To all this line of argument we have the one simple, conclusive answer, namely, God's plain command. He tells us to be separate, to come out, to touch not the unclean; and all this in order to His receiving us, and acknowledging us as His sons and daughters. This ought to be quite sufficient for us. Let people think or say what they will of us,--let them call us what they please; God will settle the matter with them, sooner or later; our duty is to separate ourselves from unbelievers, if we would be received and owned of God. If believers are mixed up with unbelievers, how are they to be known or distinguished as the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty?
But we may perhaps be asked, How are we to know who are unbelievers? All profess to be Christians--all take the ground of belonging to Christ: we are not surrounded by ignorant heathen, or unbelieving Jews; how then are we to judge? It was plain enough in the early days of Christianity, when the apostle wrote his epistle to the assembly at Corinth--then the line of demarkation was as clear as a sunbeam; there were the three distinct classes--"the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of God;" but now all is changed,--we live in a Christian land, under a Christian government, we are surrounded on all hands by Christians, and therefore 2 Corinthians vi. cannot apply to us; it was all very well when the Church was in its infancy, having just emerged from Judaism on the one hand and heathenism on the other, but to think of applying such a principle at this advanced stage of the Church's history, is wholly out of the question.
To all who take this ground, we would put a very plain question,--Is it true that the Church has reached a stage of her history in which the New Testament is no longer her guide and authority? Have we got beyond the range of holy Scripture? If so, what are we to do? whither are we to turn for guidance? If we admit for a moment that 2 Corinthians vi. does not apply to Christians now, what warrant have we for appropriating to ourselves any portion of the New Testament?
The fact is, Scripture is designed for the Church of God as a whole, and for each member of that Church in particular; and hence, as long as the Church is on earth, so long will the Scripture apply. To question this is to offer a flat contradiction to the words of the inspired apostle when he tells us that the holy Scriptures are able to make us "_wise unto salvation_"--that is, "wise" right onward to the day of glory, for such is the blessed force of the word "salvation" in 2 Timothy iii. 15.
We want no new light--no fresh revelation; we have "_all truth_" within the covers of our precious Bible. Thank God for it! We do not want science or philosophy to make us wise. All true science and all sound philosophy will leave untouched the testimony of holy Scripture; they cannot add to it, but they will not contradict it. When infidels talk to us about "progress," "development," "the light of science," we fall back, in holy confidence and tranquillity, upon those precious words, "all truth," "wise unto salvation." It is blessedly impossible to get beyond these. What can be added to "all truth"? What more do we or can we want than to be made wise right onward to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ?
And further, let us remember that there is no change whatever in the relative position of the Church and the world. It is as true to-day as it was eighteen hundred and fifty years ago, when our Lord uttered the words, that His people are not of the world, even as He Himself is not of the world. (John xvii.) The world is the world still. It may, in some places, have changed its dress, but not its true character, spirit, and principles. Hence, therefore, it is as wrong to-day for Christians to be "unequally yoked together with unbelievers" as it was when Paul penned his epistle to the Church at Corinth. We cannot get over this; we cannot set aside our responsibility in this matter. It will not, by any means, meet the case to say, "We must not judge." We are bound to judge. If we refuse to judge, we refuse to obey, and what is this but positive rebellion? God says, "Come out from among them and be ye separate;" if we reply, We cannot judge, where are we? The fact is, we are absolutely commanded to judge. "Do not ye judge them that are _within_? but them that are _without_ God judgeth." (1 Cor. v. 12, 13.)