1. “Who gave Himself for our sins that He might rescue us out of the present evil age” (Gal. 1:4).
The Lord gave Himself for our sins not merely to save us from our sins but also to rescue us out of the present evil age (aion), which is the world that appears before our eyes. In the Lord’s salvation we were rescued from the evil age that is in opposition to God. We were rescued from the present condition of Satan’s worldly organization.
2. “Be saved from this crooked generation” (Acts 2:40).
We should allow the Lord to save us from this crooked generation in our daily living because we were rescued out of this present evil age by the Lord’s salvation. Since we have received the Lord’s salvation, we should live a life according to His salvation. The Lord’s salvation rescued us out of the present evil age; therefore, we should not walk like those in this crooked generation. We should be different from them and separated from them. This is not something that we can do in ourselves. Only the Lord can do this, and He accomplished this on the cross. Through the Holy Spirit He wants to apply what He accomplished on the cross so that we can receive His practical salvation. But we must let Him do this. We must let Him save us. Although we cannot save ourselves, we can let the Lord save us. Although we do not bear responsibility for our salvation, we must bear responsibility to let Him save us in a daily way. The Lord can save us, and He wants to apply His salvation to us, but if we do not let Him, He has no way to do anything. Thus, the question for us is whether or not we will let the Lord save us. If we let the Lord save us, He will save us from this crooked generation. Since we have received the Lord’s salvation, we should let the Lord save us. This is the responsibility we should bear.
3. “Having escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust” (2 Pet. 1:4).
The world corrupts people by lust. By our own strength we cannot escape the corruption that is in the world by lust. Only God’s life in us can save us from the corruption that is in the world by lust. Being saved from the corruption in the world is a promise of God. Therefore, we should let God save us, and we should believe that God will save us from the corruption in the world by lust.
4. “Training us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts” (Titus 2:12).
Since God promised to save us from worldly lusts, He trains us to deny these lusts. If we want to practically enjoy God’s salvation so that God can fulfill His promises and save us from the world, we should cooperate with God to receive His training and learn to deny worldly lusts. In order to live a life that is practically apart from the world, we must allow God to save us, believe His promises, and receive His training. We cannot be short in any of these matters.
5. “Everything that has been begotten of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory which has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4).
We received God’s salvation, and we can cooperate with God, letting Him save us from the world, because we have been begotten of God. His life enables us to overcome the world. The life of God within us not only requires us to leave the world but also enables us to overcome the world. As long as we fulfill the requirements of this life to live and act according to the feeling of this life, we will spontaneously be led out of the world and will overcome the world. God and His life are within us, and God is greater than he who is in the world (4:4). When we receive this by faith, we overcome the world. If we live by the life of God and believe that this life can save us from the world, we will overcome the world.
6. “The world has been crucified to me and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14).
In order to be practically separated from the world, we must also see how the cross dealt with the world and with us who live in the world. The Lord’s cross dealt both with the world and with us who live in the world. With respect to ourselves, the world was crucified to us. With respect to the world, we were crucified to the world. Thus, the cross separated us from the world, just as the Red Sea separated the Israelites from Egypt. The world is dead to us, and we are dead to the world because of the cross. The death of Christ on the cross dealt with both us and the world. The Lord has already accomplished this fact for us. We should know and receive this fact in faith so that we can live a life that is separated from the world and that overcomes the world.
7. “If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as living in the world, do you subject yourselves” (Col. 2:20).
Death causes people to depart from the world. We have left the world and no longer live in the world because we were crucified with the Lord. Everyone who has received the Lord’s salvation, dying together with Him, should be one who has left the world and no longer lives in it.
Buddhist monks attempt to leave the world by rejecting marriage, children, families, and all matters related to human propagation. They do not live a normal human life. In contrast, we leave the world by leaving the control and usurpation of these things. We leave the world, but we still marry, have children, families, and all the matters related to the continuation of humanity. We live a normal human life, but we are not controlled and usurped by these things. We leave the usurping element of these human matters while restoring these things to their proper place in God’s plan for human existence. On the one hand, we have died with the Lord and escaped Satan’s usurping world; on the other hand, we are living a normal human life with the Lord on the earth according to God’s ordination. We live for God, testifying of the Lord and preaching the Lord’s gospel. Although we live among human beings, eating and wearing clothing like ordinary people, we are not controlled and usurped by these things. Instead, we live for God. This is what it means to live in the world according to the Lord’s salvation.
8. “Keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).
Before God the world is filthy; it is even filthier than sin. Therefore, we who are saved by the Lord from the world should keep ourselves unspotted from its filth. We cannot do this in ourselves; we must do it in the Lord by relying on His life.
9. “Do not be fashioned according to this age” (Rom. 12:2).
Every fallen descendant of Adam has the tendency to turn to the world, to love fashions, and to gladly follow worldly customs. But if we would keep ourselves unspotted from the world, we cannot be fashioned according to this age (aion). If we are fashioned according to this age, we will be conformed to the likeness of the world and be permeated and spotted by the world. As those who have presented ourselves as a living sacrifice to God, we should not be fashioned according to this age. This is the Lord’s command in Romans 12:2.
10. “Having loved the present age” (2 Tim. 4:10).
Although the world is very lovely and draws people to love it, we must keep ourselves unspotted from it by not loving the present age. The present age is the world before our eyes that draws our heart to love the things in the world. If we love the present age, like Demas in this verse, we will be full of worldly spots.
11. “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).
Since the world is God’s enemy, we should have no love for it. Once we love the world, love for the Father is no longer in us. We must live a life that is separated from the world. We must keep ourselves unspotted from the world. Loving God is the best way to be separated from and unspotted by the world. By loving God, we can keep ourselves from loving the world and keep the world from usurping and defiling us.