In verse 5, the apostle says, Through Christ we have received grace and apostleship to
bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake, among
whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ.
And the name that I'm particularly interested in is that one in the last part of verse 6,
the called of Jesus Christ.
That of course aligns well with the study we've been having in Romans 8, 28 through
30, where one of the actions God has taken on our behalf to guarantee His purpose is
that He called us.
And here that noun is used that we are the called of Jesus Christ.
I'd like for us to probe that thought a little bit by looking in the New Testament at some
ways in which that thought is elaborated upon.
Modifying phrases can be important.
For example, if you were to say, fire, your attention would immediately be gotten.
But if I said, fire over there, that would mean something else than fire here.
I modified the phrase to give it some further meaning and direction.
Likewise, if I said, go, your question would be, go where?
We need to modify it to say, go here, or go back, go fast, go slow.
Likewise, this term, the called of Jesus Christ, is modified in the New Testament to give us
an understanding of what it means when it says that we are His called out ones.
I'd like for you to turn to the book of 1 Peter, first of all, to chapter 2 and verse
9.
Here we learn that we are called out, called out as the called ones of Jesus Christ.
Peter warns about rejecting Jesus Christ, who is called here a precious cornerstone.
He says that those who reject Him and who are disobedient to the Word stumble over Him,
so that this chosen stone actually then becomes a stumbling stone and a rock of offense.
But he says that is not our case.
In verse 9 he says, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you
out of darkness into His marvelous light.
And so we are called out from one place or one position to another, as he says it here,
out of darkness into His marvelous light.
There are two great realms or spiritual realities in existence.
They are described in the Bible in various terms, among them darkness and light.
Darkness does not refer to physical darkness, such as just came over you, but rather to
moral, spiritual, or ethical darkness.
It is evil, the realm of evil.
It is that kind of darkness which engulfs lost mankind.
John, in particular, in writing his gospel and his epistles, uses the phrase darkness
and often contrasts it with the light.
An example of that is found in the Gospel of John, chapter 1, as he describes what happens
when the Word, Jesus Christ, comes into the world.
In John 1, 3, he says, All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came
into being that has come into being.
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shines in darkness,
and the darkness did not comprehend it.
John speaks about Jesus Christ coming as the life, which was the light of men.
He says that light shines in the darkness of the world, and the darkness does not overcome
it, but in fact the darkness has been overcome by the light.
John again uses this metaphor in chapter 3, and in verse 19, he says, And this is the
judgment that light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the
light, for their deeds were evil.
And so this spiritual darkness, John describes, is that which has engulfed and dominates the
world.
And every person outside of Jesus Christ is a part of that system or that reality of darkness.
We further learn in the Word of God that this realm of darkness is ruled by the powers of
Satan.
In Ephesians chapter 6, the Apostle Paul tells us of the battle that we face as believers.
That battle is not with some impersonal force, but he tells us that the battle we have is
with a hierarchy of personal beings, described elsewhere as demons.
But here Paul puts it this way in verse 12, Our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness,
against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
The heavenly places refers to the spiritual realm, as much a reality actually as the physical
realm in which we live and to which we relate.
Being Christians, we also now relate to that heavenly or spiritual realm because we are
seated with Christ there.
And here he tells us likewise that our primary opposition, our enemy, comes from that realm
which he describes here as spiritual forces of wickedness or the world forces of this
darkness.
Evil is present in the world and that evil is a well-defined, well-organized system.
And as we see, it is called here darkness.
And Satan is the prince of that realm.
He is the prince of darkness.
In contrast to the darkness which engulfs all of lost men is the realm or the spiritual
reality of the light.
Again this refers not to physical light, but rather to moral and spiritual light.
That word light has with it the connotation of revelation, of understanding, of knowledge,
of awareness.
John calls Jesus Christ the light in verse 1.
He quotes the Lord Jesus as saying, I am the light of the world.
And as he pins that first epistle, he says in him is no darkness at all.
He says God is light.
That is an ethical way of saying that God is holy.
God is absolutely pure.
And the word of God makes it clear that through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, he overcame
the world darkness.
Actually the powers of darkness thought they had the victory when that stone was sealed
against the tomb.
They thought that they had finally conquered, that theirs was the victory in this great
battle against God.
And yet there is no way whatsoever that Jesus Christ could have been contained in that tomb.
And he came forth alive, light having conquered the darkness.
And that is significant.
Because if Jesus Christ had not gotten that victory, then it would be impossible for you
and for me to be delivered from the darkness into which we were born.
But because of his resurrection and his victory over darkness, you and I now can be called
out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Paul joins this theme in the book of Colossians chapter 1.
He gives thanks to the Father in verse 12 who has qualified us to share in the inheritance
of the saints in light.
Do you notice that?
The saints in light.
And then he says, for he delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us
into the kingdom of his beloved Son.
When you and I placed our faith in Jesus Christ and were saved, at that instant of time, among
many other things, this miracle occurred.
We were translated or transferred.
We were changed in our standing from one realm of reality to another.
In that instant of time, we were plucked out of the domain of darkness which engulfs the
world and over which Satan and the demons rule.
And we were delivered into, placed into, transferred into a new realm, a new kingdom, the kingdom
of God's own Son, the kingdom of light.
Back up a page or two into Ephesians chapter 5 and notice furthermore what the apostle
says.
Verse 8, for you, believers, were formerly darkness.
Interestingly here he puts it strongly.
He says not that we were just in darkness, but he says you were formerly darkness.
That was your identity.
You were united with that.
You were formerly darkness, but now you are light.
And here he doesn't say you are in light, but he says you are light.
Because now we have a new union, a new identity.
You are light in the Lord.
So that change was made.
Bless God that in his mercy and his grace, not because of something that he found worthy
in us, but according to his own eternal purposes, he called us out of darkness into his marvelous
light.
Thus we are the called of Jesus Christ.
And now he exhorts us, walk as children of light.
That is not easy to do in a world of darkness, but it is a privilege to live that way.
Have you ever been in a very dark place with even a small light?
I think some of those who went on the canoe trip had a lesson along that line I heard.
The most graphic illustration of it came to me in a cave in Missouri.
Down deep in the heart of that cave, they shut off all of the lights.
And some of you have been in caves like that.
And then the guide turned on a single flashlight.
It was absolutely amazing how much light was produced by that little flashlight.
The reason was because of the contrast.
My friend, as you go out and work in that office tomorrow, you are light as a Christian.
There is a contrast between you and the average person in that office who is lost.
Because they belong to one spiritual realm and you to another.
Therefore do not think as strange that you stand out and you are different from them
and that even occasionally they will note that difference.
Perhaps even by mocking or making other comments that let you know that they recognize the
difference.
These two realms of light and darkness have nothing to do with each other.
They are opposites and not only that, they are mutually exclusive.
Because by nature, where there is light, there cannot be true darkness.
Light exposes darkness for what it is, and that is really the context in Ephesians chapter
5.
We are called out of the one to be a part of the other.
We are called out.
Would you think with me, secondly, about this idea that we are called to as well as out.
We are called to some things.
We began in Romans chapter 1.
Turn back there with me and notice a thought that comes in the next verse.
In verse 7, Paul addresses this letter to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called
saints.
The word as is italicized, you may notice, which means that it is put there by the translators
to give a fluid progression of thought.
But really it is a blessed thing to see here.
He says that we are called saints.
Called saints.
Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 2.
To these believers, he says, to the church of God, which is at Corinth, to those who
have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling.
A person who is saved is a saint, period.
I am sure that most of you recognize that saints are not those who have been promoted
or declared to be saints by some religious hierarchy.
But in the New Testament sense, every believer is a saint.
And one who is a saint is one who is set apart.
That's the meaning of the term.
One who is set apart to a special purpose.
The meaning here is that we are called to holiness.
For the word holy or holiness is related to the word saint in the original language.
And that's the meaning.
We are not only called out, but we are called to, and we are called to holiness.
What is holiness?
Is that a life of perfection?
In the ultimate sense, yes.
It is a life that is sinless.
And that is our destiny.
But that's not our experience right now, is it?
So that is our desire, I believe, as children of God, that we might live holy lives because
that's our calling.
We are called to holiness.
How then is it possible for us to be holy, to be set apart, to be saints?
Turn back to 1 Peter chapter 1.
We'll get an idea here.
1 Peter 1, we must start with verse 13 where he says,
Therefore gird your minds for action.
I think the King James says, gird up the loins of your mind, which is a great oriental expression,
but kind of tough for us to understand.
The idea is to get your robes tucked up into your belt.
When an oriental person in that day wanted to move quickly or to be ready to move in
a hurry, he would take the tunic that he wore and the skirts would be tucked into the belt
around his waist.
Thus his legs were free for action.
And that is Peter's thought.
He's saying here, get ready for action.
Gird yourself for action in your mind.
Keep sober in spirit.
Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus
Christ.
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your
ignorance.
But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.
Because it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy.
Peter gives us the idea here that holiness on the one hand means that we do not allow
ourselves to be conformed to our behavior when we were ignorant.
That is the kinds of desires and cravings and motivations that we had when we were unsaved.
This word conformed is used here.
It's used in Romans 12, verses 1 and 2.
It has the idea of pressure from the outside conforming you to something.
I think the Phillips translation puts the Romans text this way.
Don't allow the world to squeeze you into its mold.
And Peter is saying here, don't allow yourself to be molded and pressured into a lifestyle
like that you had before you were saved.
Is there pressure like that in our world today?
Does the darkness out there attempt to get you to change your ideas, to compromise your
standards, to accept a lot of gray area where God says things are right and wrong?
Of course it does.
And Peter tells us that part of being holy is not allowing that to happen, not allowing
ourselves to be molded to the pattern set by the world system, by the dark reality out
there.
But he says, be obedient children and imitate the Holy One who has called you.
Paul puts it this way in Romans, be transformed.
And that word is the opposite of being conformed.
It has to do with inward pressure, not outward pressure coming in at you, but inward change.
That's what it means to be holy, allowing God to do that inner work in us.
We are the called of Jesus Christ, dear people.
We are called to holiness, that He might effect within us dynamic change, moral light, so
that as we walk in the world we will make a difference by exposing and rebuking the
darkness around us.
This ties together with the thought of separation.
When God said, let there be light, separation came into existence.
Light and darkness were differentiated.
Some people don't like the idea of separation.
There are some Christians who seem to have the idea that we, in our liberty in Jesus
Christ, may live as much like the world as is possible.
My friend, that is not God's plan for us.
We have been called out of that darkness that we might manifest the excellencies of Jesus
Christ to the darkness.
Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14.
And with this passage we will close.
He says, do not be bound together with unbelievers.
That's strong language.
It does not mean we cannot have unsaved friends and relations because of course we do.
How can we build bridges into the lives of people unless we establish friendship and
trust and communication with unbelievers?
But the point is that we are not to be brought into bonds with unbelievers.
Like one ox is brought into the yoke with another ox.
It has the idea here of a business partnership where there is equality or a marriage relationship.
He says do not be bound together that way with unbelievers.
Why?
Well, he says what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness?
Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
Skip on down to chapter 7 verse 1.
Therefore having these promises, those just given that we had to skip, beloved let us
cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the
fear of God.
We are called to holiness.
And we are expected by God to work out that holiness, to bring it to maturity so that
it ripens in our lives and it affects the way that we live.
It means that there are some places that we cannot go where we maybe used to go in the
times of our ignorance.
It means that there are some activities that we cannot now be involved in, do not want
to be involved in because God has called us out of that to holiness, a separated lifestyle.
Now it would be easy for me to stand up here and give a list of things that Christians
ought to do and ought not to do.
And of course there are some things clearly delineated in the Word of God that Christians
ought to have nothing to do with, nothing whatsoever.
And yet we recognize that there are some areas where the Bible does not speak specifically.
And we have to allow others to have different convictions as the Spirit of God may lead
them in those areas.
But however God may lead you in making your decision in those areas, for the Word of God
is not specific but gives principles that are to be applied.
Remember this underlying principle that God has called you to be different.
God has called you to be holy.
God has called you out of your ignorance and out of your lusts so that now you might be
His obedient children, children of light.
Now that we have followed the Lord Jesus Christ by trusting Him, may we keep this principle,
this truth in mind.
And this week let us ask God what it is that may be in our lives from which we need to
cleanse ourselves.
He talks about defilement of flesh and of spirit.
There are some things that defile the flesh and there are other things more subtle but
equally dangerous to our spiritual walk which defile the spirit, the inner man, which is
invisible.
We are to cleanse ourselves in both areas from all defilement and perfect holiness in
the fear of God.
As He who has called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of life.
Let's bow together in prayer.
Would you sing with me?
I have decided to follow Jesus.