God” (1 John 3:9). But the context here is describing how we behave right now, so how do we reconcile it with what John tells us earlier in his epistle? “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:8–10)?
Yes, when we are finally born into the Family of God at the resurrection, we will never sin again. How wonderful that will be! But the context of this passage—as I remember Dr. Meredith pointing out at a Regional Ministerial Conference in Big Sandy, Texas, in the early 1970s—is not the time after we are resurrected, but rather the here and now. So, what is John telling us? He has already established that if we say we have no sin, we make God to be a liar, but he is saying here in 1 John 3 that if we have been conceived of God, it is totally incongruous for a begotten child of God to sin. The focus is on what we choose to practice today—whether or not we practice righteousness. This choice is what separates the children of God and the children of the devil.
Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born [begotten] of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother (1 John 3:7–10).
The context is how we are living now—which way of life we practice, which way is the norm for us.
Inherent in this is that we must love one another, but this is talking about godly love, a kind of love that is very different from what is seen in the world. “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). This is the kind of “love poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5).
Exercise the Holy Spirit
As we come closer to the end of this age, and as the accuser of the brethren is cast back down, knowing he has but a short time, we will need to exercise the love of God in us to resist all that Satan will throw at us, and to avoid hating and betraying one another—which is exactly what Jesus warned us will happen. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another” (Matthew 24:9–10). And who are some of those who will be offended and betray one another? “Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death” (Matthew 10:21). Yes, before it is over, even family members will turn against one another!
Those who get caught up in the course of this world—in its emotion-driven politics and ethnic, racial, cultural, and religious rivalries—will not by their own willpower be able to escape what Satan promotes. However, there is a way of escape from Satan’s devices. Godly love—the kind Christ demonstrated in sacrificing Himself on our behalf—is a result of God’s Spirit working in us. It is a fruit of the Spirit that was poured out on us at Pentecost and that is poured out on us upon our baptism—and it is accompanied by longsuffering, kindness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23).
Remember the words Jesus prayed on the night when He was betrayed.
I have given them [His servants] Your word,” He said, “and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world (John 17:14–16).
Let us stir up the Spirit of God within us to recognize and reject the course of this evil world through prayer, study, meditation, and fasting. We cannot do it on our own, but we can with Christ in us. Let us not fail!