The People of God

(2 Timothy 2:19 – The People of God)

Who are the people of God? Just about every person in every religion believes that they are the people of God.

Only one race of people were ever called, “God’s chosen people.” They were the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who became the nation of Israel.

But even they did not always please God. There were many instances where they displeased God greatly. As they left Egypt and wandered through the wilderness for forty years, most of them died because they displeased God and they were not permitted to enter the Promised Land with Joshua. So, it remains to be understood, who are the people of God? We will consider this question today.

God chooses and knows His own people

The first thing we must understand is that by the power of God’s grace, the people of God are known to Him. Grace is the first part of the key to being part of the people of God because if it were not for grace there would be no opportunity to come to Him. We see this expressed in the verse under review today.

19 But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” (2 Timothy 2:19)

We see in the first half of this verse that God has established a firm foundation that He alone has sealed and that God knows those who are His. Such a situation and a foundation can exist only through the power of God’s grace, because it is only by grace that we can be set free from sin.

Since it stands in scripture that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), then no person could be part of the people of God unless God showed mercy through His grace to forgive, remove, and overlook their sins.

The people of God then must be freed from sin, and God achieved that status through Jesus Christ.

The people of God depart from sin

Furthermore we see in the second half of this scripture today that the people of God must depart from all forms of sin as well as those actions that lead to sin. It says, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

What does it mean though to, “Name the name of the Lord.” Simply put it means that if you call yourself a follower of God or a Christian, then you are naming yourself by the name of the Lord. When you call yourself a Christian you are saying that you belong to Christ.

Now, if you belong to Christ and call yourself by the name of the Lord, you must also complete the process described here, which is to depart from iniquity. You must put away from you all forms of sin and those things that lead to sin.

In Jesus Christ you have been set free from your past sins and been completely forgiven. Now you must learn to walk the sin free and sinless life of Christ, just as He did when He walked this earth.

How do the people of God walk sin-free?

Jesus set us free from sin when He died for our sins. He gave His life that we might be freed from sin.

But it doesn’t just happen automatically. There is a method to follow by which we receive this freedom from sin and the right to be called the people of God.

In a nutshell, it works like this.

Jesus died to establish the New Covenant by which we can be set free from sin and the law. He gave us His death in place of our own, so that we could enter His death. We enter and take on His death through the act of full immersion baptism where we symbolically go down into the grave with Christ as we go down into the water. We also enter His resurrection symbolically as we are lifted up out of the waters of baptism. And we accept that we have died and been raised with Christ through baptism by faith.

Why is this baptism so important? Because death is the penalty and payment for sin. It is at death that our sins are paid for and the sin of debt is wiped out. We also are released from the law so that we cannot break it ever again, and thereby we can no longer sin against the law. In baptism we are removed from the law and you cannot break a law that you are no longer under. We see also that, “…the law is binding on a person only during his life…” (Romans 7:1b) So, when we believe we have died with Christ, the law lies dead also, as well as the removal of sin.

Why must the people of God be sin free?

God gave up on man because he sinned. When you read Romans chapter 1, you see it written three times that God gave up on man. And He gave up on man because man continued to sin.

It is sin that separates man from God, and as John the Apostle wrote:

4 Every one who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who does right is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 He who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God commits sin; for God’s nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. (1 John 3:4-9)

We see here that a person cannot know God or be known by Him while that person is a sinner.

But when we accept the new birth God offers through faith in Jesus Christ, which we receive by becoming new creations in baptism, we throw off the shackles of sin and the law that convicts us of sin to be truly born again as the people of God.

But what about our evil passions?

As I have shown. It is sin that separates us from God. But sin does not just happen. There are root causes that push us towards sin. We see that explained in this verse.

14 but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death. (James 1:14-15)

So it is human desire and passion that entices people and leads them to sin. If we are to be completely freed from sin we must learn to master our own passions and desires so that we are in control and not led by evil desire.

Who is able to do such a thing?

Not man. All men are born under the power of sin and the passions, lusts, and desires of humanity and they cannot totally control those desires. It is possible that we may control some desires, but too often it is only temporary. Consider those who suffer the physical addictions of nicotine or alcohol or other substances of abuse. Consider those who suffer eating disorders and want to lose weight. How often do they fail before they succeed in kicking their own habits, if they ever do? And even when they do, it is only by constant pressure and strength of will that they keep their desires contained.

But this is not what God offers. He offers total freedom from these desires. God offers us not just the removal of sin, but the victory over the desires of the flesh so that they no longer rule over our bodies. He gives us the means to take away the power of the flesh so that we can walk in peace in our bodies and not be subject to the constant temptations of the flesh.

The power of the Holy Spirit

It is the work of the Holy Spirit that enables us to finally gain control over the passions of the flesh.

The work of the Holy Spirit is a work of transformation. His job is to transform us from the image of Adam, full of passions and desires that lead to sin, and into the image of Christ who had no sin.

If we are to overcome and gain this victory, then we must receive the Holy Spirit with the gifts attending. The gifts of the Spirit, especially the gift of tongues, were given so that we could achieve this freedom from the desires of the flesh.

The gift of tongues in particular is a powerful weapon in the spiritual war against our fleshly passions, as well as against the works of the devil. Whenever we feel the passions of the flesh rising up in us to try and lead us to sin, we can pray to God in tongues and the Spirit will take away the desire. We should also pray in our own language as well, but not neglect the prayer of the Spirit, which is given to help us in difficult situations.

These are all things that we need to learn, receive, accept, believe, and do to become the people of God. And all of this is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ and by the grace of God.

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