Be Ye Holy
Chapter 1: Holiness – The Foundation of Separation

One of the most critical parts of any building project is the construction of the foundation. It must be square and solid and placed upon soil that can sustain it. When I was in my first pastorate, we built a new auditorium. The contractor came to dig the basement and pour the footings. He followed the blueprints exactly as they had been drawn as he staked out the building, dug the hole, and began to place the forms for the footers. As he proceeded, he sensed that something was not right. The building appeared to be narrower at one end than at the other. He checked the blueprints and discovered that the engineer who drew them had made a mistake: his design had the building one foot too narrow on one end. He made the correction and the construction job went on successfully. Had he not noticed that mistake, we would have had a lot of grief to correct it after the concrete had been poured. We might have ended up with a funny looking Baptist church building! My dad spent his life as a structural iron worker. He used to say that architects never make mistakes, they just make changes!

This chapter is as important to this book as the foundation is to a building. The practice of separation must rest on a solid biblical foundation. The thesis of this book is that the holiness of God is the foundation of all separation, whether personal or ecclesiastical.

Scripture demonstrates a natural relationship between holiness and separation. That means that when men imitate God's holiness they forsake, or separate from, thoughts and actions which are sinful and contrary to God's holiness. A survey of the biblical teaching on holiness shows that holiness demands separation from unbelief and sin. One could say separation flows from, or is the natural result of, the Bible's teaching on holiness. This relationship between holiness and separation will be demonstrated in succeeding chapters.

We must understand another more basic fact when we deal with separation. Separation not only results in holiness but also is an integral part of holiness. Separation is the natural outgrowth of holiness because it is a part of the essential concept of holiness. One cannot stress the idea of holiness as it is taught in the Bible without stressing the concept of separation as well. The philosophy and practice of separation have a biblical, theological basis.

The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate that the idea of separation is part of the very fabric of the doctrine of holiness.