God and the world are separate. "Do you not know that the friendship of the
world and "the brothers." "Honor all men. Love the brotherhood" (1 Pet. 2:17). The brothers are set apart from all men, that is, the people of the world. What God has separated, let no one yoke them together. The people in the world are not all brothers because they are not all sons of God. Therefore, in the Epistles, the phrase "grace to you and peace from God our Father" is frequently spoken to a group of special people. Likewise, the phrase "our brothers" is specifically directed toward the believers. Although not all the people in the world are children of God, there are those in the world who are the children of God. Since the Lord Jesus testified of God as a Father, God must then be the Father of a certain class of people. The fact that the Bible sets the children of God apart from the people of the world is a proof to this truth. But who are the children of God? Concerning this matter, the Bible is not silent. It has a clear and definite testimony. The Bible makes it clear that the children of God have their (1) position, (2) spirit, (3) nature, and (4) conduct. These four characteristics manifest who are the children of God and who are not. Those without these four characteristics are the children of Satan and are not of God. Although there are times when the children of God are weak and fallen, and although they may at times seem unable to live up to these four characteristics, such a condition is temporary and not permanent. Once they are revived and have arisen, they will be recovered to their normal condition. (Please note here: the children of God have these characteristics; however, this does not mean that because they have these characteristics they become the children of God. In the following paragraphs we will see how to become the children of God.)
THE TESTIMONY OF GOD'S CHILDREN 1. The Position of the Children of God God and the world are separate. "Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?" Those who are at enmity with God are not the children of God; therefore, the children of God are those who come out of the world. "Do not become dissimilarly yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? And what concord does Christ have with Belial [the other name of Satan]? Or what part does a believer have with an unbeliever? And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, even as God said, 'I will dwell among them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.' Therefore 'come out from