Set Apart

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

SET APART

Gal 1:13-17

13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.

NIV

Paul gives the testimony of his conversion from his pre-Jesus life to that which he now lives as a believer in Jesus. He does not give many details but enough to let them know he was a good Jew, one that hated Jesus and the people who believed in him. Paul says that God had set him apart from birth and called him by his grace and was pleased to reveal Jesus to him. This makes us wonder if God set us apart from birth. We too, at least me, held a certain contempt toward the people of faith, or at least toward what I called "organized religion". My mantra was, “all they want is my money, why should I have to pay to pray?” We can relate to Paul in his previous life as far as Christians are concerned. But did God set us apart from birth? We know he placed a call upon us. Because God is omniscient he knew we would accept Jesus, and exactly when that would happen. So then we could say he set us apart from birth. But that also might sound like he predestined us to be saved at a specific time in our lives. If that were the case, why then did God wait so long for Paul to be saved? Why would he not want Paul to be saved while Jesus was alive? How old would Paul have been? But the fact is God set him apart, which does mean God predetermined Paul would be the one to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. So then why would we not think God has predetermined us to be used in some way for his kingdom? Yet, at the same time, God has given every man the freedom to choose his own destiny. He calls, but we do not have to answer his call. He may have predetermined us to be saved, but that does not mean he made us accept Jesus, that he forced Jesus upon us, without our consent. There is a great difference between predestination and the foreknowledge of God. In his foreknowledge, he set us apart for his purpose, his plan, that we might have an effect in this world for his kingdom. Man has not called us into the service of the Lord. We have not consulted any man for their approval of our calling. We were called by God to serve in the exact way we are serving, spreading his message with our words and maybe with our deeds. God knew us before we were born, and he has always known what his plans were for our lives. He also knows the plans he has for those who refuse to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. He has plans for the justified and plans for those who refuse to be justified. He absolutely gave us the freedom to choose our destiny, but he is the one who planned what each destiny is. We are just choosing one or the other plan of God. We can never choose our own plan, for everything is from God. What we do know is that we have been set apart for his service.