Set Apart for God’s Purposes

[Mel Lawrenz is Teaching Pastor at Elmbrook Church and the author of 19 books, including, Spiritual Leadership Today (Zondervan).]

______________

Years ago I remember when we got a new car and my wife and I agreed would be “set apart” for my travels and my work. Our kids were teenagers at the time, and both were new drivers, so our vehicles were very heavily used, with plenty of dents and dings that mysteriously appeared, and lots of fast food wrappers that also mysteriously appeared. So the plan was that Dad’s car would be “set apart” for a different use than hauling bags of manure from the garden store. The “set-apartness” was simply a declaration (and, to help the cause, not giving anybody else a key to the car).

That’s the picture we get in the Bible of special priestly garments and temple furniture that were “set apart,” as were prophets, priests, and kings. All it takes is a declaration from God. He says, that table will be my altar, that man will be my prophet, that land will be a place of promise, that Abram will become Abraham. How did Abraham qualify to be the father of a nation, and the picture of faith to the whole world? God chose, Abram believed, and so he was set apart.

Any who believe in Jesus Christ have been declared by God—holy!

The purification process begins, and it never ends as long as we live on earth. Nobody will ever rightly hold their “holiness” over you, because all of us are enrolled in the same program. In fact, it is when people start to flaunt their personal holiness that you start to worry about them getting putrefied rather than purified. Even the great apostle Paul, summarizing his life, said, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Philippians 3:12).

Holiness is a past, present, and future reality. “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).

What better hope can we have than this? “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

PRAY THIS

Dear God, purify me inside and out. Cleanse me and I will be clean. Cleanse my mind. Purify my heart. Suppress my motives that are self-centered and small. Help me believe what you mean when you call us saints.