Change, Part 2

Posted by Michael Bunker
editor@lazarusunbound.com

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

November 26, 2004 – In our first article on Change, we discussed the many unbiblical reasons that people rush to temporally change their lives.  Pride, unreal expectations, dissatisfaction – these things often lead to changes merely made for the sake of change.  The root of all of these unbiblical motivations, regardless of how the motivation manifests itself, is FEAR.  Most men and women who call themselves “christians” have a fear of freedom.  They cannot trust Christ and His promises, and they cannot believe the plain text of the Bible.

Now let us look at the other extreme in the category of Change – Immobility or Fear of Change.  No matter what a man says about himself; no matter what swelling words he uses to convince you of his desire for godliness; no matter how closely he follows your teaching or how pricked he is by the truths presented from the Bible – the Bible teaches that we shall know them by FRUIT:

“Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:16-21).

This section of verses from Matthew is not particularly talking about the fruit of the Spirit that we find described in Galatians chapter 5.  God is teaching here that we don’t know a man by what he says, or by what he says he believes… his true beliefs are made known by his ACTIONS.  Let us look at the two sections of verses we have examined so far….

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty

God’s commanded will is that His people come out from among THEM and be separate.  We shall be known as His sons and daughters if the Holy Spirit brings us OUT from among the wicked.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven

Not everyone who claims to be a Christian is a Christian.  We will know the true Christians because they will be caused by the Spirit of God to be obedient to His declared will.  Those that do the declared will of the Father in heaven are the ones who enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.  Jesus said in the fifth chapter of John’s gospel that he never said or did anything unless the Father in heaven said it or did it.  When Jesus commanded His children to come out from among them, it was because it is the declared will of the Father that all of His children will come out.  This fact is also declared throughout every type and shadow in the Old Testament – which was given for our edification and for our instruction.

God’s Church (in Abraham) was commanded to get out of the former country and to go unto a land that God would show unto him… to live separate from his old kindred.

God’s Church was caused to come out from among the Egyptians and from their bondage.

God’s Church was commanded to dwell alone in the land and to not go to the world for assistance or protection.

God’s Church was commanded to go unto Christ without the camp, bearing His reproach.

God’s Church was caused to go out from Canaan before Jerusalem was destroyed.

God’s Church was caused to go out from Rome so that Rome could be judged.

God’s Church was caused to flee persecution in Europe and to flee to the desert where she was to dwell alone.

The modernist apostate “christian” system has succumbed to a religion of catchphrases and mantras, rather than a belief system based solely on the revealed and commanded Word of God.  What follows is a “fictional” conversation between the Editor and a man we will call Religious Worldling.  The actual conversation is not fictional at all, but is the conglomeration of many conversations I have had with pastors and preachers around the world who reject the Bible’s teaching on Separatism:

Mr. RW: I have read some of your writings on Christian Separatism, and I fear you are doing your readers a great disservice, and are leading them into error on this point.

Editor:  Well, I certainly would not want to lead anyone into error.  Maybe you can help me, then.  I am always willing to be corrected by the contextual teaching of scripture.  Where have you found me in error?

Mr. RW:  Christian Separatism is not Biblical.  The Bible teaches that Christians are to be “in the world, but not of it”.  Teaching Christians to not be in the world is teaching them to violate the scripture.  There are two great errors that Christians have to avoid: Separatism and Syncretism.  Christians are not to be separate, but neither are we to be worldly.  The truth lies somewhere in between.

Editor:  I think I understand what you are saying.  Could you show me where in the scripture you have found these exact words… to “be in the world, but not of it”?  I would appreciate it if you would assist my feeble memory, but I have in front of me the King James Bible and would like to be able to read the context of that verse.

Mr. RW:  Sure.  I just taught a series on this at our Church.  You can find those words in John the 17^th Chapter, verses 14-16.

Editor:  Actually I cannot find those words in the Gospel of John, or in any other book of the Bible as a matter of fact.  The exact phrase “in the world, but not of it” is not in the Bible at all.  That exact phrase is actually a Sufi Islamic saying that was picked up by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages.  Anyone who likes can do an internet search on the exact phrase and you will find that what I am saying is true.  The one place you will not find that exact phrase, is in the Holy Bible.

Mr. RW:  Ok, I understand what you are doing.  Sure, the exact phrase is not in the Bible, but the teaching is right there in the 17^th Chapter of John.

Editor:  I will agree that the twisted version of worldliness being taught today has been violently wrenched out of the prayer of Jesus in the 17^th Chapter of John; but I will not agree for a second that Jesus is teaching (contrary to the teaching of the whole Bible) that Christians are to compromise between Separatism and Syncretism by rejecting Separatism and only partly embracing Syncretism.  The Bible teaches Separatism for God’s true Church from beginning to end, and only by rejecting thousands of other scriptures, both literally and in type, can one come to the conclusions that teachers like you are pushing on Christianity.  Let us look at the context and teaching of the prayer of Jesus in the 17^th Chapter of John and see if your Sufi saying holds water:

“I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:14-17).

First we must understand the word “world” in each context that it is used.  The word “world” is translated from the Greek word “Kosmos”, and can have several different meanings, depending on the context in which it is used.  I quote here from the teaching of the great writer and teacher Mr. A.W. Pink on the different meanings of the word “world” in the scripture, and I ask you to investigate each meaning in context.  You will find Mr. Pink is correct in each case:

"Kosmos" is used of the Universe as a whole: Acts 17: 24 - "God that made the world and all things therein seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth."

"Kosmos" is used of the earth: John 13:1; Eph. 1:4, etc., etc.- "When Jesus knew that his hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world He loved them unto the end." "Depart out of this world" signifies, leave this earth. "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world." This expression signifies, before the earth was founded—compare Job 38:4 etc.

"Kosmos" is used of the world-system: John 12:31 etc. "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the Prince of this world be cast out"— compare Matt. 4:8 and I John 5:19, R. V.

"Kosmos" is used of the whole human race: Rom. 3: 19, etc.—"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."

"Kosmos" is used of humanity minus believers: John 15:18; Rom. 3:6 "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you." Believers do not "hate" Christ, so that "the world" here must signify the world of unbelievers in contrast from believers who love Christ. "God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world." Here is another passage where "the world" cannot mean "you, me, and everybody," for believers will not be "judged" by God, see John 5:24. So that here, too, it must be the world of unbelievers which is in view. is used of humanity minus believers: John 15:18; Rom. 3:6 "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you." Believers do not "hate" Christ, so that "the world" here must signify the world of unbelievers in contrast from believers who love Christ. "God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world." Here is another passage where "the world" cannot mean "you, me, and everybody," for believers will not be "judged" by God, see John 5:24. So that here, too, it must be the world of unbelievers which is in view.

"Kosmos" is used of Gentiles in contrast from Jews: Rom. 11:12 etc. "Now if the fall of them (Israel) be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them (Israel) the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their (Israel’s) fulness." Note how the first clause in italics is defined by the latter clause placed in italics. Here, again, "the world" cannot signify all humanity for it excludes Israel!

"Kosmos" is used of believers only: John 1:29; 3:16, 17; 6:33; 12;47; I Cor. 4:9; 2 Cor. 5:19. We leave our readers to turn to these passages, asking them to note, carefully, exactly what is said and predicated of "the world" in each place. (A.W. Pink – The Meaning of Kosmos in John 3:16).

The term “kosmos” or “world” as it is used in the verses you have quoted from the 17^th Chapter of John, ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT mean “the culture”, but it means “the universe as a whole”, or “the earth”.  You will find this to be true because it is used that way in this very chapter, before and after the verses you have quoted.

In verse 11, we find Jesus praying to the Father and instructing the disciples that He is going to leave the EARTH (17:4) and go to HEAVEN:

“And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are” (John 17:11).

In verse 24, we find Jesus praying to the Father that the ones given to Jesus by the Father will one day be with Him where He is going :

“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24).

So we see that the word “world” in this chapter can absolutely NOT mean “the world culture” or “the unsaved world”, but it means “the created universe”, or, “the earth”.  God has not chosen to take us off the planet to Heaven while we are alive, but has chosen to leave us in His created universe for His glory.  The very same chapter teaches that:

1.)   Jesus does not pray for the unsaved and wicked world (John 17:9).

2.)   Jesus only prays for and loves the ones who either believe on Him now, or who will be caused to believe on Him through the teaching of the disciples, which is inclusive of the total sum of those who are given to Christ by the Father (John 17:20, 17:6).

Jesus not only does not specifically teach us to be “in the world” as in the culture of the world; but He specifically teaches us the exact opposite:

1.)     He teaches that we are not of the world (the world culture), just as He was not of the world culture, but lived separately from the world culture (John 17:14).

2.)     He prays that the father will sanctify (separate and purify) us from the world system (17:16-17)

3.)     He prays that since He is leaving the created world, that the Father will protect and keep unified and separated from the world those whom the Father has given Him.

4.)     He claims that while He was with His disciples in the created world, He protected them and separated them from the world (John 17:12).

5.)     He promises that the world HATES His children, because they are not a part of the world culture (John 17:14).

Now you, and preachers like you, are teaching a compromise between Separatism (coming out and being separate from the world) and Syncretism (fully embracing the world system), but there can be no compromise between these two systems.  The Bible teaches Separatism throughout, and ANY step at all in the direction of embracing the world culture is Syncretism.  You cannot be halfway between these two teachings, by definition.

Mr. RW:  I can see why people are convinced by you, but our own experience and understanding of how the world works requires that Christians, in order to evangelize the world, be in the world.

Editor:  I am not here to convince anyone.  Declaring the truth will convince those who God chooses to know the truth; while it will cause the world to hate us, even as Christ has said.  Now once again you confuse terms, while the very conversation we are having refutes your argument.  Here I am as a Separatist (which you yourself claim that I am).  I am in the created universe, existing on this planet (which is what John 17 claims), yet I desire more than anything to be, and am continuously being, separated from the world culture into Christian Community.  You admit this is true of me by calling me a Separatist.  Yet here I am evangelizing you.  You are lost in a world of lies, and I am declaring the truth of the Bible to you; this is the very heart of evangelism.  I do not have to embrace and live in the world’s culture, live in the world’s cities, nor partake of the world’s dainties in order to evangelize.  My LIFE is evangelism, and yet I am a Separatist.  Merely separating from you and your ilk is evangelism, because the truth is manifest by Christians walking in the LIGHT of scripture.  The LIGHT is the light of men.  LIGHT is contrasted with darkness.  Light which is mixed up with darkness loses it’s attribute of light-ness.  Light is the most effective when it is gathered together in strength, where it stands as a rebuke to darkness.  What you have taught is NOT what the Bible teaches, and cannot refute the entire teaching of God’s Word on the subject.  You can rest assured that the Bible is a Separatist book.  The very word “Holy” means SEPARATE, and there can be no holiness without separatism.  There is only Separatism and Syncretism.  One is true and one is false.

RW:  I cannot agree with you.  Experience denies it.  The whole history of the Church is one of growing outward into the world evangelistically.

Editor:  There you are wrong again, and it seems you have now coupled your ignorance of scripture with a profound ignorance of history.  The History of the true Church is a history of Separatism.

Christ separated out His apostles from among men.  They were to leave their jobs and lives and be dedicated to Him alone.  Those who Christ evangelized were of two sorts… Christ saw a great multitude following Him and separated them by giving commandment that they should “depart to the other side” (Matthew 8:18).  Some refused to follow and made excuses because they had pressing business in the world (even after claiming that they would follow Him “withersoever” He went!)  Only His chosen disciples followed Him.  This is separation.  Out of the “great multitude” only His disciples followed Him.

God calls His true Church to separate and to live in community.  It is their fear and wickedness that calls them back into the world before long.   We see in history the pattern of God separating the Church, and apostasy creeping in that causes them to join once again to the world.

When 3,000 believed during the day of Pentecost, they immediately separated from their old lives, sold their properties and began to live in community with the Christians in Jerusalem.  When persecution began after the stoning of Stephen, the Christians separated from Jerusalem into Christian communities abroad.  Christians eventually drifted back into Jerusalem and back into a life of Syncretism, but when the Romans began to surround Jerusalem, the Christians separated completely into a Christian community in Pella.  Once again Syncretism set in, and once again God brought persecution and death to the Church through the Caesars to separate out the real Christians from the mere professors.  Christians again separated into Christian communities in the countryside and in the caves and catacombs.

True Christians were caused to flee syncretism with Rome and to separate during the Reformation.  After the decrees of Conformity, Christians once again fled syncretism and separated into Puritan Christian communities.

So, do not attempt to twist what History teaches.  History teaches that Separatism is the work of God, and that Syncretism is the work of the devil.  There IS NO MIDDLE GROUND.

RW:  I see that there is no reasoning with you, so I will leave you alone in your error.

Editor:  I will be taught from the Bible, but if it is your reasoning alone that you require that I worship, I will of course refuse.

Obedience requires that we heed the commandments of God.  Only the truly regenerated elect of God will have ears to hear what God has commanded of us.  Separation is not an option for God’s elect… it is a commandment.  As the scriptures says, “come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord”.  Fear of freedom prevents most who believe that they are called of God from ever separating from the world.  Modernist lies and mantras, based on Sufi sayings and not the plain and contextual teaching of Scripture have overwhelmed the professing “church”.  Change for its own sake and because of pride, because of worldly ambition or because of dissatisfaction with God’s lot for us is unbiblical; but God requires change of us when it comes to sanctification, holiness and separatism.

Remember, the world has made Separatism into a foul word for the same reason that Jesus said they cannot love Him or His children.  They love death and reject wisdom.  The world needs Christians to bow to it, but Christians definitely do not need the world.  The desire for comfort, security, and insurance against calamity is NOT a Christian desire; and immobility caused by fear of the future and of the unknown flies directly in the face of what Christ taught His disciples.

But… how will I pay my bills and feed my family?

How will I live?

God commanded that we work, NOT so that we could pay our bills and feed our families.  HE has promised to feed His children.  We were commanded to work for God’s purposes in bringing about our perfection.  We don’t work to live!  In Christ “we live and move and have our being”.  We work because we are commanded to work.  Be honest with yourself!  If you do not follow Christ in His commandment that we separate ourselves and live in loving Christian community it is because you love the world and you are afraid of freedom.  Repentance begins with the gift of believing the truth about ourselves.  However, people do not obey simply because they lack faith.  But Christ is the fountainhead of faith.  All who truly desire to grow into maturity and perfection in Christ should pray as the disciples did, “Lord, increase our faith” (Luke 17:5).  All others are mere professors, and they are known NOT by their words, but by their deeds.

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

I am your servant I Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

 
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