SATURDAY, JULY 8
2 Corinthians 6:14-18
2 Corinthians 6:17

"Wherefore come out from among them,
and be ye separate…"

MEANING OF SANCTIFICATION (2)

To illustrate the meaning of sanctification, we can observe the Tabernacle or the Temple of the Lord. First, it is separated unto the Lord. Second, it is dedicated or consecrated unto the Lord. And finally, it is filled with the holy presence of the Lord as His pleasant approval and acceptance of the dedication.

Be Separated unto the Lord: The Tabernacle is of the Lord, and as the Lord is holy, it must be separated from other tents, from uncleanness and from other common use. It is a holy place where God’s people come to meet Him and worship Him. "And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation" (Exod 33:7), and "Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them" (Lev 15:31), and "And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death" (Num 1:51).

If we are truly God’s people, we are His holy temple. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are" (1 Cor 3:16-17), and our "body is the temple of the Holy Ghost" (1 Cor 6:19). Therefore, we must be separated unto the Lord as without biblical separation there is no true sanctification. "… I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people… And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed (separated) you from other people, that ye should be mine" (Lev 20:24, 26), and "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you" (2 Cor 6:17). Thus, we must never follow any compromising stance, but be separated unto our holy Lord.

THOUGHT: Without separation, there is no true sanctification.
PRAYER: O Lord, keep me separated unto Thee always.