Christian Living Lesson 2

2 Corinthians 6:17

17 Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.”

I. THE SANCTUARY OF GOD

II. THE TWO SIDES OF SEPARATION

III. SERVANTS

IV. THE PARAMETERS OF A “HOLY LIFE”

V. SEPARATED UNTO

VI. SEPARATION FROM

A. The New Testament also reveals that the children of God must be separated from the following things:

1. All Sin

• Romans 6:1–2 “1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”

• Romans 6:12 “12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.”

2. Bitterness and Hatred

• Ephesians 4:31 “31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.”

• Romans 13:10 “10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

3. Gossip and Evil Speaking

• 1 Peter 4:15 “15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters.”

• James 1:26 “26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.”

• 1 Peter 3:10 “10 For “He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit.”

• 1 Corinthians 15:33 “33 Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.””

4. Offenses (causing others to stumble)

• 1 Corinthians 10:32 “32 Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God,”

• Romans 14:13 “13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.”

5. The Appearance of Evil

• 1 Thessalonians 5:22 “22 Abstain from every form of evil.”

6. Fleshly Lusts

• 1 Peter 2:11 “11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,”

• Matthew 5:28 “28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

7. Drunkenness

(Drunkenness designates intoxication, inebriation; a state where the control of the senses is lost. This refers to any type of substance abuse that causes loss of control and judgment.)

• Romans 13:13 “13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.”

• Ephesians 5:18 “18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,”

• 1 Corinthians 5:11 “11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.”

The following New Testament scriptures contain lists of behaviors and activities from which Christians are to separate themselves. After the scriptures, the individual behaviors are defined and examined.

• Galatians 5:19–21 “19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

• Revelation 21:8 “8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.””

• Romans 1:21-32 – “…Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”

• Ephesians 4:31 “31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.”

• 1 Corinthians 6:9–10 “9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”

• Mark 7:21–23 “21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.””

• Ephesians 5:3–6 “3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

8. Adultery: sexual infidelity of a married individual.

9. Lasciviousness: expressing lust or lewdness; wanton; inciting lustful desires; involving oneself in an activities or environments that excite the lustful senses.

10. Hatred: strong dislike or ill will toward others.

11. Wrath: strong, intense anger to the point of wanting to act upon that anger; rage; fury; any action of vengeance.

12. Heresies: false doctrines of any kind.

13. Fornication: sexual impurity, illicit sexual relations; any sexual activity outside marriage.

14. Idolatry: the worship of false gods; excessive devotion to or reverence for some person or thing. Idols can be wealth, careers, pleasures, people, possessions, etc., etc.

15. Variance: disagreement; argument, quarrel, discord; dispute, a disagreeable attitude or spirit.

16. Strife: contention; conflict, clash, ill-feelings between people.

17. Contention: dispute; disagreement; quarrel.

18. Envyings: jealousy over another person’s advantages, possessions, etc.; the desire for something that belongs to someone else; to feel envy toward someone; covetousness; rivalry.

19. Revelings: to make merry; to take pleasure in obsessive merrymaking. A revel was a nocturnal and riotous procession of half-drunken and rowdy individuals who, after dinner, paraded through the streets with torches and music in honor of Bacchus (the Greek and Roman god of wine and revelry), or some other deity. They would sing and play before the houses of their friends. Therefore, the word “revelings” is used generally to indicate gluttonous feasts and drinking parties that are protracted to late at night resulting in rowdy or unseemly conduct.

20. Uncleanness: anything dirty; filthy; foul; morally impure; unchaste; obscene or vile; abominable; nasty; disgusting; loathsome; highly unpleasant; disagreeable; very bad in a moral sense; impure motives; doing things that please the carnal flesh; involving ourselves in things that are of an unclean nature.

21. Sorcerers: those who practice witchcraft: the worship of occult powers and occult gods.

22. Emulations: the desire or ambition to equal or surpass; ambitious rivalry; envious dislike.

23. Seditions: derived from the Latin word “sed” meaning apart, and “itio” meaning going: the stirring up of discontent; resistance or rebellion against the authorities of power; inciting revolt; rebellion, encouraging others to rebellious behavior.

24. Murders: the taking of human life. When we hate our brother or sister we are guilty of murder.

• 1 John 3:15 “15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”

25. Bitterness: a sour spirit; resentful feelings, an unforgiving attitude, a hurt that turns into anger, cynical, hostile emotions.

26. Clamor: a cry, an outcry, a wailing of one in distress; the whining of one who is never satisfied.

27. Malice: intense hatred of someone, viciousness, animosity.

28. Whisperers: secret slanderers; detractors; to talk quietly or furtively as in gossiping, maligning, plotting; to tell something to someone privately or in a secret; a secret hint or rumor.

29. Inventors Of Evil Things: those who manufacture, or cause to be brought into being, ideas and actions of wickedness and evil.

30. Without Understanding: without spiritual sensitivity; oblivious to what God is doing; oblivious to spiritual things; spiritually ignorant.

31. Covenant-Breakers: treacherous, deceitful, untrustworthy, traitors, untruthful; one who does not honor his own word or promises.

32. Without Natural Affections: unnatural sexual lust: incest, bestiality, homosexuality, pedophilia, etc.

33. Implacable: unappeasable, one who cannot be satisfied; relentless; inexorable; one who cannot be appeased, pacified or settled down; relentless; dogged.

34. Effeminate: most commonly used to describe feminine behavior in men.

35. Despiteful: a spiteful spirit; malicious; an insulter; purposefully mistreating others.

36. Revilers: those who use abusive or offensive language in speaking; to slander, to call bad names.

37. Extortioners: those who receive monetary gain or advancement through blackmail or threats.

38. An Evil Eye: having eyes that can see only evil; to look for evil in everyone and everything, suspecting evil in everything.

39. Abusers of themselves with Mankind: those who commit unnatural sexual acts; sodomites; one who lies with male or with female.

40. Pride: haughtiness, arrogance, disdainfulness.

41. Foolishness: egotistic senselessness; reckless folly, silliness.

42. Blasphemy: vilification, defamation, detraction; to speak evil of someone or something.

43. Malignity: the quality of being very harmful or dangerous, ill-will that is acted upon; deadly, lethal; a desire to destroy someone or something.

VII. THE PURSUIT OF PERFECTION

A. As we have seen, the word holiness carries the connotation of purity, separation and perfection.

1. Perfection is not possible in human beings. Because we dwell in “vessels of clay” even Spirit-filled Christians are not perfect.

• 2 Corinthians 4:7 “7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”

2. Several times in scripture we are instructed to be “perfect,” but in those instances the word “perfect” is translated from Greek words (artios, teleios, katartizo) which mean “complete or thoroughly furnished”; the words do not imply that we are faultless or without imperfection.

3. Even the Apostle Paul, perhaps the most successful Christian ever known, did not consider himself to be perfect.

• Philippians 3:12 “12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.”

B. Like Paul, our goal as obedient Christians should be the “pursuit of perfection.” We are to endeavor to be more like Jesus Christ every day.

• Hebrews 6:1 “1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,”

1. However, if we fail, if we sin, if we stumble – the Lord is quick to forgive us and restore us. If we repent of our weaknesses and ask for His help, it is readily available to us.

• 1 John 2:1 “1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

2. The word “advocate” means a mediator, an intercessor, an attorney, a defender.

3. Jesus Christ, the righteous (the perfect) is our attorney when we get in trouble – when we call Him to help us when we fail, His grace is available to us.

4. When we (the imperfect) call upon Jesus Christ (the perfect), as our defender (advocate) He covers us with His grace and through faith in Him the righteousness of God is imputed to us!

C. Never listen to Satan’s lies. He will magnify your faults and failures; he will tell you that it’s pointless to get up when you fall; he will tell you that you don’t have the ability to live a life that pleases God. Satan is a liar.

• John 8:44 “44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

D. Listen to God’s Word instead.

• 1 John 1:9 “9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

E. In the 136th Psalm, we are told twenty-six times that the mercy of the Lord endures forever!

Psalm 118:1 “1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”

F. We are instructed in scripture to do our very best to live a holy and separated life before God. However, if we stumble, the grace of God is there to pick us up. God’s grace is more than sufficient for any situation that we will ever encounter in our lives!

“No great and lasting revival of religion can be granted us till the professed lovers of Jesus prove their affection by coming out from an ungodly world, being separated, and touching not the unclean thing.”

~ Charles H. Spurgeon