2 Corinthians 6:16
“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.”
When a person gets saved, their body becomes the temple of the Holy Ghost. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” That means that your body is the place where the Holy Ghost lives. This is an amazing statement for God is showing how sacred our bodies should be. As God set aside everything inside the Mosaic temple from profane use, God also expects the Christian to use their body in such a holy manner because the Holy Ghost dwells inside of them.
In order to keep the body from being profaned, God commanded the Christian in verse 17 to “come out from among them, and be ye separate…” Separation from the world is important because the Holy Ghost lives inside of you. As much as many would not like to address this subject, separation is important because your body is the temple where the Holy Ghost dwells. You find in the verse above that there are three benefits of separating from the world.
First, separation gives you personal access. Notice that God says, “I will dwell in them…” If only every Christian would recognize how sacred their body is to God. You have no right to do to your body what you want to do. You have no right to take your body to any place you want to go. You have no right because your body is no longer yours. You have personal access because He dwells in you. Never take for granted the access you have. You should live a separated life because of this personal access.
Second, separation gives you personal fellowship. God continues to say that He will “walk in them.” Fellowship is that line of communication one has with another. My fellowship with my parents was dependent upon how well I followed their rules. This fellowship dictated my attitude towards them and theirs towards me. Likewise, our fellowship with God will dictate our attitude towards Him. If you are not living according to the Word of God, your fellowship will be strained. The only reason a Christian would not enjoy the Christian life is because their lifestyle has strained their fellowship with God. If you want to have sweet fellowship with God on a daily basis, then you need to live the separated life.
Third, separation gives you personal power. God shows that He wants us to separate because He wants to be our God. In other words, He wants to be the one in the Christian’s life to empower them to serve Him. The better a Christian lives the separated life, the better their fellowship is with God which gives them more power to do His works.
Friend, separation from the world should not be a dirty word; rather, it should bring endearment to the Christian as it gives them personal access, fellowship and power. You should not live the separated life to show how good of a Christian you are to others, but you should live the separated life so that you don’t grieve the Holy Ghost who dwells within you. When the Holy Ghost feels at home in your life, you will find that sweetness of the personal access, fellowship and power.