From beginning to end, Scripture describes God's people—because they are God's people—as "set apart." Like much of Hebrew thought, this term encapsulates a much fuller, concrete illustration of God's perspective of those He chooses to call to His service. To understand, the reader must picture an individual considering a massive pile of things—they could be anything: rocks, eggs, cups, giraffes, or people—and picking out certain ones at his discretion, placing them in a separate, much smaller pile to one side. These chosen objects have been "set apart."

The objects themselves, even if they are people, possess little intrinsic value in themselves, especially in comparison to God. In most ways, they are still very much like those of their kind left in the massive pile. However, once God selects them, their value soars because they are now associated with Him; they are uniquely His possessions. Thus, they are not just placed to one side but are holy because God separated or cut them out from the others of their kind for His use. Because of their divine association, one could say they are now "a cut above," God having chosen them for a higher purpose.

Yet, as humans, those whom God chooses have little to brag about. As the apostle Paul so memorably writes in I Corinthians 1:26, "[N]ot many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called." The only thing they can boast about is that they are "in the Lord." Their connection with God and Christ is their chief distinction and the most glorious among their few, if any, merits. After noting the elects' humble beginnings, the apostle advises them, "[A]s it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the LORD'" (I Corinthians 1:31).

Even so, a great deal changes in the lives of those whom God calls and chooses. Jesus explains in John 6:44-45 that such people are not just pulled aside and left with nothing to do. On the contrary, the Father works to draw them to Christ for His use, a massive part of which is to instruct them in godliness. In verse 45, our Savior puts a New Covenant twist on Isaiah 54:13, which reads, "All your children shall be taught by the LORD." Thus, God's election of these few also entails a distinctive course of education that further separates them from the uncalled, a process called "sanctification." Further, He gives them His Holy Spirit so they can understand "the deep things of God" and "have the mind of Christ" (I Corinthians 2:6-16).

In His final Passover message, Jesus reminds His disciples, "I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain [become permanent]" (John 15:16). The sense of His words is that He chooses His disciples to produce spiritual and thus eternal fruit, an allusion to righteous character like the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). These are godly qualities of attitude, thought, word, and deed that can last forever through the resurrection from the dead into glorious spirit life at His return, when the elect will become like Him (see I John 3:1-2). For this reason, God's true people, His children, seek to purify themselves "just as He is pure" (verse 3).

However, this work of pursuing holiness (Hebrews 12:14) cannot be done while they are part of the world, that is, while neck-deep in the attitudes and activities of a world cut off from God. So, Jesus continues in John 15:19, "[Y]ou are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world . . .." He continues this line of thought in John 17:16-17, speaking to His Father about His disciples: "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth." Sanctify means "to set apart." Even after God's calling, Christ's disciples are further detached from this world by their acceptance and practice of God's truth, His Word, making them considerably different, separate from this world, though they must live in it.

So, the apostle John warns God's elect, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. . . . And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever" (I John 2:15, 17). God calls His people to a distinctly different course of life aimed at eternity, while the people of this world pursue short-term, carnal desires that end in death. Pairing these disparate ways of life sets up inevitable conflict for the elect, which prompts John's loving warning.

Paul phrases the Christian's separateness another way in Philippians 3:17-21:

Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

Here, Paul describes the disparity as a matter of citizenship: Christians and the worldly are from two very different countries. In fact, these nations have almost nothing in common; they are opposites, enemies, and irreconcilable. One is heavenly, while the other is earthly. One pursues holiness, while the other pursues carnality. One reaches for eternal glory, while the other descends into shameful destruction. They could not be more antithetical.

But this enormous contrast is hard to see in the trenches of daily life. Living side by side with the uncalled, with whom they share humanity, can blind Christians to the stark spiritual disparities between them and their neighbors. Thus, God must occasionally remind His people, "Come out of her [Babylon the Great, a symbol of a world wholly opposed to God], my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues" (Revelation 18:4).

Coming out of this world is spiritual in nature because there is no leaving it otherwise except through death. Thus, as others have said, we must dare to be different. We must courageously stand our ground on the foundation of truth God has revealed, reject Babylon's siren calls to join her in her sinful activities, and, despite the chaos swirling around us, cultivate and produce the spiritual fruit God wishes to see in us.

We cannot allow the world's multitudinous distractions to turn us aside. We cannot permit envy of sinners' seeming prosperity to return us to seeking perishable treasures on earth. We cannot let the world's daily news sabotage our faith in the sovereign God and His plan of salvation. Instead, we must constantly maintain our citizenship "in the heavenly places" (see Ephesians 1:3; 2:6; Colossians 1:13) by overcoming such temptations and continuing to bear witness to God's way of life in our own.

It is always a good time to evaluate our connectedness to this present, evil world and how much time and effort we expend on it. While we must live in it, we must not be of it. How are we doing?