In the Scriptural evidence of not being of this world, you’ll find many scriptures that discuss the topic of “not being of this world”. A lot of the scriptures came from Jesus directly, also the Apostle Paul & John spoke about it often as well. It’s quite clear that Christians, the church, the body of Christ, should not be of this world. But while this concept is easy & plain to see, it has been ignored by many believers. The lack of education and knowledge surrounding this concept has caused a lot of destruction for the body of Christ.
So what does “Not being of this world” actually mean? The first main point is understanding that true believers in Christ will be hated by the world the same way as the world hates Christ. This world is run by Satan, the god of this world, who of course hates Jesus. He tried to have him killed before He was born. He worked in Judas to betray Him. He worked in the Pharisees to have Him crucified. All of this because Jesus was perfect and was the solution to defeating him. Satan is the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). So when we are living according to the principles of this world, we are living under the principles of Satan, and not of God, the Father.
Being of this world is when we follow the ways of the world, the traditions of the world, and/or the principles & ideology of the world. When we replace the doctrine that the Word of God teaches us with the doctrine of the world, we are becoming of this world. This can often times be very obvious, but many times it is very subtle. The devil does not just say “hey you’re switching over to my views of the world”. No, he slowly takes control of our minds and creates mindsets, habits, and traditions that provide the transition away from Christian principles.
These mindsets, habits, and traditions often go unchecked in new believers because they have not taken the step of renewing their mind in the Word of God. When we become believers, we must renew our minds in what God tells us and examine it in the way we live currently. If we have never done that, there will be bondage that will always linger and keep us conformed to the world.
When this bondage has been left unchecked, we never break loose of our spiritually unhealthy love for this world. This often leads to us blindly accepting things that men & women of Christ should not accept. It has us believe in leaders that’s purpose is to drive us astray. It has us ignore the direction this world is heading and what is exactly occurring around us. In the end, it leaves us with a mindset of acceptance of false doctrine & principles that will keep us trapped in bondage. This bondage often being so strong that it “takes our crown” (Rev. 3:10).
This is the epidemic for the body of Christ today. The power of the Holy Spirit cannot work when we are tied to traditions and worldliness. When we continue to believe in things of this world, we quench the Holy Spirit. When we decide to worship Jesus the way the world has decided to, we are quenching the Holy Spirit. When we vote and praise leaders that show a form of godliness, but contradict and go against scripture, we are quenching the Holy Spirit. When we try to tie our view of the world with the gospel, we are quenching the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is quenched in many Christians, which is allowing the world to overtake them. This is why you will see hypocrites in the pew next to you in church, even from your pastor and church leaders. It’s why you see so many Christians leaving the faith or having such a lack of faith their belief is unidentifiable. It’s why evil has been able to prevail so strongly in this day and age. Christians are being of this world.
We must renew our minds in Christ. We must read the bible continuously and live our life through what it says. We must stop bringing God into our lives and bring our lives to God. We must stop holding on to all principles that we have been born into believing and renew our mind into what God says about ALL things and apply it. If He tells us not to worship as the Pagans do, then we should not worship as the Pagans do. If He tells us not have carved images in our home and worship idols, we should not have carved images in our home and worship idols. We cannot decide what we will listen to or not listen to. Why?
Because we are not of this world and we are not conformed to the doctrine that comes with it. If you find that you lack faith, knowledge, and/or discernment, it’s probably due to conformity of this world. This is one definition of bondage and it must be broken. Renew your mind in God’s Word and let the Holy Spirit take lead in your life. God Bless!
