2 Corinthians 6:17-18 (KJV)
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
How do you think we are to obey these scriptures? How do you think we are to teach others to obey these scriptures?
Just wondering...
Hello rbanks-
I think the answer comes in the next verse, which would start in 2 Cor. 7.
"Therefore, having these promises(that He will be our Father, we will be His sons and daughters and he will walk among us), beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
..so to get a good answer to your question we must look at what it means to cleanse ourselves from filthiness of flesh and spirit, and perfect holiness in the fear of God.
When we have repented of our sins and have been cleansed and saved by faith in the blood of Christ and filled with His Spirit our lives are dramatically different from that of society around us. If we are not distinguishable from unbelievers around us because we are following Jesus and living by the Word we likely have religion but not Him. Separation is the fruit of a living, saving faith.
may these links be helpful:
The Cross Involves A Separation - Zac Poonen
http://www.cfcindia.com/web/mainpages/word_for_the_week.php?display=12_04&year=07#cross separation
and have a search on "The Saint must Walk Alone" by A.W. Tozer
Thank you brethren for your replies! I agree very much with your writings.
We are to be separate from all defilement from the world and those who are practicing defilement as to not join with them.
Now how does this coincide with Jesus being accused of being a friend of tax collectors and sinners-even being accused of being a gluttonous and a winebibber.
actually been asked ,"what is you have that i do not have" by a very wealthy and influential man. he accepted Jesus and changed his life dramatically. there was a watress at a local fine steakhouse (ruths chris)who was a drinking , druging ,open sex kind of girl. after turning down all of the above with her i found out she was raised in the holiness churc and felt she had gone way beyond the reach of Gods grace... after a few weeks of minitering to her and bringing her to my church, she got truly saved . i saw her a year later and she was married and a leader in a small pentacostal church. she asked me if i still went into night clubs and i told her yes, whereupon she said that she could not understand how i could do such a thing. i told her that " isn't it where i found you?"i went to these clubs to judge dance events and drank juice or coffee.jimp
hi, i typed in the preveous post that i often went into bars and night clubs and was a witness for Jesus there . i believe that separation is in personal behavior.
here are the links I recommend:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBEjMWJAhHI
http://setapartgirl.com/mymessage-applauseofheaven.html
http://www.cfcindia.com/web/mainpages/word_for_the_week.php?display=01_05&year=12#fellowship
Now how does this coincide with Jesus being accused of being a friend of tax collectors and sinners-even being accused of being a gluttonous and a winebibber.
Jesus was friend of tax collectors but never joined in their sins. He eat with them but never failed to tell them that their life is wrong and they have to repent. In other words Jesus was friend of Sinners in bringing them to repentance and not to encourage them to sin.
Jesus was accused of being Gluttonous because he did not restrict himself to eating only certain food(unlike John the Baptist), he lived as a common man and yet without Sin. He is our example.
Jesus separated from all defilement, he was tempted in all the ways like us but he never sinned or defiled his body. He was even tempted to commit sucide (Matthew 4). Defilement of Flesh is not just external defilement, it is also internal temptations that our flesh leads to, for example sexual tempation and its lustful thoughts.
TO be separate a Christian has to do as Romans 12:1-2 says after saving faith. This is something that because part of my foundation early on when I became a believer. For without it a Christian is only fooling themselves into thinking they are a Christian when they are probably not because of what the Holy Spirit does within the heart. It is that which causes the Christian to become salt in this world. It is this which causes people to know there is something different about you and even something powerful. It may even bring people to you who want to know about God, who want some kind of counseling and so forth.
I think of my past and the many times I had people cross my paths and come to me in secret with broken hearts seeking answers to difficult situations.
When a Christian can transform and renew their minds to thinking differently and practice their living differently along with concrete answers as to why and the power therein it draws hearts. This lacks very much within Christendom today and it is a reason why the church is or seems powerless. A reason why many try in their flesh and eventually fall away from the faith or stay in their faith fooling themselves that their good works gets them through when it is above good works. Does this even make sense?
John
Very good points brethren! Thanks for the great replies!
Here is another thought to add to this discussion.
Matthew 23:4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
I believe we are to be transformed by the spirit of truth through the Word of God. We have to keep our body and spirit from being defiled. We are to be of a good reputation before others. But why do some strive as well as teach others to become more like the pharisees in Matthew chapter 23 than in following Jesus to walk in love as he gave himself a sacrifice for others.
I could tell you quite a few stories that I have seen through the years about people striving to be so holy outward and striving to appear so holy to others. They became legalistic and love themselves and their so called relationship with the Lord more than they truly enjoyed a true relationship with the Lord. We need a relationship with the Lord that truly touches other people with His radiant love and true holiness.
This is where God has shown me not to major on the outward man or the outward appearance but to major on the inward man and to learn modesty that leads to modest apparel that really comes from the inward man. This has lead me to believe that we shouldn't strive to be strange or so pious in our outward appearance as to want people to persecute us or talk about for these things but rather that they talk about us for our love for sinners and wanting to see people truly saved, healed, and blessed in the Lord.
Jesus could be a friend to the sinner (a human being), without partaking of the same spiritual source (being a friend of the Devil) that they partook of. He never compromised His holiness. Holiness is separation. If you are partaking of the Evil one you are not separate.
You have been separated unto God to partake of His nature and to feed on Him (abiding in Christ). You cease to be separate when you turn away from the Lord and partake of Satan (feed on him). To turn away from the Lord is to abide in Satan. You cannot stay neutral and abide in yourself.
It is the presence of the Lord in our lives that makes us holy (separate). If you don't have His presence abiding in you then it follows that you will not be walking in separateness (holiness). Being separate is a spiritual position first that will manifest in the physical, in thought, words and action.
Pilgrim
No doubt we must be very cautious of preoccupations or misdirected efforts to effect the outside of the cup vs the inside, but the more I try to distance myself from what the world desires to draw me into (its day to day concerns), the more I realize the necessity of Christ's soldiers to exercise true spiritual discernment concerning our efforts. How do I waste my time on matters that I am not to be associated with?
2nd Timothy 2:4 speaks to not being entangled in worldly affairs as it draws us away from our true service to our Lord. So where do we get drawn in when our flesh is allowed freedom?
Very good points Lylewise, Deadn, and others also!
Mark 11:13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.
Here is a very interesting observation concerning the Lord’s treatment of the fig tree that appeared to have fruit. He found nothing but leaves for the time of figs was not yet, so He cursed it, so no one would ever be able to get any fruit from it.
This seems to me that the Lord is illustrating that He hates hypocrisy and the outward appearance of righteousness with no inner fruit that is to be a blessing to others.
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