SET APART FOR GOD

As you may remember from 1 Corinthians chapter 6, Paul gives the illustration of our bodies being the "temple of God." It's especially significant when you realize what a "temple" would mean to the people in Corinth -- a place of worship to a false god that included sexual perversion.

Paul communicates that our bodies are actually God's temple, holy and dedicated to God. He calls us to be set apart to Him, distinct from the world around us. Paul continues this analogy in his second letter to the Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 6:14-16 (NLT)
14 Don’t team up [be unequally yoked] with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? 15 What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? 16 And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Even in our relationships with others -- who we date, who we marry -- God's standard is for us to be with someone who is also a believer in God and a follower of Jesus. Why? "For we are the temple of the living God." God is worthy of us committing our lives, including all parts of our sexuality, to Him and His way.

2 Corinthians 6:17-18 (NLT) 17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. 18 And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

“Come out from them,” & “separate yourselves,” & “don’t touch their filthy things” -- all of these speak to the concept of being SET APART. God is holy and set apart, and as "we are the temple of the living God," He has called us to be set apart to Him as well!