Not of the World is the word Jesus spoke over His own in the upper room.
They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
He did not ask the Father to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.
As He was sent into the world, so He sent them. Belonging is different from location.
John’s Gospel draws a hard line between the world that God loved and the world that hates the Light.
- God so loved the world that He gave His Son.
- The world also lies in the evil one, loves darkness, and has a ruler who is judged.
- Into that field Jesus came.
- He told the disciples they would have tribulation in the world, and to take heart: He had overcome it.
- In the prayer of John 17 He names their place twice.
- They are in the world.
- They are not of the world.
- The Father gave them to the Son out of the world. The world has hated them because they are not of it. Sanctify them in the truth.
- The same pattern holds in the letters. Do not love the world or the things in the world.
Friendship with the world is enmity with God. The world is passing away.
Yet the church is not called to a hole in the ground.
- Salt that stays in the sack is useless.
- A city on a hill cannot hide.
Not of the world means
a different birth,
a different king, and
a different love
—
not a refusal to live among neighbors who still need the gospel.
- In the world and not of the world stand together in one prayer.
- Jesus is the measure: they are not of the world just as He is not.
- Removal is not the request. Keeping from the evil one is.
- Hate from the world is not a surprise. It is a sign of the line He drew.
- Love for the world as system is forbidden. Love for the world’s people is commanded.
- Sanctification in the truth is how a people stay unconformed while they stay sent.
- The world is passing. The Word is not.
- Given Out of the World – The Father’s choice before the church’s effort.
- Still In It – Location unchanged; citizenship changed.
- Kept from the Evil One – The danger is the ruler, not the soil.
- Hated – Because they are not of it, as He is not.
- Sent – As the Father sent the Son into the world.
- Sanctified – In the truth; His word is truth.
- Unconformed – Not pressed into this age; transformed by a renewed mind.
- John 17:14-18 – “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”
- John 15:18-19 – “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
- John 16:33 – “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
- John 18:36 – “Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting…’”
- 1 John 2:15-17 – “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
- James 4:4 – “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
- Romans 12:2 – “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…”
- John 3:16-17 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son… For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
- John 8:23 – “He said to them, ‘You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.’”
- 1 John 4:4-5 – “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.”
- 1 John 5:4-5, 19 – “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith… We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”
- Philippians 3:20 – “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
- 2 Corinthians 6:17 – “Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you.”
- Matthew 5:13-14 – “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.”
- 1 Peter 2:11 – “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”
- Colossians 3:1-3 – “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above… For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
- Galatians 6:14 – “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
- John 17:6 – “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.”
They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one.
As You sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. The world is passing away.
In the world you will have tribulation. Take heart; I have overcome the world.
Salt belongs on the meat. Light belongs on the hill.
Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. Stay sent. Stay clean. Stay His.
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