Separation

A setting apart. Separation is at the heart of the biblical idea of holiness. God is separate from his creation and has set apart his people from the world. Sin causes alienation between God and humanity, making necessary the reconciling work of Jesus Christ. The end of the age will bring the final separation between the righteous and the wicked.

God is without equal

Exodus 15:11 See also Psalm 89:6; Isaiah 40:25–26

Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You — majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?

God is separate from his creation

Isaiah 40:22 See also Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 29:16, Isaiah 45:11–12; Romans 1:25

He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

The separateness of God's people

Deuteronomy 7:6 See also Exodus 19:5–6; Deuteronomy 14:2; Psalm 135:41 Peter 2:9 See also 1 Corinthians 6:19–20; Titus 2:14

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Separation from the world

Leviticus 20:26 See also Numbers 23:9; Nehemiah 9:2, Nehemiah 10:28John 15:18–19 See also John 17:16; Philippians 3:20; 1 Peter 2:11

You are to be holy to Me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be My own.

If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.

Separation from sin

2 Corinthians 6:17 See also Isaiah 52:11; Leviticus 15:31; Ezra 6:21; 1 Corinthians 6:18, 1 Corinthians 15:34; 2 Corinthians 7:1

“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

Avoidance of evil association

1 Corinthians 15:33 See also Proverbs 13:20DEU Proverbs 7:2–3; Joshua 23:7 Ezra 4:3, Ezra 10:11; Psalm 119:115; 2 Corinthians 6:14

Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

Excommunication

Israelites refusing to follow God's commands to be cut off from God's people: Leviticus 18:29; Numbers 15:30, Numbers 19:20; Matthew 18:15–17 separation from unrepentant believers; Romans 16:17 separation from false teachers; 1 Corinthians 5:9–13 separation from wilfully sinful believers; 2 Thessalonians 3:6 separation from wilfully disobedient believers; Titus 3:9–11 separation from divisive people

Separation for service to God

Numbers 6:2–3 the Nazirites; Numbers 16:9 the Levites; 1 Chronicles 23:13 Aaron and his descendants; 1 Chronicles 25:1 prophets; Jeremiah 1:5 Jeremiah; Romans 1:1; Galatians 1:15

Separation of holy places

Exodus 26:33 the Most Holy Place separated by a curtain; Exodus 33:7 the Tent of Meeting placed outside the camp; Ezekiel 42:20 Ezekiel's temple separated by a wall

Separation caused by sin

Separation from God

Isaiah 59:2 See also Habakkuk 1:13; Ephesians 4:18; Colossians 1:21

But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.

Separation at the final judgment

Matthew 25:32–33 See also Matthew 13:40–42, Matthew 13:47–50

All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.

Separation of people from one another

Ruth 1:16–17 Ruth will not be separated from Naomi; 2 Kings 2:11 Elisha separated from Elijah; Philemon 1:15 Philemon separated from Onesimus; John 4:9 separation between Jews and Samaritans; Ephesians 2:11–12 separation between Jews and Gentiles

The pain of separation

Acts 20:37–38 See also 1 Samuel 20:41; John 16:20 Jesus Christ foretells his death and resurrection; 2 Timothy 1:4

They all wept openly as they embraced Paul and kissed him. They were especially grieved by his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

The pain of separation through death

God-fearing men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him.

Husband and wife not to be separated

Matthew 19:5–6 parallel Mark 10:7–9 See also Genesis 2:24; 1 Corinthians 7:10–13

and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

Reconciliation through Jesus Christ ends the separation from God

2 Corinthians 5:18–20 See also Matthew 27:46 parallel Mark 15:34; Psalm 22:1 Reconciliation with God is possible because Jesus Christ bore the punishment of separation from God that human sin deserves; Matthew 27:51 parallels Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45; Romans 8:35–39 Nothing can separate believers from God's love shown in Christ; Ephesians 2:14–15 Jew and Gentile reconciled through mutual reconciliation to God

All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.