Set Apart

It’s considered a mark of recognition for over 800 individuals and companies. British Royal Warrants of Appointment are given to tradesmen who supply goods or services to households of Her Majesty The Queen, His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, or His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. These coveted warrants enable suppliers to advertise the fact that they supply the royal family with their goods and services.

God has called His people to be saints, which literally means “holy ones.” It’s a mark of recognition found throughout the New Testament, but not in a way the world honors individuals. The word “saint” comes from the Greek word hagios and means “separated from a common to a sacred use.” Saints are set apart by God for a holy purpose. “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

From the same root word for saints comes the word sanctification (hagiasmos), which means “to make holy.” Paul explains that true repentance and justification leads to sanctification, “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). Justification and sanctification are two phases in salvation. Justification is what God does for us, while sanctification is what God does in us.

One Christian writer summarized sanctification like this: “The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed; the righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven” (Messages to Young People, p. 35). Both come by faith in what God does, never from our own works.

Apply It:

Do you have any special items (like dishes) that are set apart in your home only for special occasions?

Dig Deeper:

John 17:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Timothy 2:21

Key Bible Texts

To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:7 KJV)