One of the most unpopular words among my generation of Bible college students was the word separation. I heard from very few (3? 4?) men during my training years who could give a clear description of what separation is according to Scripture. The word is even less popular now. And there certainly are dangers associated with taking things too far. (Read here for the dangers.) But I hope this can be a good summary for anyone who is looking.
Firstly, we must understand what separation is according to the Bible. We cannot allow extrabiblical teaching to define for us what separation is. There are many “manuals” on separation, some better than others, but we must ascertain what the Bible says on the subject and confine ourselves to that definition.
The Bible gives us 3 distinct categories of separation.
Separation from false teaching.
2 Jo 1:10-11 “If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”
1Ti 6:3-5 If any man teach otherwise, 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, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
Ro. 16:17 “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”
Ga 1:8-9 “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
These verse, properly exegeted, give us the template for separation from false teaching. False teaching, according to Paul, is teaching that is “contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned.” False teaching includes the false gospel, that is, teaching that indicates there is any other way to heaven other than that which is outlined in God’s Word: faith in Christ alone. Galatians 1 reveals to us how serious God views false teaching and the teachers who promulgate it. “Let him be accursed.” Literally, damned to hell.
This is no soft-peddling. This is no “live and let live” doctrine. When it comes to separation from false teaching, it is non- negotiable.
How do we separate from false teaching? Paul gives us the answer. In each passage, the condemnation is not merely against false doctrine, but against the false teachers themselves. Paul tells us that we are to separate from false doctrine by separating from false teachers. That is specific!
There is an attitude today that seems to be growing in popularity among the mildly fundamental which hesitates to name any names. These folks attempt to separate from false teaching without really separating from false teachers. This is impossible.
The increasing friendliness among evangelicals (who claim to believe the gospel) and the Roman Catholic Church is an example of a failure to separate from false teachers.
Those who teach the baptizing of infants as a way of salvation are teaching another way of salvation. Some denominations are difficult to nail down as to whether or not they believe salvation is imparted by baptism or merely some other “spiritual blessing”, but to one degree or another, the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican, Presbyterian, and some Reformed churches subscribe to infant baptism.
Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and all the other cults are to be separated from and not to be blessed on their way.
Separation from worldliness.
Ja.4:4 “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.”
I Jo 2:15-16 “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. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”
2Co 6:14 “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? 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”
The Christian is to exhibit a life that reflects his relationship to Jesus Christ. Because of this, we are not to court the favor of the world. We are not to be linked up with the world.
“I believe that one reason why the church of God at this present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church.”
‑Spurgeon
What is the world? One definition is that the world is the world system, controlled by Satan and his forces. While this is probably a correct definition, it does not help us discern what is worldly and what is not. I John 2 defines what things are in the world for us, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. What are these things? They are the natural desires of unregenerate man. We have struggled in fundamental circles with defining worldliness. Is it a certain hair length, dress style, or music style? Is it the way someone walks, talks, or habits he has? Do we find out what worldliness is by keeping up with the latest teen fashion magazines, or by reading Fortune 500?
Worldliness is not an action, it is a desire.
“. . . whosoever therefore will be (desires, intends) the friend of the world”
“. . . love not the world”
“. . . lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life”
A desire will manifest itself in actions, but worldliness is a desire, a longing. It comes from the heart. It is a desire to attach one’s self to same the priorities and pleasures to which men of this world are enslaved.
The key problem with teenagers following the fads of this world in music, dress, lifestyle and attitude is not so much with the outward appearance, but their desire to find fulfillment in something other than Christ. Fads by their very nature are designed to delineate who is accepted and who is rejected from the group. This is worldliness.
This world is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure by any means possible. When we as believers join this rat race as fellow pursuers, we have committed spiritual adultery. The children of Israel gave us a picture of this when they searched for another source of fulfillment and truth:
Jer 2:13 “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”
While this Old Testament verse does not speak directly to the issue of separation from worldliness today (I use it as an illustration) James 4 calls a Christian who loves the world an adulterer for the very reason that he shifts his allegiance from Christ to the world.
There are some clear applications of this aspect of separation, as well as some “gray areas.” On the one hand, clear examples of worldliness would be activities and practices that have been developed by unregenerate man to feed his flesh (lust of the flesh) such as “gentlemen’s” clubs, rock concerts, pornographic websites; feed his covetousness (lust of the eyes) such as gambling and the lottery (our profit at the damaging expense of another); and feed his pride (pride of life).
On the other hand, where things are not so clear is where to draw the line on certain issues. How short of a skirt is too short? What TV programs are acceptable and what are not? Is a TV itself acceptable or not?
There are Bible answers to these questions, but once we step outside of the realm where the Bible has clearly spoken, we must give latitude for individual soul liberty of each believer.
It is important to note that this is the application of separation of the Christian from worldliness, not separation of a Christian from another Christian. It is the individual responsibility of each believer to ascertain how God would have him live his life in the application of this doctrine.
We ought to preach against worldliness from our pulpits to help believers see what is worldly and what is not. But ultimately, it is up to each individual believer to practice this in his own life.
It may be that a believer becomes so worldly that some other believers feel the need to stay away from close contact with them because their ideas of what is worldly and what is not are quite different. I would not consider this a matter of separation, but of association. In other words, for other biblical or practical reasons two believers may not be able to minister side by side with each other, but that does not mean it is automatically an issue of biblical separation. I have known some believers who will separate from others because they allow their ladies to wear pants. They claim that it is an issue of worldliness between them and their fellow believers. This is a misapplication of the doctrine of separation from the world. That pants = worldliness simply cannot be exegeted from the New Testament.
It may be a preference based upon biblical principles, and it may very well be a conviction to the one who holds it, but one Christian separating from another Christian over the accusation of worldliness on account of their “position” on ladies wearing pants simply cannot be justified based upon separation from worldliness. The only instance where Christians are to separate from other Christians is found in the next section.
Separation from Morally Disobedient Christians.
A disobedient brother is “a professing Christian who deliberately refuses to change some aspect of his conduct to conform to the clear teaching of Scripture.”[3] This is the most difficult area to practice separation. I will quote passages.
2 Th 3:14-15 “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. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
Matthew 18:15-17 “Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.”
If the brother refuses to heed the church, that body must exclude him and treat him as “an heathen man and a publican,” that is, a pagan and a tax collector. Jews would have nothing to do with Gentiles or with tax collectors, even those who were Jews. Christ’s teaching is that the church (and therefore the members in it) break fellowship with the offender and treat him as though he were not part of the church. He is not to be treated as an enemy, but he is to be admonished. That is, confronted with truth.
I Corinthians 5:1-13 “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 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.”
This passage is abundantly clear. This individual was living in immorality. They were to have no business with him, not even to eat! The purpose is restoration, but the process is painful. They are not to socialize with this person. Why? 2 Thessalonians tells us that we should “note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.” The Bible is clear. We have the responsibility to separate from a disobedient brother.
We are notoriously weak in this area of separation. I am shocked and surprised at the number of Christians who are otherwise strong in the faith who refuse to practice this. In one instance, a church man with a wife and 4 kids carried on an affair with a Christian high school teenage girl. He was disciplined out of the church after he refused to repent, but yet when he came to social functions or was seen in public by church members, they would put their arm around him and “reach out.” Does that sound like “. . . with such an one no not to eat”? It made sense to them to do what they did, but it went directly against Scripture.
So What’s the Big Deal with Separation?
Now that we have seen the Biblical definition of separation, is it all that important? If you claim to value Scripture it is!
The clear teaching of Scripture is binding.
Separation is clearly taught in Scripture. You cannot avoid it unless you refuse to read those passages of Scripture that deal with it. But if you do so, no longer can you claim to be a Bible-believer since you slice and dice the Scripture to have it your own way. It is straightforward.
- Separation is not relegated to the Old Testament. Drawing primarily from Paul, separation is clearly for the church today. While some may draw upon the Old Testament to build their case for separation, I do not believe that is necessary. We have clear, New Testament teaching in all three areas of separation.
- The doctrine of separation is not drawn from an isolated “proof text.” Separation is taught from a multitude of texts scattered throughout the New Testament. A separatist operating from a biblical foundation of the doctrine does not have to fear being labeled an extremist because its clearly taught in Scripture in multiple places, many of which have been quoted previously.
- The doctrine of separation is not treated as anything other than an imperative. That is, it is a command. “Come out” “be ye separate” “love not the world” “put away” etc. These are clear cut commands given to us with the full authority of Scripture behind them. There is no weaseling out of the impact of these commands.
- Understanding is not a prerequisite for obedience.
Some refuse to practice separation because they do not understand how this will “work.” How does separation from a wayward brother help him repent? Even though the Scripture does give us some indication (that he may be ashamed) the Scripture never gives us an “out” because we do not understand why. To refuse to practice separation because we do not think it will work is to doubt God, deny Scripture, and disobey clear commands from our Commander-in-Chief.
The adherence to the complete authority of Scripture is the foundation of true Christianity.
The first Bible distinctive is that the Bible is the sole rule of faith and practice. We do not believe parts of the Bible and accept another authority for other areas. The Bible is completely inspired of God, equally authoritative in all areas. To refuse to practice separation is to compromise our adherence to the Scripture’s complete authority. We would basically be saying that we do not care about those portions of Scripture. Our entire basis for believing anything about the Bible would crumble.
What’s the big deal about separation? It is clear Bible truth, and to disobey it is to disobey God! That is the big deal. We may not understand all the ins and outs of it, or why we must practice it in difficult situations, but that does not relinquish us from our responsibility to preach and obey the whole counsel of God, which includes the practice of separation.
[1]EVANGELICAL DELUSIONS ABOUT THE NEW POPE. Friday Church News Notes, June 3, 2005 (Fundamental Baptist Information Service, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)
[2]It is clear from Bible prophecy that Mystery Babylon is the revived Roman Empire with the religious system of the Roman Catholic Church.
[3]Mark Sidwell, The Dividing Line. Bob Jones University Press, 1998., page 56.