Called to Be Separate

What does it mean to be a “peculiar people”? The Hebrew word used to describe God’s people as peculiar means jewel or peculiar treasure. It carries the meaning of something shut away, as wealth secreted in a hidden place. One of the Greek words used for peculiar in the New Testament is defined by Strong’s Greek Dictionary of the New Testament as “being beyond usual, i.e., special (one’s own).” Another Greek word translated as peculiar holds the connotation of something being owned and preserved, even purchased. (See Strong, James, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible,
World Bible Publishers, Iowa Falls, Iowa, 1890.)

From these definitions we can see that when the Bible speaks of being peculiar, it does not mean strange or odd. Rather, the idea is that of being special, set apart, select, and precious. Why are we special? Because we are Jesus’ own people. He purchased us by dying for our sins. We agreed to His ownership by willingly surrendering our lives to Him and accepting the gift of salvation. We gladly consented to be His, and His only, to do, say, and think only what would please Him.

Not only did He purchase us, not only does He own us, but He also preserves us. His people are pure and undefiled by the evil influences around them. They are not persuaded to change their principles because it is commonly done by others. Their holy faith and principles of life do not change from age to age, as do the fads, fashions, and customs of the godless world. They remain constant amid a sea of change around them. Thus, they are preserved.

            Set a jar of canned peaches inside a box of fresh peaches, and leave them for a few weeks. What will happen? The fresh peaches will not be fresh anymore. They will decompose and become very unpleasant to the eye and nose. However, the jar of canned peaches will remain healthy and pure. Why? The canned peaches have been preserved. All of the decay around them is kept out. This is the way that God preserves His people in a wicked world. They are thus “shut away” from the moral destruction in the world, as a hidden treasure. They are not preserved from sin against their own choice, but rather, they make daily choices to allow God to continue preserving them from sin. It is a continual process that must be kept up as we continue to hold onto Jesus and experience His power.

It is clear that to be peculiar, in a biblical sense, means to be special and set apart by God. Such a concept is painless to accept. But the question remains: are God’s peculiar people different from those around them? Another illustration with fruit can help to answer this question. There is a great difference between a beautiful, round, shining, Grade A apple, and a small, misshapen, wormy apple. The first is set apart for sale in a top-quality grocery store; the other could never enter there.

Yes, biblical peculiarity does make us different, but it does not make us strange. If everyone in the world were true children of God, we would not be different. All of us would be united in our service to God. However, because this world contains followers of God and followers of Satan, there is, of necessity, a difference.

Suppose that you were sorting hundreds of apples, most of them poor and wormy. However, among them were several beautiful, clean apples. They would be peculiar, just by virtue of their rarity among the lot, but they would not be strange or undesirable. Rather, they would be the most highly prized of any of the fruits. This is biblical peculiarity. It raises us above the average, the low plane of existence to which humanity has sunken. We become “beyond the usual,” because God raises us up into the atmosphere of heaven and transforms our character.

No one is ashamed of standing out from the crowd when it is highly esteemed to be so. It is a matter of pride to be the highest scorer on a test, when all the other students were considerably lower. It is honorable to be the best singer, or the fastest runner. No one is ashamed to be singled out, made the center of attention, for such an honor. However, when we think of being singled out as a follower of the true God, being contrasted with the masses around us, we feel uncomfortable. We want to rationalize away the meaning of peculiar, saying that it means “to be special,” and that is all. It is hard to admit that peculiarity automatically sets us up for being different.

            But there is good news. We need not fear being peculiar, because being a true follower of Jesus is an honor. Following His way of life lifts us up higher. What if we are different? For Jesus’ true followers, their concern is not for how they will be accepted by the world, but rather, how they can help others to find the wonderful blessing they have found, too!

         You and I can be peculiar treasures of Jesus. We can be His jewels, bought with His own blood, belonging to Him, and preserved from sin on a daily basis by His power.  “And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” Malachi 3:17.

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