Sifting and Separating

The only thing that can lead you and me safely, securely, confidently, and continuously, is the will of God. God, His will, His Christ, His Holy Spirit, His Word, is above all of our weaknesses and incapacity.

1 Thes. 4:3-4, “For this is the will of God, (even) your sanctification, that we should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor.”

Jhn.17:17, “Jesus said, "Sanctify them (all those that are His) through your truth: Your Word is truth…” In the verse before 17, He says those that are of Him are not of this world system.

This is why sifting and separating, in Lk. 22:31-32, is imperative and necessary. We are in this world system, but we are not of it (Jhn. 17:16). Jesus was in this world system, yet never of it (Jhn. 17:14).

Heb. 4:12, “the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the mind and emotions.”

Rom. 8:9, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” The flesh is in us, but we are not of it.

2 Cor. 4:7, “But we have this treasure (Christ in us) in these vessels (these fragile clay jars), that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

Please notice with me the word OF in all of these verses.

Nothing about us, in Christ and Christ in us, is anything like this world system. Not even one thought or action. The word sanctification means to separate from something and to set into another.

This is why sifting and separating by God, through His Christ, His Word, His Holy Spirit, is imperative for those that He so loves.

It is the love of our Father, entering into the activity of our lives, with a jealous, consuming love (Ex. 20:5; Deut. 4:24). It is His love for us that does the sifting, shaking, and separating (Heb. 12:25-29). It is His love completed for us that casts out worldly fear and sorrow (2 Cor. 7:10; 1 Jhn. 4:17-18).

For more on ‘sifting and separating’ look up “Separation of Self”