Separation – Part 2
Separation, part 2 – Victorious Christian Living
5) Separation from:
A) Scripture reveals that children of God who is holy must not only be separated unto, but also from certain things:
- All sin!
Romans 6:1-2 (English Standard Version)
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Romans 6:12-13 (English Standard Version)
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
- Bitterness and hatred:
Romans 13:10 (New King James Version)
Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Ephesians 4:30-32 (New King James Version)
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.
- Gossip and evil speaking:
1 Corinthians 15:33 (King James Version)
Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
James 1:26 (English Standard Version)
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.
1 Peter 3:10-11 (King James Version)
10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: 11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
1 Peter 4:15 (King James Version)
But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.
- Offenses (causing others to stumble):
Romans 14:13 (English Standard Version)
Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.
1 Corinthians 10:32 (New King James Version)
Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God,
- The appearance of evil:
1 Thessalonians 5:22 (King James Version)
Abstain from all appearance of evil.
- We should therefore abstain from evil, and all appearances of evil, from sin, and that which looks like sin, leads to it, and borders upon it. He who is not shy of the appearances of sin, who shuns not the occasions of sin, and who avoids not the temptations and approaches to sin, will not long abstain from the actual commission of sin. (Matthew Henry’s Commentary)
- The safe and proper rule is to lean always to the side of virtue. In these instances it may be certain that there will be no sin committed by abstaining; there may be indulgence. No command of God, or of propriety, will be violated if we decline complying with these things; but on the other hand we may wound the cause of religion by yielding to what possibly is a mere temptation. No one ever does injury or wrong by abstaining from the pleasures of the world. (from Barnes’ Notes)
- Fleshly lusts:
1 Peter 2:11 (English Standard Version)
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
1 Peter 2:11 (The Message)
Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul.
1 Peter 2:11 (New Century Version)
Dear friends, you are like foreigners and strangers in this world. I beg you to avoid the evil things your bodies want to do that fight against your soul.
1 John 2:15-17 (New King James Version)
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
- Drunkenness:
Romans 13:13 (King James Version)
Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Ephesians 5:18 (English Standard Version)
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
- Drunkenness indicates intoxication, inebriation; a state where the control of the senses is lost – any type of chemical substance that causes loss of control and judgment.
- The following Scriptures contain lists of behaviors and activities from which Christians are to separate themselves:
Galatians 5:19-21 (English Standard Version)
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Revelation 21:8 (English Standard Version)
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Romans 1:18-32 (English Standard Version)
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
Ephesians 4:31 (English Standard Version)
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (English Standard Version)
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Mark 7:20-23 (English Standard Version)
20 And he said, What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.
Ephesians 5:3-5 (English Standard Version)
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
6) But if we sin?
1 John 2:1 (English Standard Version)
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
A) Advocate means “attorney; a defender.”
- No one is perfect, but we must honesty and sincerely strive for perfection.
- 1 John 2:1 is NOT a license or permit to sin! It’s a safety net to restore us on the occasions when we stumble or make a mistake.
- Willfully sinning is an abuse of grace!
Hebrews 10:26-31 (English Standard Version)
26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
7) The spirit of holiness:
A) Obedience to the “letter” is legalism: voluntarily conforming our heart and our life to the will of the Spirit is true holiness!
1 Thessalonians 3:13 (English Standard Version)
so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
8) Sanctuaries:
A) We’re called to be separated FROM every sinful influence, indulgence, attitude, practice and appearance!
B) We’re also called to be separated UNTO every righteous, holy, and Godly influence, attitude, practice and appearance!
2 Timothy 2:19-21 (English Standard Version)
19 But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” 20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
