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The Bible says, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor. 6: 17, 18).We are identified racially by our skin color. We are identified culturally and ethnically by our customs and traditions. We are identified religiously by the religion we follow and practice. We are identified more specifically by the denomination of the church we’re members of.
We are known physically by facial identification, fingerprints, and DNA. Our relatives and friends identify us best by what we will and won’t do. They know us by what we stand for and what we oppose, whether we stand for good or bad. They identify us as a person by our moral sense of right and wrong that is revealed through our choices and behavior. They identify us as being either good or bad. Who we are is not as important as what we are. Because what we are is the direct consequence of what personal choices we’ve made. “Whosoever” can be what? A Christian.
When a person gets saved, they get a whole new identity through Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5: 17, 18). All of their past and the evil they did that identified them as wicked, vile, lawless, reprobate, abominable, and blasphemers of God are forgiven and forgotten. They are given a new identity and a new beginning.
As they got their old identity by following sin and living in wickedness, they get their new identity by following after righteousness and living in holiness. The Christian has a separate identity while being a part of society in general. They are in this world but not to be of this world (Jn. 15: 19; 17: 14, 16). Being holy means being a visible symbol of an invisible God. It is showing to all men that there is access to a higher reality and that Reality is God. The Christian’s role is to be a witness for a transcendent yet immanent Creator, Who was active at the creation of the universe and is active throughout time.
At the time of salvation we are sanctified, purified, and justified, set apart unto God. Getting saved is an act of faith and dedication and consecration to God. After we get saved, we separate ourselves from all that opposes our consecration to God. As our consecration to God deepens the more complete, our separation will be. This is progressive sanctification. Sanctification is progressively and more clearly identifying ourselves with God by separating ourselves from all that’s evil unto all that’s holy.
This cannot help but be noticed by the world and used by them to identify the Christian. It took about ten years after Christ’ death, burial, and resurrection, for the disciples of Christ to be identified by the lost world as peculiar, and recognized as a separate group, and called Christians, or followers of Christ.
They were identified as Christian’s because they were peculiar and different from everyone else. We are identified and defined through the choices we make and the habits we form and the life we live as a consequence. When we choose to obey God’s Word and order our life according to it we will become holy as our heavenly Father is holy (Lev. 11: 44; 1 Pet. 1: 14-16), and the world will identify us with Him.
When the Christian obeys God’s Word they will be different from the world in the way they dress (1 Tim. 2:9), in the way they speak (Ps. 35: 28; Col. 4: 6; Jms. 3), in their work ethics (Ecc. 9: 10; Eph. 4: 28; Col. 3: 23), in their home life (Col. 3: 18-21), their honest dealings (2 Cor. 13: 7; 1 Pet. 2: 12), and their love for each other (Mat. 22: 37-39; Jn. 13: 34; 1 Cor. 13:1-13; 1 Jn. 4: 7-12). It is by faith in Christ that we are justified and identified with Christ before God, but it is through our works that we are justified and identified with Christ before the world.
Faithful Unto Death
Our Savior has called me to be;
Loyal to my Sovereign Lord
As long as there is life in me.
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Martyrs who confessed our faith
Gave their life for what they believed,
But they were martyrs first in their soul,
Dying to self, for what they believed.
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Faithful unto death,
Even under the threat of fire;
Steadfast we are called to be,
While tongues of flame take our souls higher.
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Faithful may each one of us be
Though we should lose our earthly home,
Or by some trial, our life be taken,
And delivered to our eternal home.
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Faithful let us be to the end,
For nothing can separate us
From the love of God in Christ our Lord,
Whose love, power, and grace we trust.
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Faithful unto death
To our Savior who died on the cross.
May the love wherewith He loved us that day
Have us count all things for Him but loss.
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Faithful unto death, Christ said:
Am I now ready to die?
A martyr for what I say I believe,
If the world, in hatred, my love for Christ tries?
