Article: Doctrine of Seperation

The doctrine of separation is one of the most neglected doctrines in the church today, but undoubtedly one of the most important, because the purity of the church is dependent upon it. It is the neglect of this doctrine that has brought the church of Christ in general to the worldly backslidden condition it is in today. Most of the professing Christian churches are blind to their condition. They go on thinking that they are vital and alive, when actually they are dead.

Christ said in Matthew 6:22-23, "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness." This scripture is important in regards to our spiritual life. It is telling us we can be deceived into believing that we are full of light but actually we are full of darkness and if so, how great is that darkness?

In II Corinthians 6:14-18 we see a main text of scripture dealing with separation. It tells us not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols and in verse 17 we are called to come out from among them and not to touch the unclean thing.

The Old Testament also had a main theme of separation. Israel was warned many times not to join with the heathen in marriage or in faith. This was continuously Israel's downfall and it seems that the church of Christ tends to forget this message even as Israel did.

Leviticus 18:1-4 said, "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the Lord your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God."
Israel continually fell into sin by disobeying this commandment. God gave ordinances to Israel that would separate them from the heathen surrounding them that they might be a holy nation and reflect the holiness of God to all nations.

God has also called the Church to be a separate nation as in I Peter 2:9, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:" We are to be Christ like ones living epistles of God's Word reflecting the reality of our Lord Jesus Christ in our lives, and to all people. The Church is not a nation with borders. The Church has a home in heaven as spoken in Hebrews 11:16, "But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city." This is the heavenly Zion as spoken in Revelation 21:1-3. This being the case, the Church is to preach the Holy Gospel to bring sinners out of Satan's clutches into God's marvellous light. The Church is not to become entangled with the affairs of this world, such as infiltrating governments. The Church's commission is to preach the Gospel. This is the cross of the Church. The governments of this world are sovereignly controlled by God and will fulfill the prophecies of Revelation. We are to be the salt of the earth by preaching the Gospel, living in righteousness, holiness and truth. This is what separates the Church from the world.

The Evangelical Churches, in general, have conformed themselves to the world instead of boldly standing on the clear Gospel, which is the bold preaching of the cross. They have assimilated the philosophies of this world especially in the areas of religious unity which we refer to as ecumenism, which is unity without truth, a rejection of doctrine which can be divisive.

The backslidden New Evangelical Churches have dressed the Cross with the garments of this world. The Cross used to be a place of repentance and humility, suffering, holiness, truth, and atonement but now it has become a place to improve our self esteem, to claim the riches of this world and the theories of psychology have been assimilated into it. The apostles and prophets preached the Word of God with power. They did not need this world's philosophies to make it acceptable or so their listeners would stop and hear.

As was said before the main reason for apostacy is lack of sound doctrine and sound Bible teaching. Many professing Christians when confronted with doctrine will say that you are legalistic and unloving or that doctrine divides. This last part is true, doctrine does divide. It divides truth form error, light form darkness. It separates the Christian form ungodly philosphies of this world. The early Church was concerned about doctrine such as in Acts 2:42, II Timothy 3:16-17, 4:2-4, Romans 6:17, to name just a few. The New Evangelical Churches have almost forgotten sound doctrine. They like to preach only that which is not divisive and that which brings unity, but in God's eyes this is not His kind of unity. God's true unity is among them that love His sayings. John 14:23-24 says, "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me."

I sincerely believe that this lack of sound doctrine is the direct result of all these new Bible perversions that have infiltrated the Church and have created doubt on the doctrines of God. In 1881, the Revised Standard Version (RSV) was brought out based on an new Greek text and since then we have gone downhill. Now there are many Bible versions. This has clearly created doubt regarding God's Word by adding and deleting scriptures and taking reverence for the Word of God away. These new versions have led us away from the old paths to a new, perverse and uncertain paths. Jeremiah 6:16 says, "Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein." We need to get back on the old paths, to the old book, the Authorized Version of Scripture (King James Version) which gives our Lord the reverence due to Him, and has power, sealed with the blood of the martyrs.

The most deadliest error as a result of a departure from the doctrine of separation is unity with the Church of Rome (Roman Catholicism), the Mother of Harlots as spoken in Revelation 17. The Gospel of Rome is not the Bible Gospel. its gospel of sacraments, indulgences, idolatry, priesthood, confessionals, etc., do not agree at all with the Holy Scriptures. Paul said in Galatians 1:8, "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." This is how Christ views the Church of Rome as "cursed" and is leading millions into hell. The early Church is full of martyrs who resisted the false gospel of Rome and paid for it with their lives, and Rome has not changed contrary to popular opinion. They say that approximately 68 million saints were martyred at the hands of Rome through the inquisition and other devices. God does not forget this. He curses this institution and warns us in Revelation 18:4, "And I heard another voice form heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Let us turn to Christ in repentance and seek the old paths and walk therein. The return of our Lord is near, the signs are everywhere. Let us be devoted to Christ and His Word, and be separated from this world.