The Doctrine of Separation

Introduction

Last week, we finished our discussion of the five fundamentals and why they are essential to our faith as believers. Liberals in their outright rejection reveal their are not truly Christians to begin with. So the question we are going to ask, is what do we do when our churches are being influenced or overrun by those who deny these fundamentals of the faith. Do we stay and fight or do we leave? Should we remain in a denomination or association that is plagued by things that God hates and denies God’s truth?

Tonight I want to begin with an illustration from Church history. Back in 1530 a movement called Puritanism began within the Church of England. This movement desired to stem the tide of Romanism and compromise within the church. They argued that scriptures should be our authority in the church, most held to calvinistic theology, rejected Roman influence on church practice and government and sought personal holiness. The main heart of the movement was to try and reform the church from the inside. This was soon after the Protestant reformation when they came out of the Roman Catholic church, but the Puritans thought that the Church of England had not left behind Roman practice. Eventually they divided into two groups: the stay-iners and come-outers. Both groups had the same complaints about the church but differed in how to deal with those problems.

Those who held to staying in argued that a stream of true believers had always existed in the church since the beginning and that God would continue to preserve that strain within the church. They felt that they could not affect change from the outside.

The separatists argued that we should come out of an apostate church for the following reasons:

God commands us to go on to perfection

Idolatrous worship is an abomination

It is wrong to take part in the sins of others

False teachers in the church strengthen the enemy

The church was persecuting true Christians

Popish practises take the place of the bible

Believers should separate from idolatry

Robert Browne, a puritan preacher, began to preach in English churches without the bishops permission since he believed that the church was its own authority. Eventually, Browne began to establish independent churches in opposition to the Church of England. Puritanism led rise to congregational churches and as we will see English Baptist churches.

Later, a preacher named John Robinson adopted Puritan views and joined a separatist church. Because of persecution, he eventually fled to Holland where he pastored a congregation there. Robinson was called the Pastor of the Pilgrim Fathers because those he led would eventually sail for America on the Mayflower. While Robinson did not go with them on their voyage, he sent with them a letter commending them to the Lord.

These come-outers became known as Separatists.

Eventually one of them, John Smyth would lay the foundations for the English General Baptists. The modern day baptist church owes its origin to this movement.

The question we need to ask in the next few sermons is when is it appropriate to separate or leave. The bible is clear that God desires unity.

Ephesians 4:3 “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

1 Corinthians 1:10 “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

So who was right the stay-iners or the comeouters?

The Basis of Separation

The basis for biblical separation is the holiness of God. In Isa 6:1-3, God is declared to be thrice holy. He is perfectly holy, but what does that mean. When we think of holiness, we think of not doing wrong and it is true that holiness is moral purity, but it is important to understand why God is morally pure. The word holy in both the OT and the NT carry a connotation of being separated. A pot in the temple could be holy if it was separated only for God’s use. The priests were holy if they were set apart to the service of God. In order for something to be set apart to something it must also be set apart from something. That pot could not be taken and used as a chamber pot, or a water pot in someone’s house. It was separated onto God. But why does God need to be separated. God is eagerly committed to his own glory and that means he is separated from anything that will diminish that glory: ie sin, lies, error ect. He is perfect in every way because He is separate from every flaw.

in 1 Peter 1:16 “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” The church is commanded to be Holy as God is Holy. So our moral and doctrinal purity are important to God and to preserve that we must separate from everything which diminishes that holiness. In a few weeks, we will be looking at the biblical descriptions of what we must separate from, and how to make the decision on what to separate over. Some have been over eager to separate and cause divisions in the church. The bible calls these men heretics and usually the basis for their division is false teaching. We will look at that next week. So it is important for us to separate when God says to separate and not separate when God says not to lest we be schismatic.

I am going to argue that unity and separation need to be held in balance, but that there is a time to come out. There is a time to separate, but we should do so cautiously and carefully since God views division as heresy and separating brothers as an abomination. We are going to begin by looking at one passage as an illustration of separation in the church. This passage is often used as an example of Church discipline which it is, but it is also an example of separation.

1 Cor 5-

The sin involved- In vs 1, we are told that there is sin in the church. One man has committed fornication with his father’s wife. I believe this to be a reference to his step mother which would be categorized as the sin of incest in Leviticus 18:8 “The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.”

The Church’s response- They had not grieved over this sin, and they had just excused it, overlooked it. vs 2

Paul’s command to separate from him- The doctrine of separation comes into the chapter multiple times. It starts in vs 2 taken away from among you, vs 5 deliver such an one unto Satan, vs 7 purge out the old leaven, vs 9 don’t company, vs 11 no not to eat, vs 13 put away that wicked person.

But here is the problem, isn’t this man a brother in Christ. In vs 1, he is among you and vs 11 implies that this is a brother. Aren’t we supposed to fellowship with brothers? Does God want us to be united as Psalm 133:1 “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!” While unity and cooperation ought to be our goal, sometimes we need to separate to protect that unity.

The Motive for Separation

We are given four motivations in this passage for why we should separate:

for the sake of the sinning brother

for the benefit of the church

for the glory of Christ

for the sake of the lost

Let’s take those motives one by one. The first motive for separation is the benefit of the erring brother. As we will see in our later study this is not limited to merely unrepentant sinners. But it is important to take sin seriously. 1 Corinthians 5:5 “To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” Turning that brother over to Satan as hard as it might be, could be what is ultimately best for him. Separation sends a message that this is wrong. It also warns them of greater consequences. Sin brings death. It always destroys and brings consequences with it. Love for a brother does not overlook sin when that sin is destroying his life. Ultimately this motive is love.

Some fundamentalists have forgotten that this is the motive of separation. They take delight in the fight and not in the truth. This has led to nasty, hateful preachers who vehemently attack everyone who disagrees with them. Jude 3 has been our central text for this series, but I want us to notice the attitude behind Jude’s writing. Notice how many times the word love appears in his book vs 2,3, 12,17,21,22. Jude is a short book, but the motive for fighting for truth and moral purity is love first of all for those who are erring.

The second motive is the benefit of the church. Separation becomes necessary when the influence of sin could corrupt the church. 1 Corinthians 15:33 “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” This verse is arguing that other people do have influences in our lives and we must be careful not to allows that influence to spread and corrupt our walk with the Lord. So the church must separate to protect itself from moral and theological corruption. Paul uses a common illustration in the bible of leaven in 1 Corinthians 5:6–8 “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” . Leaven is often symbolic of bad things, but Jesus also used it to symbolize the Kingdom of God. But there are four negative types of leaven mentioned in NT:

leaven of Malice and Wickedness- This form of leaven is often overlooked in surveys on this topic, but it is the one Paul mentions here in the text. The leaven of malice and wickedness is the leaven of sin. We are to purge out the old leaven and malice and wickedness. Here I think Paul is saying don’t separate out of malice and wickedness, don’t have a hateful, cruel spirit; but rather do it with sincerity and truth. So it is important when separating from the leaven of sin that we don’t allow sin in our lives in the process. Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”

2. leaven of the Pharisees- religious externalism- legalism Matthew 16:6 “Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” The Pharisees were condemned for quite a few sins, but at the top of the list was a focus on external forms of religion and ignoring the heart. Everything was about how someone looked on the outside and what they did. As long as they wore certain clothes and went to certain activities they were spiritual. If we are not careful, fundamentalist churches can and have fallen to this leaven. The Pharisees also taught as the commandments of God the commandments of men. Their personal opinions and standards were taught as God’s law and they put burdens on people too hard to carry. Passages like this are why I believe it is expected for us to separate from legalistic churches even if the are Independent Fundamental Baptists.

3. leaven of the Sadducees- skepticism toward the supernatural- The Sadducees were the predecessors to our modern day liberals who denied biblical truth because they did not believe in the supernatural. They denied the resurrection, they didn’t believe in an afterlife and they denied the existence of angels.

4. leaven of the Herodians- worldly compromise Mark 8:15 “And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.” Another group that Jesus warned against were the herodians. The herodans were Jews who had compromised with Rome. They were very political oriented and accepting of the romans rule because it brought wealth. They are symbols of compromise with the world.

The third motive is the glory of Christ. In vs 7, we are told to purge out the old leaven but why? for even Christ is our passover sacrificed for us. This may not makes sense at first. How does this have anything to do with Christ. Christ is our perfect sacrifice. He is the pure unleavened bread. He died for that sin and allowing it into the body of Christ degrades his glory.

The fourth motive is the lost. In vs 9-13, we are told that we should put them away because God judges those that are without. A compromised church sends the message to the world that sin is Ok with God. I have planned a message on the sins of fundamentalism because when we allow sin in our midst it tells the church it is no big deal.

Consider the recent scandals that have come our about Bill Gothard in Shiny Happy People. The girls who were molested and abused and it was just swept under the rug. This is exactly how the church of Corinth was acting about the sin of incest. They didn’t deal with it. The world looks on at that and discounts everything Christianity says. There are many who are hardened against the faith because of sexual scandals and abuse in the church and it must never be excused and ignored. So we deal with sin, lest our reputation be besmirched to a lost world because they need the gospel. If they do not get saved they too will be judged.

The Act of Separation

Our text tells us what this separation looks like in vs 2,5, 7, 11, 13. We are to put away that person from our midst. This is literally separation. We are to turn them over to Satan which speaks of putting them outside the church and we are not even to eat with them.

Elsewhere we are told to mark and avoid.

Conclusion

So going back to our original question, who was right the Separatists or the Puritans. There is a time to stay in and fight as Jude tells us to contend, but sometimes there is a time to leave. I preach messages like this because I don’t think we understand the biblical truth on issues like these. Many feel it is unloving to put up walls with other believers. But it is really exactly the opposite. Later on we will look in more detail into when we should separate and when we should not.