Separated Unto God

Wherefore come out from among them,

And be ye separate,

Saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing:

And I will receive you.

II Corinthians  6:17

In the above verse Christ tells us to separate ourselves from the world.  This reminds me of the question Nickodemus asked Jesus when Jesus told him that man needed to be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Somewhat likewise one might ask of Jesus, how can one live in this world and yet come apart (separate oneself) from it at the same time?  Is this possible?  Is Christ telling us to go inside our homes and lock the door and not have anything to do with anyone?  Are Christians not to talk or associate with other non-believers?  For answers to these questions we need only to look at the example of Christ and to study His word.

When Christ tells us to “be ye separate”, He is not telling us to completely disassociate ourselves from everyone and from the world.  That would be impossible.  After all Jesus lived in the world and He was often accused of associating with the sinners and outcasts of His day.  But one has to look further to His intent which will be addressed here shortly.

 So what is Jesus telling us when He tells us to come out from among them, and be ye separate?  Jesus is simply telling us to be different from the world, to not be like it is, as we belong to Him and not to the world.  That we should be reflections of Him and not the world.  What does this mean?  This means that Christians are to live in accordance with Gods laws, and that Christ should be made manifest to the world by the way in which we live.  Honestly.  Decently.  Holy.  Separated unto God.  With speech which identifies us as a child of God, with dress and appearance that does not bring shame to His holy name, with activities that does not bring disgrace to His kingdom. 

To be separated from the world means that we are to think different from the world, be of a different mindset, a different focus.  Our thoughts are not on the earthly, but the eternal things above.  Our interests are to be different.  We are not to be wrapped up or caught up in the things of this world, but to be in love with God and His world.  Our priorities in life are to be different as well as the things we love and cherish, and invest our time and life in.  All these things are ways in which we either identify ourselves with God or with the world.  It is these things that either unite us with Christ or separate ourselves from Him.  As Christ said, we are either for Him or against Him as we cannot love and serve both with our whole heart.

No man can serve two masters;

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.

Now back to the point I made earlier when I said that Christ did not separate himself from the world or the sinners of His day.  Why?  Because Jesus loves sinners.  Loves sinners enough to die on the cross to pay for the penalty of their sins so they can have fellowship with Him, eternal life and a home in heaven. “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:13  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Romans 5:10   Christ physically associated with sinners and outcasts around him so that He could reveal himself to them, so that they might be saved.

But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them,

They that be whole need not a physician,

But they that are sick.

But go ye and learn what that meaneth,

I will have mercy, and not sacrifice:

For I am not come to call the righteous,

But sinners to repentance.

Matthew 9:12:13

And so as Christians we should follow the example Jesus set for us, and are in fact called to as Christ instructs us to go out into the world, into the hedges and by-ways, and to all nations, and share with them the Good News that Jesus saves, and show them how they can be saved through Christ.  We are to be witnesses and ambassadors for Christ and reveal to others who He is through Him living in us, so that through the workings of the Holy Spirit living within us, others will be drawn unto Him and be saved.

Notice the verse at the beginning of the writing.  It does not say to not associate with the world at all, but instructs us to not stay with the world, nor become one with the world in mind or spirit.  We are not to be like, but to be “different”, a peculiar people unto the world who do not know Him…..

Copyright © 2005 By Nancye Sims

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God

With all thy heart, and with all thy soul,

And with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:

This is the first commandment.

Mark 12:30

The author, Nancye Sims, may be contacted at  .