Holy Priest-Martyr Anthimus, Bishop of Nicomedia (303); Our Venerable Father Theoctistus, Fellow-Ascetic of the Great Euthymius (467)
1 Corinthians 2:6-9; Matthew 22:15-22
Read 1 Corinthians 2:6-9
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
“In the world, but not of the world.” This is the famous expression illustrating the correct relationship a Christian should have with the world. We know that God loved the world so much that He gave His only Begotten Son in order to save it. However, we must be careful here in how we understand “the world” in this quotation of the Gospel of John. Our Lord did not die to preserve the systems or rulers of His earthly age (or any age) but died for those living in the world. In other words, you are of much more value than all the ideologies that have been or ever will be, or all the stars and galaxies combined.
The programs and priorities of this world in which we live are passing away, and the life-saving gospel of Christ will always stand at odds with what this world has to offer. Let us work hard at pulling people from the world for Christ to save them, while at the same time being on guard against the negative influences we could so easily adopt. Let us be “in the world, but not of the world.”