SEPARATION
Do you wonder why you pray for salvation, you feel that you are saved and after sometimes you find yourself back into sin? Are you concerned why you keep confessing sins and committing the same sins over and over again? Do you wonder or are you troubled with falling and rising into sin and confessing and committing sin? The reason is not far fetch. It is not because you are weak or weaker than other Christians who are moving forward in their Christian race. You need to understand that nobody is a superman in the Christian race, there may only be something you lack all this while.

You might have been concerned and bothered why your case is always forwarding and back warding in your Christian life as if you are super weak. And the devil, the deceiver, might have been bringing different thoughts into your mind that you better drop this thing you call being born again, that it is humanly impossible. And when you hear or read the news of a Christian brother or sister or a pastor who is caught in sinful acts, the devil may tell you, “Don’t I tell you all these born againism is a scam? They are all fake, it is impossible to live a holy life, don’t disturb yourself, continue in your sin, only heaven who knows those who will make.” My friend, that thought and notion is from the devil to deep you in the cooler of sin for eternal damnation.

Have you been struggling with a particular sin in your Christian life that is making you to move forward and backward and this keep you at the same spot in your Christian life without spiritual progress in your Christian life. You have confessed tired, you have prayed and prayed about the sinful habit, and you even joined your prayer with fasting, but nothing changes. When you are free for few period, you get back bigger and worst. The devil will also whisper to you, “Don’t worry, don’t disturb yourself about it, it is your weakness, everybody has a weakness. Don’t even think of overcoming it, just manage it.” My beloved, such whispering is from the pit of hell. You cannot manage sin and make heaven, you must overcome it. Heaven is not meant for Christians who manage sins but Christians who overcome sins.

Some Christian members, workers and even now you are a leader, minister and this sinful nature still persist, then you may conclude it is not a sin or God will overlook it, at least you have tried your best to overcome it but it seems impossible. But you need to know that God cannot overlook sin, He never did and He will never do because He has made available the possibility to overcome sins through Jesus Christ, so He cannot overlook sin. And you must know that Bible says no unrighteous thing shall enter heaven. So, sin must be conquered in your life. That is the reason this message is coming to you at this particular time.

What you lack is what you need, what you need is what you need to listen to now. All these times you have been confessing your sins, all these while you have been praying and fasting, you have done several things, you have answered several altar calls, you have cried and cried about it. But one thing you lack, and that you have never done since. And that is what I am sharing with you now. Without this, you will keep confessing and committing sin, you will keep moving forward and backward, you will keep staying at the same spot in your Christian life.

And what is that you need? It is called SEPARATION!

Separation is something you must do after you are saved, in fact immediately you confessed your sins and ask God to forgive you, the next step you must take is not how to join a church, but the step of total separation. Total separation from your old lifestyle. You must separate yourself from what and where you were saved from.

Have you read or heard about Saul of Tarsus in the Bible? He was so deep in sinful life, so demonic and such a terrible man that he even persecuted and killed Christians. But he became one of the finest Christians in the Bible and in the history of Christianity. How come? How did he do it? Listen, if satan is telling you that you are a worst sinner and you have gone beyond redemption, it is nothing but a lie, Saul of Tarsus was one of the foulest sinners and he became the finest saint. But then he did something that turned around his Christian life and that thing is what you never did, which is separation. And as you do it now by the grace of God, your Christian life will never remain the same again and you are going to be a great Christian in the hand of a Mighty God. You are going to overcome and prevail and help others and win souls into the kingdom of God.

You know, Satan will paint serving God and walking with God in holiness as the most difficult and impossible thing. But it is one of the easiest things. Why? Because it is not by your power or your might, it is by the grace and strength of God. All we need from our side is to simply yield.

So what transformed Saul of Tarsus to Apostle Paul was Separation, and that is what you need now. Let me read it to you from the Bible. In the Book of Galatians 1: from 13, For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. 14 And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, 16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood.”
Can you see what he said there, “I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood” immediately he surrendered his life to Jesus, immediately, he never confer with fresh and blood, meaning he never connected with his old sinful life again. Immediately, he separated himself from his old ambition, old religion, old friendship, old sinful partnership, old sinful business; immediately, he never looked back to the sinful pictures, music, movies, pornography, sinful, immoral relationship again. He never reconsidered or reconnect with his old sinful dressing again. And that was what helped him to go from strength to strength till the end of his Christian journey. And at the end, he said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous ,8Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:7

What you need immediately you are saved is separation, that is total separation, disconnection from your old sinful life. Listen to what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:17 & 18,
“Therefore
“Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”
18 “I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the LORD Almighty.”

Can you hear what the Bible is saying now, it says,
“Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,”

Immediately you come to Jesus, you must come out from among them, you know them now, where you are coming from when you meet Jesus, you don’t go back to them again. You don’t go back to the sinful lifestyle again, you don’t go back to the sinful relationship or friendship again, you come out from among them. You don’t belong to them again. And also it says, “Do not touch what is unclean.” You are now a royal priesthood, you don’t touch, you don’t watch, you don’t look, you don’t listen, you don’t wear, you don’t use, you don’t eat, you don’t drink, you don’t read, you don’t browse the unclean things again. And you don’t join them.

Also you don’t keep what belong to the devil and the sinful life you don’t keep again, you destroy them, you delete them, you disconnect yourself from them and you are determined never to go close to them, not even a touch.

Salvation without separation is a child play. Salvation without total separation from the world of sin is a joke. You must burn the bridge if you have truly come to Jesus. Why do you keep the bridge if you have decided to follow Jesus? If you don’t want to go back to your Egypt again? Why are you still keeping the sinful clothing in your wardrobe? Why are you still keeping the materials and contacts on your phone if you have truly given your life to Jesus? Why are you still keeping the magic books, the satanic items, the worldly dresses after you have said goodbye to Satan? Why?

If you have said bye-bye to the world, you must burn everything that belong to them. You are not going back. You cannot be a friend of the world and a friend of God at the same time. And you cannot come to Jesus and keep what belong to Satan in your life. You cannot come to Jesus and still keep the connection with the worldly set of people and things, you must cut off every connection or else they will cut you off from Jesus soon.

When we come to Jesus and accept Him as our Saviour, His part is to save us by forgiving all our sins and washing us with His Precious Blood. Our own part is separation, that is working out your salvation, showing evidence of your salvation by separating yourself from the sinful world. Before you were saved, you were serving sin and Satan through your flesh and blood, but immediately you are saved, you don’t confer with flesh and blood again, you don’t continue with the work of the flesh again. You are no more a slave of sin and Satan. And you show that by total separation.

So if you have been falling and rising, confessing and committing, forwarding and backwarding, if you have been struggling with a particular sinful habit in your Christian life, what are you going to do now?
1, You will rededicate your life to Jesus afresh. It is better to start afresh for refreshing moment from God. You will say Lord, I am rededicating my life to Jesus anew, save me and wash me with Your precious blood. You will pray it.
2, you will separate yourself from all connections to old lifestyle or that sinful habit. Total separation and disconnection from them, people or things. This you must do like Paul, immediately you finish the prayer of rededication.
3, you will pray daily for the grace of God and strength of Holy Spirit. Daily prayer and Bible reading is very important in your Christian growth and strength. The lesser you pray and Bible your Bible, the weaker you become and the higher possibility of sinful forces coming back.
4, you must watch! Bible says pray and watch. After you pray, you must watch. How do we watch as children of God? We are careful not to fall into the temptation of the devil, we take precaution. The temptation will still come back in an overwhelming way, but you watch, you remember the word of God, you fill your heart with the word of God, you stand by God’s grace and you don’t obey that sinful command. It may not be easy at the beginning, but it is a step at a time. Christian life is a spiritual battle, and the temptation is the daily war we must fight and win. The more you win and overcome the temptation today, the more you are stronger to overcome tomorrow. Each victory leads to another victory. So don’t fall back so you don’t start over again. Amen

SO ARE YOU READY TO REDEDICATE YOUR LIFE TO JESUS? JUST PRAY ……..

Evangelist Gideon Akande
RTEM: www.rtemoutreach.org