"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,"
II Cor. 6:17.wrote Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians, reminding those Christians of God's demands and promises. But couldn't Paul be writing to us in Chicago, London, Tokyo, or New Delhi? Perhaps even more relevant today, this admonition entreats each individual to base his life on a new standard—to be separate from a matter-based society. It requires us to begin at once to refocus our thinking and our lives so that we follow the example set by Christ Jesus, and it offers a promise of great reward—sonship with God.
This reward is not won, however, without facing to some degree the challenges Jesus faced. What was the reception Jesus met from the people of his day? His demonstration of the power of Spirit over matter and the resultant dominion over sin, disease, and death caused great jealousy from those not as obedient as he was to the divine law. Mrs. Eddy states in Science and Health, "To obey the Scriptural command, 'Come out from among them, and be ye separate,' is to incur society's frown; but this frown, more than flatteries, enables one to be Christian."
Science and Health, p. 238.
What does it mean to come out and be separate? Among other things, it means to strive to become separate from matter-based thinking and to purify our thoughts—to harmonize with the purity that is God's. Paul's admonition to be separate is to me reminiscent of a rite of separation from impurity in early times. This rite vividly symbolizes the demands of purification. And the consequences of impurity are described in Numbers: "But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean."
Num. 19:20.One Bible dictionary offers an enlightening insight in its comments on this passage: "As reinterpreted by the compilers of the Priests' Code, the rite conveys, in striking symbolism, the eternal truth that purity and holiness are the essential characteristics of the people of God."
James Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible, rev. ed. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1963), p. 836.
