06/12/2010 - BE SEPARATE

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“Therefore, Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” (II Corinthians 6:17)

The sin committed by Adam caused a lot of harm in God’s plan. Deliberately and out of insanity, the being who was created in the image and likeness of the Lord began to be driven by the enemy in his unprecedented evil strategy (Genesis 1:26). Adam lost respect for himself, started to worship the enemy and to be carried away by disgraceful passions, his reasoning became numb and his heart was hardened.

The coming of Jesus to the world put an end to that miserable condition of men. Christ suffered on our behalf and He set us free from evil forces. That’s the message we must get across to everyone. There isn’t one single person who hasn’t been affected by death – Satan’s nature.  There’s not a single soul, anywhere, who hasn’t been enslaved by the devil (Romans 5:12).

When we preach the Good News we offer deliverance to the lost. So, those who walk in idolatry, sorcery and in so many other abominable things will surely be delivered when they believe in what Jesus did for them. Yet, there’s a danger haunting the children of God: even though they’ve already been redeemed by the blood of Christ, they’re tempted to go back to old practices – and many do so actually!

There are people who call themselves Christians; still, they develop a sort of ritual which doesn’t please God at all. They claim to be Christians and they make all efforts to be perceived as such; yet, they get further and further from the Truth. Their worship is an entanglement of weird things which aren’t backed up by the Scriptures and therefore it’s worthless before the Lord. On the contrary, it’s disgusting to Him.

The verse above instructs us to keep away from those people. The Word says that there’s no communion between light and darkness (II Corinthians 6:14). We must only get near them to give them the Lord’s message. We can’t keep their company or accept their party invitations or seat at a banquet table with them or even agree with their practices. The Gospel tells us to come out from among them, to keep away from them and to not touch their filthy things so that we can be welcomed by God.

Those who serve the Most High must heed this biblical recommendation and never behave like a politician who wants to flatter everybody. That doesn’t mean we can’t greet the lost ones, or be kind to them and stretch out our hands to them. What we have to point out to them is that their practices are condemned by the Scriptures and that they must repent, unless they don’t mind losing their souls. Do your job in obedience to the Lord!

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares