# Set Apart ![rw-book-cover](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/819CW5Ylf7L._SY160.jpg) ## Metadata - Author: [[Mark Sidwell]] - Full Title: Set Apart - Category: #books ## Highlights - The purpose of this book is to supplement, not to supplant, other studies. One of my goals is to present an introductory work on the topic that laymen can profitably use. ([Location 65](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=65)) - I also want to help Christians see how separation applies to trends and movements in history and even more in today’s religious scene. ([Location 69](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=69)) - This book is written from an unashamedly Fundamentalist viewpoint. ([Location 73](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=73)) - separation. I wholeheartedly believe that of all contemporary religious movements, Fundamentalism most closely follows the biblical pattern for separation. But I am more concerned that readers practice separation in a biblical manner than I am whether they bear the label Fundamentalist. ([Location 75](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=75)) - This book is titled The Dividing Line. As certainly as Christ separates the sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:32–33), so there is a divide between truth and error. Separation involves discerning that line and taking a stand on the right side of that line. ([Location 77](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=77)) - The issues involved in biblical separation are not minor ones. Just before God brought judgment on Korah and his rebellious followers, Moses said to the children of Israel, ([Location 81](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=81)) - “Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins” (Num. 16:26). Fundamentalists view the dividing line of scriptural separation with that same seriousness. ([Location 82](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=82)) - What is biblical separation? The basic idea is that Christians should strive to be free from sin. More specifically, ([Location 118](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=118)) - they are to be separated to God and from sin. ([Location 119](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=119)) - A popular way of summarizing this deliverance is to say that Jesus delivers sinners from the penalty of sin (the punishment in hell due for their sin), the power of sin (the corrupt habit of sin in the life as a result of natural corruption from Adam), and ultimately the presence of sin (in heaven, where believers will suffer neither inner sinfulness nor association with the sins of others). The practice of separation from sin in this life is one aspect of this deliverance from sin. ([Location 122](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=122)) - Generally, we look at separation as an expression of sanctification. Sanctification, in turn, is usually discussed as a part of soteriology, the doctrines concerning salvation. (Soteriology is from the Greek soteria, meaning “salvation.”) ([Location 128](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=128)) - There are two aspects to sanctification, sometimes called positional and progressive sanctification. When a person is born again by the work of the Holy Spirit and converted, he or she is “set apart” (which is basically what sanctify means). The believer is positionally “in Christ” and therefore set apart to God. The holiness of Christ is credited to the Christian so that God views the believer as holy (1 Cor. 1:30). In this aspect, sanctification is closely connected to justification, in which God declares the sinner righteous by imputing (or crediting) to that person the righteousness of Christ. ([Location 132](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=132)) - At the same time, newly converted Christians are far from mature. They will undergo a process of learning more about Christ and about God’s Word. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and on the basis of Christ’s atonement, believers will by degrees triumph over the power of sin in their lives. In short, believers will, as Peter puts it, “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18). This is progressive sanctification. ([Location 136](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=136)) - Please keep another thought in mind. The goal of sanctification is “to be conformed to the image” of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29), that is, to become more like Christ in thought, action, and all manner of life. Since separation is a part of the doctrine of sanctification, then the goal of separation is to become more like Christ. ([Location 151](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=151)) - Personal separation is the practice of individual sanctification, a refusal to follow the world’s philosophy in thought and action. A general supplication in the Book of Common Prayer contains this plea: “From all inordinate and sinful affections; and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh and the devil; Good Lord, deliver us.” Personal separation is the working out of a Christian’s deliverance from “the world, the flesh, and the devil” in daily life. ([Location 160](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=160)) - So what is worldliness? People often define it in terms of some of its outward activities, but actually it goes much deeper than that. We can define worldliness as an affection ([Location 166](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=166)) - for and an attachment to some aspect of the present arrangement of things. This attachment includes the world’s thought patterns, amusements, fads, habits, philosophies, goals, friendships, practices and lifestyles. Worldliness is a matter of inward attitudes, motives and yearnings as well as outward activities.1 ([Location 167](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=167)) - Ecclesiastical separation is in many ways simply an extension of the principles of personal separation. The difference is that it is not practiced on the individual level but on the corporate church level. The main idea is that Christians refuse to align themselves with false doctrine or unbelief and that they reject the willful practice of disobedience. In the case of theological error, Christians expose false teachings and warn other Christians against them. In the case of willful disobedience, Christians separate from the disobedient believer to preserve the purity of the church and to restore the erring Christian to full fellowship through discipline. ([Location 172](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=172)) - This form of separation involves not only separation from false teaching but also from unregenerate false teachers who, like wolves “in sheep’s clothing” (Matt. 7:15), pose as Christians but are actually “false prophets” who teach “damnable heresies” (2 Pet. 2:1). ([Location 180](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=180)) - Some other terms you may hear are first-degree and second-degree separation (or sometimes primary and secondary separation). Usually, writers or preachers use these in reference to ecclesiastical separation. First-degree separation is the term for refusing to cooperate with false teachers in religious activities. Second-degree separation is refusing to have fellowship with anyone who does not practice first-degree separation. ([Location 183](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=183)) - Two other terms you sometimes hear in connection with separation are exclusivism and inclusivism. Simply put, exclusivism is the separatist position, and inclusivism is the nonseparatist position. The Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy of the 1920s illustrates these terms. The fundamentalists sought to exclude liberals from their denominations—their churches, schools, mission boards, and other agencies. The modernists (the liberal party), however, did not seek to exclude the fundamentalists. Rather, they wanted to include all shades of belief within the denominations, everything from fundamentalism to outright liberalism. For the separatist, the exclusion ([Location 197](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=197)) - of false teaching is necessary, and the inclusion of such teaching in a religious fellowship is a violation of God’s Word. ([Location 201](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=201)) - In this book, however, we will focus on three issues in separation—separation from the world, separation from false teachers, and separation from disobedient fellow Christians. ([Location 204](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=204)) - Nevertheless, history is not the test of truth. We do not judge the rightness of separation by whether it has historical precedent but by whether it accords with the Bible. Still, historical precedent helps us understand the nature of separation and gives us some idea of how it has been practiced in the past. ([Location 208](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=208)) - Throughout history, the idea of personal separation from worldliness has usually not been questioned, although there have been lively debates about what constitutes worldliness. Such separation has long been considered one of the marks of a Christian. ([Location 211](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=211)) - Monks also tended to see the discipline of monasticism as a means to greater holiness. But Scripture presents discipline as the outgrowth of the work of God’s grace in the Christian’s heart. Monasticism provides a historical example of the importance of grounding separation in the teaching of Scripture and not simply applying the principle according to one’s own viewpoint or desires. ([Location 226](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=226)) - The early church councils were not designed to promote unity at all costs, as is commonly thought, but to draw clearly the line between truth and error.11 ([Location 247](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=247)) - The Reformation is one of the clearest examples of ecclesiastical separation. Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, and John Knox opposed the false teachings that had emerged in the Roman Catholic Church. ([Location 252](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=252)) - Do not lose sight of the basic idea that Christians should strive to be free from sin. As the apostle Paul wrote, “Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good” (Rom. 12:9). ([Location 258](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=258)) - It may have occurred to you that if separation is simply striving to be free from sin, why would any Christian question the practice? Virtually no professing believer argues that a Christian should not seek to be free from sin. For a “Christian” objection to separation to be credible, it needs at least to appear to have some biblical basis. ([Location 261](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=261)) - One of the dangers in arguing an important point of doctrine and practice is the possibility of imbalance. A long-distance runner strives for the optimal balance between speed and energy conservation. If he errs too far in either direction, he will finish poorly—if at all. ([Location 270](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=270)) - Theologians must constantly balance truths that operate in tension with each other. ([Location 278](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=278)) - What teachings do critics offer to offset separation? Christian unity is an obvious one. The Bible’s warning against the sin of schism is another. Likewise the scriptural commands for association with others (for evangelism and witness) present an apparent contrast to separation. We will look at each of these dichotomies in turn as well as the most important, the alleged tension between holiness and love. ([Location 283](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=283)) - John 17:20–23, where Jesus prays “that they all may be one,” and Ephesians 4:1–16, where Paul tells believers “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” are two major passages that reflect God’s desire for His people to maintain spiritual unity. ([Location 288](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=288)) - Lloyd-Jones points out that the unity Christ prays for in John 17 is restricted to believers (“them which thou hast given me”). Lloyd-Jones notes that “we must emphasize the element of separation and distinction. Our Lord does not pray for the world; He prays only for these people who have been given to Him.”3 Second, Lloyd-Jones says the origin of unity is in the work of God. Christians maintain the unity God has given and do not create unity. ([Location 292](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=292)) - Third, he says the unity commanded in John 17 must be of the same nature as the unity between the Father and the Son: “that they may be one, even as we are one.” Only those regenerated by the Holy Spirit and brought into union with the Father through Christ can enjoy this kind of unity. ([Location 297](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=297)) - In dealing with Ephesians 4, Lloyd-Jones points out that Ephesians 1–3 shows that this passage relates to those who are already “in Christ,” who are already saved. ([Location 300](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=300)) - always remember the order stated so clearly in Acts 2:42, where fellowship follows doctrine: ‘They continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.’”5 ([Location 303](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=303)) - spiritual unity assumes a common commitment to God and His truth. ([Location 306](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=306)) - Lloyd-Jones defines schism as “division in the true visible church about matters that are not sufficient to justify division or separation.”7 The Bible often warns against schisms (divisions) in the church (1 Cor. 12:25; Rom. 16:17; Gal. 5:20). We use the word heresy to describe a dangerously false teaching, but in Scripture the word often has the meaning of “division” (1 Cor. 11:19; Gal. 5:20). Heresy came to mean “false doctrine” probably because false teachings create divisions (cf. 2 Pet. 2:1). ([Location 310](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=310)) - Schism is a sin, but separation is not necessarily the same thing as schism. Schism can exist without separation. Lloyd-Jones points out that the Corinthian church suffered from schism, but it had not actually broken into separate churches.8 ([Location 320](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=320)) - A third argument made by critics of separation is an appeal to the biblical command to associate with sinners in order to witness to them of salvation through Christ. ([Location 328](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=328)) - A believer’s total isolation from the world is not only impossible but also undesirable. Jesus has left us “in the world” (John 17:11) so that He can send us “into the world” (John 17:18). ([Location 332](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=332)) - But it is a mistake to believe that necessary Christian association with those who are not right with God justifies Christians patterning themselves after sinners and sharing their sinful lifestyles. With Jesus as our pattern, we can be certain that it is God’s will for us while we are “in the world” (John 17:11) not to be “of the world” (John 17:14, 16). ([Location 336](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=336)) - Jesus prayed for us to this end: “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil” (John 17:15). ([Location 340](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=340)) - Fred Moritz rightly titled his study of separation “Be Ye Holy”: The Call to Christian Separation, observing, “The purpose of separation is the ongoing effort by the local church or the believer to imitate the holiness of God.” ([Location 353](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=353)) - Holiness and love are not opposites ([Location 356](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=356)) - If separatists misunderstand holiness, they will practice separation in unbiblical ways, and the same holds true for the nonseparatist’s misunderstanding of love.16 ([Location 359](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=359)) - Holiness is essentially uniqueness or “differentness.” ([Location 361](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=361)) - Biblical holiness is different in that it represents good rather than evil, moral light rather than darkness, God rather than Satan. Our fallen world is characterized by evil, darkness, and the domination of Satan. To be holy in the biblical sense is to manifest a character displaying goodness, light, and the rule of God. ([Location 363](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=363)) - As Ernest Pickering and Myron Houghton write, “God is a separatist. He is separated from all that is evil. Holiness is a principle of His nature. It is consistent, therefore, to expect that bodies which He would establish upon this earth to represent Him would be required to be holy (separated) as well. They would be expected to mirror His character.”17 ([Location 366](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=366)) - The goal of progressive sanctification is to grow toward greater holiness and purity of life. ([Location 369](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=369)) - But one implication of the biblical teaching of holiness—perhaps the most important one—is that holiness is not primarily an external attribute. ([Location 372](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=372)) - Holiness is first and foremost a matter of the heart. ([Location 375](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=375)) - A Christian whose consumption of entertainment is indistinguishable from that of people of the world has no right to claim that his or her heart is truly holy toward God. ([Location 383](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=383)) - Wherever there is a choice to be made between what reflects the character of God and what reflects the character of Satan, the heart that chooses for God is the holy heart, and the heart that sides with Satan is unholy. ([Location 385](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=385)) - A truly holy life, then, is one that is different from the world in a way that identifies it with God. Holiness begins in the heart; without holiness of heart there can be no holiness of life. But holiness never ends in the heart. The disposition of the heart manifests itself outwardly, and, to an increasing degree, as a believer matures in Christ. ([Location 388](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=388)) - The differences that identify a person with God are supernatural character traits such as selflessness toward others, joy in the midst of suffering, a genuine love of the Scriptures, and a prayerful recognition of and confidence in God’s hand at work where others see only fate and random chance. ([Location 416](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=416)) - Holiness softens a Christian’s manners and seasons his speech. ([Location 419](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=419)) - Someone who claims to live by biblical standards of holiness can be exactly like the Pharisees, whose circumcision affected their flesh but not their hearts. ([Location 419](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=419)) - The Bible leaves no doubt, though, about the nature of genuine love. Because God is the source of love (1 John 4:16, 19), we must form our conception of love on the basis of how the Bible describes God’s love. ([Location 430](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=430)) - So let us lay down a provisional definition of love along these lines: love is a disposition to act in the highest interests of the loved one, regardless of the cost to the one who loves. Such a disposition may or may not involve an emotional attachment to the loved object. Emotion is a negotiable component; self-sacrificial commitment is not. A love that lacks this commitment is not the love that God exercises and commands us to exercise. ([Location 436](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=436)) - We have defined our terms: holiness is a difference from the world that identifies us with God in opposition to Satan, and love is a self-sacrificing commitment to act in the highest interest of those we love. ([Location 462](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=462)) - In fact, we can equate perfect love and holiness with sinlessness. To the extent that we are like God, we do not sin. To the extent that we strive unselfishly to press forward the work of God in people’s lives, we do not sin. If holiness and love, properly understood, equate with sinlessness, then we must place no limit on either. ([Location 467](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=467)) - Those who truly love will zealously pursue true holiness because their becoming like Christ is both God’s desire and their own highest goal. The proper response of fundamentalists who are charged with a lack of love is twofold. First, fundamentalists must examine themselves to consider the validity of the charges, repenting of any failure that may validate them. Second, having reaffirmed the conviction that they are acting in obedience to Scripture, for the sake of God and others rather than self, they should point out any evident misunderstanding by nonseparatists of the true meaning of love and holiness. ([Location 486](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01LYTRQZM&location=486))