"Being Separated, Sanctified, Set Apart"

Separation is taught throughout the Bible. God has commanded separation since the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2:16, "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." God wanted Adam separated from this tree. It was a test for Adam and Eve to show how much they loved the Lord. God gave them everything, but only asked that they separate themselves from this tree and the evil behind the tree as we see in Genesis 3:1. Man fought God on this doctrine of separation in the Garden of Eden and has been fighting Him throughout history.

Every person that God has ever used to any degree of eternal merit has been first separated unto God either from sin, relatives, friends, countries, the world, or pleasures that lead away from God to idolatry. God has left us the Old Testament to show us how He thinks and feels about sin. God commanded Abraham to separate from his relatives in Genesis 12:1, "Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee." Abraham partially obeyed God, yet brought along with him some of his covetous relatives. Genesis 13:14 records for us God's blessing upon Abraham when he finally obeyed God and separated himself, "And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever." Abraham's relatives were idolaters, and God knew that Abraham would not be completely consecrated to God until He was completely separated. God needed Abraham to be separated in order to use him. God separated Joseph from his brethren. Deuteronomy 33:16 tells us "...let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren." He had to be separated before he could be used.

Leviticus 20:26 tells us, "And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine." God severed/separated the Levite priests in the Old Testament from the common people that way they could talk with God in the Holy of Holies. Before they could be used by the Lord, they had to be separated from those things, relatives, friends, places, or amusements that would hinder their usefulness to God. We are to be separated today from the world, the flesh, and the devil. This includes all of those who would persuade us to live against the perfect will of God. I Peter 2:9 explains this: "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness (separation) into his marvellous light."

Leviticus 11:44 says about the same thing, but it explains that it is our job to sanctify / separate / sever ourselves from anything or person that keeps us from obeying God. "For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy." As God is holy, He commands us to also be holy in all manner of conversation (our conduct). I Peter 1:14 is a quote from this passage, as Peter explains that God feels the same about separation and holiness in the New Testament, "As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." 

Leviticus 20:24 tells us, "But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey (God's perfect will): I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people (washed you from the filth of the world)." God had to separate His people from the heathen in order to bless them. He gave them their own land so that they could be sanctified / set apart / separated / severed from the heathen that would talk them into worshipping other gods. Exodus 33:16 tells us, "For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth." 

When the captives returned to their land, Ezra 6:21 tells us the first requirement for joining the feasts unto the Lord, "And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat." Ezra 9:1 shows, "Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations." The people had watched those around them instead of being separated. The Israelites began to practice what they saw. Their leaders realized that God could not bless them until they were separated from the actions and lifestyles of those around them who talked them into serving other gods. 

Ezra 10:10-11 shows that Ezra knew the importance of separation, "And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives." Nehemiah 13:3 is a story about Israel hearing the law read to them after a long time without it. Here is recorded their response: "Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude." What was their first response after hearing God's laws - separation from sin and from those among them who were not in agreement with the law. 

There are two ways to be separated. One way is that God has separated us from others by saving us and preparing us for what His will is for our lives. Paul said in Romans 1:1 "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God." In Galatians 1:15 he explains, "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace." Paul was separated from his mother's womb to fulfill the job that God had for him. This separation was done by God to him as God chose him to fulfill His plan for Paul's life. Jesus also explained being separated by God as He prayed in John 17:17-19, "Sanctify them (set them apart) through thy truth: thy word is truth (the truth will teach the disciples to deny their own desires, plans, and will). As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world (just as Jesus was separated to do a job on this earth by denying himself and taking up His cross, Jesus wanted his disciples to be separated from anything that would slow them down or stop them from doing His Father's will). And for their sakes I (Jesus) sanctify myself (set apart, denied himself), that they also might be sanctified (through this sanctification they would be useable vessels through the truth)." Jesus prayed that the disciples would see His separation or self denial and would follow His example. But He prayed first that God the Father would separate them from the crowd to be used in His service.

1 John 4:19 tells us, "We love him, because he first loved us." He showed us that He loved us by separating Himself from His loving Father as He became sin for us. He loved us even more by sanctifying or setting us apart for His service. This is mercy that He has shown upon us, because we could have wandered around for the time that we are here on this earth and then died in our sins, accomplishing nothing for the Lord. He tells us that because He has sanctified or set us apart from the world, we should love and obey Him by keeping His commandments. Leviticus 20:7-8 tells us: "Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you."

The second form of separation is done by the Christian that has been separated by God already. This Christian sees the need as commanded in God's Word to separate himself from anything or anyone that will hinder, dissuade, or slow him from fulfilling God's perfect will for his life. Proverbs 18:1 tells us, "Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom." He desires to serve the Lord and puts the Lord and His will first in his life. John 15:19 tells us, "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." John 17:14 states, "I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." It should be very easy for a Christian to separate himself from the world, because, as this verse states, the world will hate your stand for the Lord's Word every time they are around. Unfortunately, most Christians are so soft and weak that they are ashamed to take a stand on the "Word." Luke 6:22 quotes Jesus as explaining this further, "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake." John 17:16 exposes those Christians who try to look, act, talk, and dress like the world: "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." Jesus was definitely not of this world. He was perfect and everything that He did was for the glory of God and the furtherance of His Father's will. There is a satanic philosophy going around among liberal Christians that teaches us to try to reach the world by acting, looking, talking, and dressing like them. This philosophy has quenched the power of the Holy Spirit and has destroyed so many Christians as they become worldly and unusable for the Lord's work of winning the lost. This demonic philosophy teaches Christians to listen to wicked rock music with heathen rock beats against the clear teachings of Ephesians 5:19, "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord."

People claiming to be Christians go to bars, theaters, and other ungodly places that grieve the Holy Spirit and tempt them to do wrong. The unsaved look at the Christian and know that Jesus would not go to these places. II Corinthians 6:14-17 strongly teaches against this, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? (WHAT DO YOU AS A CHRISTIAN HAVE IN COMMON WITH AN UNSAVED RELATIVE?????) And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." How much clearer can it be commanded????!!!!! Christians wonder why they have no power in their Christian walks. It's very simple. How can you be filled with the Holy Spirit of God and fellowship with those who mock and reject the gospel that you are supposed to love with all your heart, mind, and soul? They fall into sin, get divorced and remarried as the heathen do, and try to get away with as much as possible. They think they can be surrounded by sin, enjoy the company of those around them who are practicing it, and yet escape the penalty of sin. Multitudes of Christians have fallen back into sin. They wander in the wilderness being useless for God because they refuse to separate themselves from the heathen around them who talk and persuade them to go after the gods of materialism, rock music, nudity, immorality, and idolatry. A compromise on separation is a vote toward sin.

They wear abominable clothing, such as women wearing pants against the clear teachings of Deuteronomy 22:5, "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God." Christian men of today let their hair grow long like a woman's and begin to act effeminate, wearing clothing that softens them. I Corinthians 11:14 tells us. "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?" They make cuttings in their bodies such as tattoos and body piercing against everything that is sacred as taught in God's Word. Leviticus 19:28 says, "Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD." Leviticus 21:5 says, "They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh." The lack of separation of Christians from the world has sweetened the "salt" by taking away its sting, dulled the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and has justified the sins of the ungodly and perverted to the point that they blatantly and openly commit fornication, immorality, incest, homosexuality, murder of babies, and the twisting of the God-ordained roles of men and women. Now, when the world desires to openly practice such wickedness, the "Christians" get concerned and begin to speak out against the "major" sins, without really realizing that these wicked practices are a direct result of the complacent and worldly lifestyle that the "Christians" have been propagating and even preaching!!

Sound churches are beginning to mix with other churches in the name of love. Revelation 18:4 is a call to those churches from God, "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." By doing this they water down their beliefs and convictions. 1 Timothy 6:3-5 teaches us, "If any man teach otherwise (against sound doctrine), and consent not to wholesome words , even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing (of eternal value), but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds (because they refuse to separate themselves), and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw (separate, set apart. sanctify) thyself" II Thessalonians 3:14 states, "And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed." Romans 16:17-18 tells us about being around those who have bad doctrine, "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." In Galatians 5:12 Paul expresses how he feels about separation from those who were troubling the Galatian Christians by teaching false doctrine about salvation, "I would they were even cut off which trouble you."

Just as God had to separate Abraham, Joseph, and many of the Israelite captives such as Daniel, his three Hebrews companion, and the Hebrew maid of II Kings 5:3, God wants us to be separate also from anyone that would come before Him or His will for us. When Jesus called His disciples, they willingly left all to follow Him. Matthew 4:18 tells us, "And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father (separation from relatives that will work on your heart and try to talk you into the same old things that don't please God), and followed him." Right from the beginning of their call, these disciples knew that they would have to be separated from their family, the family business, and everything that they knew at that time in order to follow Jesus. Luke 5:27 records the call of Matthew, "And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him." Matthew practiced separation as he followed Jesus.

Matthew 19:21 records a would-be disciple that didn't believe in separation. We do not hear any more about him as he turned and walked away sadly. "Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast (separate yourself from the money that you've put before God in your life), and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." He walked away very sad, because he refused to separate himself. He had not counted the cost of discipleship, just as many Christians today desire to be saved but refuse to be separated from mockers, Christ-rejecting relatives and friends, and the things of this world that make them the enemy of God, as James 4:1-4 instructs us, "From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." Can unseparated Christians really be the enemies of God? Read Philippians 3:17-20, "Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." These unseparated Christians have become God's enemies because they hold on to the very things that God hates, and that is anything or anyone that they place before Him. I John 2:15 tells us of separation from the world, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

Luke 14:26-35 records the words of our Lord, as He explains separation to His disciples. Notice that the first requirement for being one of Jesus' disciples is separation!!! This is not my opinion. Read it for yourself, as Jesus explains this to His disciples, "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters (Jesus knows that these are they that will be able to talk you out of serving Him, because they are close to your heart, and they are Satan's number one tool to get you to not serve the Lord), yea, and his own life also (in comparison to his love for Jesus he cannot be my disciple (because he has something before the Lord and is not separated). And whosoever doth not bear his cross (hardships in service for the Lord), and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying This man began to build, and was not able to finish (this man started serving the Lord, but his relatives, friends, job, career, etc. has hindered him from finishing God's plan for his life). Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath (this verse erases every argument against separation), he cannot be my disciple. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour (by being so much like the world that a Christian blends in and no longer convicts others with his presence),wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill (absolutely useless for God's work); but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

Matthew 6:24 tells us, "No man can serve two masters (he must be separate): for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." These are the words of God. If you do not believe in separation, you do not believe as God does. You cannot serve God and still enjoy the things and people of the world. It is impossible!!!! Verse 33 of the same chapter tells us how to live, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

Separation is done in your heart. It is not becoming a monk or cave dweller. Jesus taught this to His disciples in His prayer to God the Father in John 17:14, "I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil (by putting it in their heart to love Me instead of the world, the friends, relatives, etc.). They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." Earlier He taught in John 15:18, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you (or it should)." If the world loves you, then you are no witness or light for the Lord. The world hates you because you are separate from the lusts and evil that they perform and your righteous living convicts them of their sin. If you lived as they do, they would be comfortable around you, because you would not convict them. When Jesus was around sinners, they felt uncomfortable and either repented or left His presence as we see the rich, young ruler went away. Hebrews 7:26 teaches us that Jesus Himself practiced separation, "For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." He who knew no sin separated Himself from those who refused to separate from the sins that they had been practicing. Those sinners or publicans that Jesus sat and ate with were repentant people who still had their old reputations preceding them. But they were newborn Christians separated unto Jesus. He taught them how to live and please God after they had turned from their sins. Paul explained this in Ephesians 5:26, "That he might sanctify and cleanse it (the church, which is all who are saved), with the washing of water by the word." This water cleanses away the world from our hearts, separating us from the world, the flesh, and the devil. I Thessalonians 5:23 instructs us, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." We can be preserved blameless from this present evil world, if we allow God to separate us from the world, and as long as we separate ourselves from those things or people who will tug at our heart strings and pull us away from a personal relationship with the Lord. Sin keeps us from fellowship with God. Separation from sin keeps us in right relationship with our God, gives us peace in our hearts, and allows us to be unspotted from the world, as we stand before God responsible for our every action and thought while in the flesh. James 1:27 says, "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."

Separation is practiced daily by Christians who are disciples of our Lord. We are in the world, but we are not of the world. We must be separate from everything and everyone that would come between us and our Saviour. We must hate these things in comparison to our love for the Lord. Our love is not in talk, but it is action, as James 1:22 commands us, "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." Separation does not make us holier than others, but it helps keep us from the sin that hinders our relationship with our God. There is nothing in this world that is worth our personal relationship with our Savior. There is no one in this world who is worth losing this fellowship that we have as we are wholly separated unto God. This is why the Apostle Paul commanded the church in I Corinthians 5:11-13 to separate themselves from the "wicked man" and all who practice such sins, "But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person." Notice in this case that Paul is commanding separation from a "so-called brother," and commands in verse 7, "Purge out therefore the old leaven (sin in the camp), that ye may be a new lump…" He reminds us that we are not to come out of the world by becoming hermits, but we are to be separated in relation to fellowship as He has stated in Ephesians 5:7 and 11, "Be ye not partakers with them (those practicing the sins that are listed in verses 3-6)…And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret." Multitudes of Christians are not only bringing shame upon the name of the Lord by speaking of such wickedness, they glory and brag about their looking and watching such wickedness!!

Matthew 16:26 says, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" As Christians, we do not lose our soul for not being separated, but we lose our relationship with God, as sin begins to creep between us and our Savior. We lose our eternal rewards, as we begin to lose the desire for spiritual things. We lose our testimony as the unsaved see us enjoying the things of this world and the crowd that does not practice holiness and righteousness. When we stand before God, our works and motives will be exposed. Go ahead and fool yourself and others by saying that you can serve God without separation. Galatians 6:7 promises you, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." On Judgment Day you'll see that you were wrong and so will everyone else that is watching. As you stand before Jesus with the nail prints in His hands, God in the flesh that separated Himself from His own Father in order to do His will, you will be ashamed, without excuse. I Corinthians 3:11-15 says, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." 

Galatians 5:9 says, "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." A lack of separation in your life will cause a large separation between you and God. David told God in Psalms 73:25, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." The answer to David's question is no one and nothing is worth losing our personal relationship with God as God hates sin, and sin cannot be in His presence. Separation from God was achieved in the Garden of Eden when man refused to separate himself from sin. Christ separated Himself from His Father and became sin so that we could be separate from the world, the flesh, and the devil, only if we deny ourselves, and take up our cross daily, and follow Jesus and His will and plan for our lives. I Corinthians 15:33 warns us, "Be not deceived (don't be fooled into thinking that you're strong enough not to fall into sin by bad company and a lack of separation): evil communications (bad company) corrupt good manners (good Christians)." II Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things (associations, friends, relatives, thinking, desires, goals) are passed away; behold, all things (associations, friends, relatives, thinking, desires, goals) are become new."