The Doctrine of Separation is rooted and taught in Genesis 3. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were separated from God as a result of their sin. God told them that if they ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil that they would die.
Their choice to disobey God brought spiritual death to them. Separation entered into their relationship with God. They were ashamed of their nakedness and felt guilty before God. They were separated from God.
We learn through Genesis 3 that death means separation. Death occurred in the Garden of Eden and there was separation between God and man. First there was death in their spiritual relationship, and secondly they were separated from the Garden of Eden. Death means separation. “So He drove out the man.” Genesis 3:24
This separation could only be spanned by a death. Only the sacrificial death of a perfect God-man could make it possible that man could come out from sin and be separated unto God. Only as Christ sacrificed His perfect flesh on the cross could this separation between God and man be healed.
Romans 6:4-7 teaches us that we too must enter into a death experience with Christ to become separate from sin.
Ro 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Only after there is death or (separation) in our life can we be freed from sin. Death is difficult and hard but brings release from the body of sin. Like as Christ had to leave His flesh hanging on a tree so that He could be raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, so to our flesh must hang on the cross so that we can be raised up and walk in newness of life.
Death to sin is a prerequisite to being received by God. The body of sin must be crucified for anyone to find freedom from sin. It is imperative that we understand our separation from God because of our sins as well as the call to come out from sin if we want our relationship restored with our heavenly Father.
2Co 6:17 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.
God calls us out from among them to a relationship of fatherhood with Him. We do well to ponder what it is then that God calls us out from. Romans 6 lays the groundwork for this by explaining that we first separate ourselves from our own deceitful heart. This part of each person is referred to by different phrases-- our old man, our flesh, our body of sin, our carnality.
God calls us to come out from our old mentality, our old worldview, our old value system. He calls us to become new creatures in Christ, to have Him for our worldview, and to embrace the value system that Jesus and the Apostles taught. This is an undeniable separation in our lives.
God calls us to separate ourselves from the world (the life and thought of unregenerate men).
1Jo 2:15 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. 16 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.17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
If we love the world, our relationship with God will be broken. The love of the Father is not in him.
Jesus taught us perfectly the separation that God desires. Heb 7:26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
But some who did not understand truth said this. Lu 7:34 The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!
Jesus said this. Lu 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
For us to be holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners and yet accused of being friends of publicans and sinners; we must enter into that separation (death) experience every day by nailing our flesh on the cross and following Christ.
The devil would have us focus on a few obvious earmarks of unbelievers and mean while allow him to enter our hearts in areas that are less obvious. God calls us to be separated in every aspect of our life. He calls us to be separate in our work, in our leisure, in our worship, in our buying and selling, in our lifestyle, in our eating, in our affections, in our passions.
God doesn’t call us to be separate for the sake of being separate. God calls us out of sin, ourselves, and the world so that we can enter into a restored relationship with Him. Separation is not an end in itself, but only a beginning. God calls us to be separate so that He can receive honor and glory from our lives.
Christ taught us perfectly how to live in a restored relationship and welcomes us to enter into His kingdom. He prayed that God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. This prayer gets answered as we each separate ourselves from the body of sin and yield ourselves unto God as those that are ALIVE from the dead.
