2 Corinthians 6:16, commentary and pictures

Believers both as a church and as individuals are the temple of the living God, in whom He dwells and walks, to whom He is God and who are His people, so there can be no agreement between His temple and idols. Idols are not images only but anything put in the place of God, including pride and selfishness, love of money and self-indulgence, extravagant display, and following the fashions and maxims of the world. Only Christ can cleanse the soul temple, and He does not force entrance but comes in and abides continually where He is heard, welcomed, and received by living faith. Those who would be received as His sons and daughters must come out from among unbelievers, be separate, touch not the unclean, and cleanse themselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit in perfecting holiness. This forbids the marriage of Christians with the ungodly and every binding alliance where unbelievers gain prevailing influence, because such union places the believer on Satan's ground and draws the affections from God.

Temple Identity and Promise

Believers are the temple of the living God, and therefore God dwells in them and walks in them and among them, is their God, and takes them as His people, which leaves no agreement between His temple and idols. This identity is a warning to be considered carefully in a time of special peril when Satan knows the end is soon to come and presses young men and young women into his service by specious deceptions to lead them astray. Because they belong to God and are His dwelling place, they must separate from what is unclean and have no fellowship with unrighteousness, darkness, Belial, and infidelity. Because they were bought with a price their bodies and spirits belong to God and must glorify Him, and the temple is holy so that anyone who defiles it will be destroyed. Therefore they must come out from unbelievers, stay separate, touch nothing unclean, and then God will be their God and Father and receive them as His people, His sons and daughters.

The human body is the habitation fitted up by the Creator to be His dwelling place. It belongs to Him who made it, and men and women are to be faithful stewards over it as His trust. This calls for living in harmony with the laws of life and for care for health as part of that responsibility, and teaching this truth about the body belongs to teaching health reform, whose light is given for salvation and the salvation of the world. Bodies and lives must be treated with care and respect, with decency and strict purity in speech and conduct, including in medical treatment and massage. This is applied to training and preserving physical powers through rest, exercise, and temperate eating, since bodily health supports clear thought and effective service. The temple must be kept free from defilement, especially licentiousness that destroys physical and mental powers, by coming out from the world, being separate, touching not the unclean thing, and cleansing all filthiness of flesh and spirit in perfecting holiness. One who loves God with all heart, mind, soul, and strength cannot defile that temple, and one who does the word labors together with God to keep it pure, making decided reforms to present himself holy and blameless without spot or wrinkle, while abuse of the temple brings indescribable suffering and misery.

Both the church as a whole and each person individually are the temple. Believers together are the temple in whom God dwells and walks as their God while they are His people, which calls them to avoid fellowship with unbelievers who are not under God's Spirit and to place themselves under influences that help them walk in the light. Each member who builds character with the material God provides is chosen as a temple for His indwelling, and the dwelling of God with His people as their God and Father is fulfilled only to those who comply with the conditions of coming out from among the proud and world-loving and those placing unsound timbers in character, touching not the unclean, and standing where God can supply the grace needed for character building. The kind of timbers used in character building is plainly revealed in times of perplexity and distress when heavy strain is brought to bear, and a church composed of separated members who build in this way meets the divine requirements. God's people, each personally and as the living church, are a habitation of God through the Holy Spirit, with the indwelling Spirit making a person a temple for the living God and Christ dwelling within ennobling and sanctifying human nature through His divine attributes. God dwells in the hearts of His people, who belong to Him and represent the Father and the Son, and receiving Christ brings a life in Him that is purified, exalted, and devoted to noble purposes, a gift of life offered to all people and not confined to one nation or place. Jesus abides in them and they abide in Him, so their lives have no place for idols or agreement with evil, and their distinct calling separates them in spirit and practice from the world.

Growing up to the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus is growing up a precious temple unto the Lord, with God living in His people as their God and making them His people. This means having true religion with the Spirit of God in the soul and the face set constantly heavenward, and it requires striving whenever sin within strives for the mastery. It describes a continuing growth in Christian character and spiritual-mindedness, growing up as a holy temple to the Lord, and tests whether people are Christians in deed and in truth or in name only. Believers become living temples of God as they grow to Christ's full stature under the promise that God will dwell and walk in them and be their God. This indwelling calls for lives shaped by faith that works through love, purifies the soul, overcomes sin, and shows the world that people must love God and keep His commandments.

The promise that God will dwell in them and walk in them and be their God while they are His people is large and comprehensive. It means a lasting indwelling, not a visit for one day. It belongs to the exhortation not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers and leads into the conditional promise that those who come out from the world and touch not the unclean thing will be received by the Lord God of heaven as His sons and daughters. It is joined to the command to come out and be separate and touch not the unclean thing, with God's pledge to receive and be a Father, and it requires cleansing from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and perfecting holiness in the fear of God. It stands in a chapter from the first verse to the last that is of great importance and lays down conditions and principles that in no case should be neglected, putting every soul who takes the name of Christian under obligation to answer an exalted standard of human excellence by revealing Christ's character in works as His appointed chosen representatives to an apostate world, working together with Him and not receiving the grace of God in vain.

Its promises demand immediate action, for now is the accepted time and the day of salvation, now being the eternal now with no tomorrow assured. The goodness of God in giving such promises makes believers debtors to Greeks and Barbarians, to the wise and to the unwise. No person can drive the evil from the heart by himself, but only Christ can cleanse the soul temple, and He will not force an entrance but stands at the door of the heart and knocks, coming in only when a person hears His voice and opens. When received, His continual presence cleanses and sanctifies the soul, subduing iniquities and putting away sins, so the person becomes a holy temple to the Lord and a dwelling place for God through the Spirit. The renewed relationship is that He is their God and they are His people, with the Holy Spirit writing God's law in their hearts as He transforms them, so sin is not harbored and they can reflect God's image and represent Christ. This promise gives great encouragement proving His precepts rest on conditions altogether sufficient for perfect obedience, so keeping His law is reasonable service for those who by faith overcome the world, are purified by love, and stand distinct from the world in pursuits, affections and character rather than serving God and mammon.

Learning what it means to be temples of the Lord brings His saving grace and power, and puts an end to dissension that weakens their work.

No Agreement With Idols

There is no fellowship between righteousness and unrighteousness, no communion between light and darkness, no concord between Christ and Belial, no part between believer and infidel, and no agreement between the temple of God and idols. Believers are the temple of the living God in whom God dwells and walks as their God while they are His people, and therefore they must not be unequally yoked with unbelievers but must come out from among them and be separate and touch not the unclean thing. Then God will receive them and be a Father to them as His sons and daughters, and heaven looks with pleasure on marriage and every relation formed with earnest desire to conform to this direction. The promise has plain conditions that must be obeyed and not merely read, requiring cleansing from all filthiness of flesh and spirit in perfecting holiness, keeping the human body as God's temple free from defilement and especially from licentiousness that destroys physical and mental powers. One who loves God with all heart, mind, soul, and strength cannot defile that temple but labors together with God to keep it pure, making decided reforms to present himself holy and blameless without spot or wrinkle, while abuse of the temple brings indescribable suffering and misery.

The warning is most urgent at the present time because far too many professed Christians are Christians in name only, without root, unsanctified in heart and unchristlike in deportment, holding a sound scriptural theory of truth in unrighteousness while denying it by course of action. Their hearts are filled with pride, impurity, unholy ambition, self-importance and love of supremacy, with lamentable ignorance of the guile lurking in the human heart toward self-indulgence, pride, self-importance, love of self-exaltation, and seeking the praise of men. They are lulled in carnal security, not understanding the solemnity of living, not discerning the signs of the times and besetting dangers, not seeking heavenly enlightenment day by day for guidance into truth and discernment to pass unscathed through surrounding falsehood, deception, and iniquity. They stumble blindly and fall short of specified requirements and duty, with conscience made unimpressible by following inclination rather than duty, resenting the message as too particular and too critical, and disregarding the express injunction of Jehovah at the danger of losing the soul, unmoved by His authority, righteous indignation, and terrors meant to lead to separation. Unless the soul temple is cleansed from defilement, with purity of heart and earnest effort to meet the standard of God's Word, with the law of God written in the heart, the soul illuminated by truth, and holiness, mercy, truth and love brought into the life, such persons will never be purified, never be fitted to be companions of the pure and holy, and never wear the white linen which is the righteousness of the saints.

Idols mean not only images but whatever is put in place of God and opposes Him, and God dwells among His people, walks with them, and claims them as His own, so they cannot join in fellowship with idols and must remain distinct from the world and its unholy principles. Idols include pride and passion, dissension and self-esteem, selfishness and covetousness, and love of mammon, and anyone who has idols must let Jesus and faith come in to displace them, which requires a deeper work in the heart. Agreement with idols happens when the heart temple is used for idols by holding on to darling self-indulgences that keep a person in harmony with the world's practices and maxims, and when those indulgences have controlling power the love of Jesus is not a ruling principle in the heart and does not constrain the life, and the truth of the Bible has no compelling power to lead away from sin against the will. It includes extravagant display in clothing and the home when it comes at the expense of holy principles, and following the fashions and inventions of the world. The Israel of God in the last days must flee from idolatry and be separate as God's chosen peculiar people, with the separation kept visible so that him that serves God can be discerned from him that serves Him not, and with the distance to Christ kept small and the distance to the world kept wide. Following the god of fashion is idolatry, and wearing hoops is an abomination, a shame, indecent and immodest, like ancient Israel following after the abominations of the nations around them, so God's people err if they in the least follow or give countenance to this fashion and must discard hoops, suffer a little inconvenience to be on the safe side, inquire wherein they are separate in dress and talk and act, and make their practice a living rebuke.

The soul temple must be cleansed of every idolatrous shrine before freedom from idolatry can truly be claimed, with God first in thoughts, affections, and purposes, and even the house dedicated to God must be kept sacred and separate from common use and must not be used as a schoolroom, lunch room, or business room. Worshipers must enter the sanctuary with solemn awe and reverence as the audience chamber of God where He reveals His presence, leaving behind all common worldly thoughts, because God meets with His people there. A person who knows the truth cannot serve two masters and cannot be only partly on God's side while transgressing the law of God, renouncing truth and Bible religion, and taking a stand with unbelievers. That self-conceited, wilful, obstinate, divided course is shipwreck of faith that stumbles toward perdition and tramples the blood of the crucified Redeemer underfoot. The soul must belong wholly to God or be ruled by Satan, for indulging sin gives Satan a throne in the soul while Christ dwells in the renewed soul, and sin and light have no communion, so cherishing sin shuts a person out of heaven. Those who belong to God, the living God, must not unite with the world and its pollutions, for loyalty to the world is incompatible with being God's people, and belonging to God is incompatible with sharing the spirit and indulgences of people who are not connected with Him. A real sense of relation to God and responsibility to others leaves no desire for their company or for degrading pleasures and conversation, and the soul as God's temple must not be shared with Satan but Jesus must take possession of it in place of the adversary, which a person can do by breaking free from Satan's hold and welcoming Jesus through effort made in Jesus' strength and not in their own.

Indwelling Cleansing and Character

Only Christ can cleanse the soul temple, for no person can drive the evil from the heart by himself. Sin defiles the human heart and keeps it from revealing divine glory, but through the incarnation of the Son and saving grace the heart becomes His temple again. His promise to dwell in and walk among His people is fulfilled as Christ comes into the human heart through His saving presence, cleansing it from sin to make it holy. He does not force entrance as He entered the temple of old, but stands at the door of the heart and knocks, coming in only where His voice is heard and the door is opened by welcome and reception. What He gives is lasting indwelling, not a visit for one day, for when received His continual presence cleanses and sanctifies the soul, subduing iniquities and putting away sins so the person becomes a holy temple and a dwelling place through the Spirit.

His indwelling is personal divine companionship received by living, individual, appropriating faith, with Christ abiding in the heart as Saviour and always present wherever the believer goes. This indwelling is life and salvation and righteousness, bringing the recollection of One dear and holding thoughts in captivity to Christ. He governs thoughts and affections and exercises controlling power over the whole character, accompanying the believer as a personal, living influence. By taking human nature and living without sin He made it possible for believers to become children of God and partakers of the divine nature, so that by receiving His nature they may overcome and live a Christlike life reflecting God's character.

As the mind dwells upon Christ and considers what He is and what He wrought in redemption, contemplating His goodness and love and character, thoughts are pervaded by Him and the character is molded after the divine similitude. Beholding Him imprints His image on the eye of the soul as the Sun of Righteousness, just as gazing at the sun leaves its image on all that is seen, so that nothing else is seen or spoken of. His love encloses the believer, and heart, soul, and mind are irradiated, softened, subdued, and transformed to reflect the bright beams of His righteousness to all around. His received words of instruction take possession and abide as a controlling presence over thoughts, ideas, and actions, coloring everything as warp and woof of being, so that self is dead and Christ lives within as first and last and best and hope of glory, dwelling by the word of truth, and cultivating this sense brings greatest happiness.

Secret communion with God enables people to contemplate His glorious ideal for humanity and to shape character so that the promise to dwell and walk, to be God and to take a people, may be fulfilled in them. The promise is fulfilled in the building of human character for those who surrender the whole life to live by God's word in continual need and dependence, sustained by prayer and especially secret communion. As Moses beheld on the mount the pattern for the building that would hold God's glory, so in secret communion the glorious ideal is contemplated and the character is fashioned by that pattern to receive His indwelling and become the dwelling where He lives.

When self is crucified Christ takes possession of the soul temple. This calls for humbling the heart and surrendering body, soul, and spirit to receive rich grace, closing the heart against sin and selfishness, and following the example of Christ. As humanity's substitute and surety He brings life-giving spiritual power, shining into and purifying mind and soul and cleansing the inner temple so that He may abide there, govern affections and emotions, and bring the whole person into harmony with the divine will. Cleansing from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and perfecting holiness in the fear of God belong to this standing, with keeping the law wholly, for continuing to transgress even one precept bars welcome into the city of God and any place in the royal family. Those thus indwelt live under the sanctification of the Holy Spirit through study of the chapter, continually receiving nourishment and divine gifts and giving them out in service as living agents cooperating with God, with no agreement between the temple and idols.

Commanded Separation and Promise

Those who come out from among unbelievers and are separate and touch not the unclean thing will be received by the Lord, who will be a Father to them as His sons and daughters. The promise belongs to the exhortation not to be unequally yoked, for there is no fellowship of righteousness with unrighteousness, no communion of light with darkness, no concord of Christ with Belial, no part of believer with infidel, and no agreement of the temple of God with idols, because believers are the dwelling place of the living God where God lives and walks, to whom God is God and who are His people. Because they were bought with a price their bodies and spirits belong to God and must glorify Him, and the temple is holy so that anyone who defiles it will be destroyed. Cleansing from all filthiness of flesh and spirit in perfecting holiness is the condition of the promise, and heaven looks with pleasure on conduct formed with earnest desire to conform to this direction, including marriage entered not in selfishness but with solemn prayer to know harmony with the will of God.

The Lord Himself established a wall of separation between the holy and the profane and between His people and the world, and that wall still exists. Consecration to God and separation from the world is commanded in both the Old and the New Testaments, and Christ who calls His people out has been given all power in heaven and in earth. The two classes are as distinct as midday and midnight and do not blend imperceptibly like the colors of the rainbow, and the distinction must stay unmistakably visible so that him that serves God can be discerned from him that serves Him not. A mere form of godliness does not make a living stone in the spiritual building, but being renewed in knowledge and true holiness, crucified to the world and made alive in Christ, and walking in love as dear children. Conformity to the customs and practices of the world cannot save or enlighten unbelievers, and joining with worldly men to carry out unsanctified purposes forfeits the favor and blessing of God; coming out and standing apart and above the world in character representing Christ gives true Christian influence, while to link up with the world as if no distinction should exist is to deny the faith and refuse God's choosing. The church is to be built on Jesus Christ as the only true foundation, marred by no worthless material that will not bear trial, not guided by those who have known present truth but have not yielded to it, and not mingling worldly opinions, practices, and plans with God's principles to gain influence with worldlings.

The warning is most urgent at the present time of special peril, when Satan knows the end is soon to come and is determined to press young men and young women into his service by many specious deceptions to lead them astray. Far too many professed Christians are Christians in name only, without root, unsanctified in heart, holding a sound scriptural theory of truth in unrighteousness while denying it by course of action, with hearts filled with pride, impurity, unholy ambition, self-importance, love of supremacy and self-exaltation, unchristlike in deportment and without the Spirit and principles of Christ planted in the heart to control the life. Merely reading the plain conditions — come out, be separate, touch not the unclean — without understanding and obeying them reveals lamentable ignorance of the guile lurking in the heart toward self-indulgence, seeking the praise of men, being lulled in carnal security, not discerning the signs of the times and besetting dangers, stumbling blindly and falling short of duty with conscience made unimpressible by following inclination rather than duty, resenting the message as too particular and disregarding the express injunction of Jehovah at the danger of losing the soul. Unless the soul temple is cleansed from defilement, with purity of heart and earnest effort to meet the standard of God's Word, the law written in the heart, the soul illuminated by truth, and holiness, mercy, truth and love brought into the life, such persons will never be purified and never be fitted to be companions of the pure and holy nor wear the white linen which is the righteousness of the saints. Self made the center and circumference of life, with selfishness reigning and spiritual deception in heart, spirit, soul, flesh and bones, calls for falling on the Rock and being broken, humbling the heart before God without delay and surrendering whole heart, soul, strength and mind to undo wrong done, with hope still remaining even for one who has made the heart wayward while blessing was offered. Living by the instructions of the chapter is a safeguard against errors warned about in the churches.

Separation does not mean withdrawing from the world to do no good, for believers are to remain in the world but not of it. They are to do good to others and, like Christ among sinners, treat others kindly and use words and influence to direct minds to eternal things. Association with unbelievers is only to win them to Jesus and lift them up, for to choose their society for enjoyment, where the love of God and of truth does not abide and conversation and conduct offend God, places the soul on the enemy's ground, forfeits the companionship of Jesus who cannot keep a soul choosing that atmosphere, and corrupts and taints faith to the detriment of spirituality. God's people belong to the living God who dwells and walks among them and claims them as His people, so their spirit cannot mingle with the spirit and influence of the world and their conduct must follow God's standard and keep away from sin rather than join in closer harmony with the world for worldly support. Set apart as a holy people united to the Lord and separate from the world and its spirit, their distinct lives serve as examples that bring others to the light, whose response brings conviction or judgment.

Marriage and Binding Alliances

Marriage of Christians with the ungodly is forbidden as an unequal yoking that departs from God's Word and continues the Old Testament ban on intermarriage with idolaters. Believers are the temple of the living God in whom God dwells and walks, to whom He is God and who are His people, and therefore they can have no agreement with idols and must come out, be separate, and touch not the unclean, with the promise that God will receive them and be a Father to them as His sons and daughters. Even when the companion is worthy in other respects, union with one who does not acknowledge Christ's claims, is not controlled by His Spirit, and has not accepted present truth puts the soul in peril, draws heart and affections away from God, destroys appreciation for the sacredness of marriage, and cannot expect God's blessing. Marriage is a sacred ordinance instituted by God that must never be entered selfishly or from inclination rather than Christian principle, but with solemn and prayerful consideration to know harmony with His will, and heaven looks with pleasure on a marriage formed with earnest desire to conform to this direction in Scripture. A Christian must not unite with an unbelief that leads to violation of God's commands, including the Sabbath, for the sake of obtaining a spouse.

Such a union places the believer on Satan's ground and gives Satan advantage and easy access to aim temptation against the soul through the unbelieving companion. Satan works through that companion as one of the children of disobedience, while smooth pleasant words hide selfish motives, hidden wickedness of heart, and laid snares that cannot be seen. The believer who so unites grieves the Spirit of God and forfeits His protection, facing terrible odds in the battle for everlasting life.

The prohibition covers not marriage alone but every intimate relation of confidence, copartnership, confederacy, or binding union where harmony in spirit and action is needed or where unbelievers or worldly interests gain prevailing influence. This requires coming out from among them and being separate and touching not the unclean, keeping distinct from idolaters and being Christians everywhere according to the standard of God's Word, and it forbids connection with Free Masons or other secret societies and any confederacy with the ungodly. It applies also to cooperation in church institutions and their work and to joining unbelievers in the work and institutions of God's cause. It bears on employing people to treat the sick, on placing transgressors as counselors or faculty, on seeking their business counsel, and on uniting with worldlings in charitable or institutional management, since an unconverted element among the workers makes careful choice and conduct more necessary and attempts to influence such companions for good can instead entrap believers, lead them to abandon sacred faith and principle and separate from God, with one wrong step leading to bondage that seems impossible to escape.

Choosing the society of those who cannot be led from sin makes one become one with them rather than living as God's peculiar people. Close association with unbelief and those who walk in darkness and have no regard for spiritual things can chill faith, undermine it, and finally destroy it, so separation from such influence is the soul's only safety. Choosing close company with the ungodly exposes Christians to temptation to adopt worldly character, words, and actions and to become increasingly blind to sin. Believers together are the temple where God dwells and walks, and this calls them to avoid fellowship with unbelievers who are not under God's Spirit, to place themselves under influences that help them walk in the light, to give God undivided affections, and to love the company of His people. Friendly association remains possible, but God has drawn a clear line between His people and the world, so those who bear His name are to keep associations pure and not ally themselves with unbelievers in ways that compromise truth, share sacred confidences, give unbelievers preference over fellow believers, or expose what is sacred, since sharing fellow believers' faults with unbelievers dishonors God, weakens confidence in the truth, and pollutes and corrupts Bible doctrine.

Distinct Holy Living

The chapter lays down the foundation and principles of the highest education, to be studied diligently and comprehended as a safeguard against error. Students and workers are to search and follow God's Word rather than conform learning to the world, to advance just as far as the Word will take them, and to show understanding of God's will by righteousness. There is no education higher than what was given to the early disciples and is given through the Word, and nothing in the world in the line of education is so exalted. Workers in schools and sanitariums must not get in line with the world by studying what the world studies and becoming familiar with what the world becomes familiar with, nor recommend success by acknowledging worldly education as essential, for that declares worldly influence superior to God's and dishonors Him. Parents are to guard and teach children so they can recognize and escape corrupting influences, and God's people are charged to connect not with those who do not acknowledge God but with those who honor Him by keeping His commandments.

Belonging to God as His temple, with God dwelling and walking among His people as their God, is incompatible with joining activities that unite Christians with the world and its idolatrous practices. Therefore they must keep separate from what is unclean, keep church life separate from worldly festivities, and come out from worldly amusements and be separate. This applies to refusing participation in theatrical performances and to separation from places that offer no presence or influence drawing toward heaven or helping growth in grace. Loving God and keeping His commandments cannot be joined with love for the world's pleasures or friendship with the world. Those who follow Jesus and those who reject sacred things are governed by different masters and have opposing purposes, hopes, tastes, and desires, so attempts to blend these principles fail and worldly influence can lead God's people away from Him.

Genuineness as sons and daughters of the heavenly King is shown by being true witnesses for the truth, by modesty in apparel and by Christlike words and actions, wearing the pilgrim's dress and manifesting the pilgrim's spirit. The Israel of God in the last days must flee idolatry and be separate as God's chosen peculiar people, with the separation kept visible so that him that serves God can be discerned from him that serves Him not, the distance to Christ kept small and the distance to the world kept wide. Following the fashions and inventions of the world is idolatry to the god of fashion, and wearing hoops is an abomination, a shame, indecent and immodest, like ancient Israel following the abominations of surrounding nations. God's people err if they in the least follow or give countenance to this fashion, must discard hoops and suffer a little inconvenience to be on the safe side, and must inquire wherein they are separate in dress and talk and act and make their practice a living rebuke. Because God dwells with His people they should be pure outwardly as well as inwardly, with clean bodies and clothing as part of being fit for Him to dwell with them.

The call to purity as the temple of the living God gives force to the warning to be ready for the Lord's coming and supports clean, pure hygiene. Men and women are temples whose workmanship must be guarded and preserved, with perfection of character meaning fitting the whole being to be a temple for the indwelling Holy Spirit, requiring service of the entire person since using only some powers makes service deficient. Improper social relations may defile the body as conduct incompatible with God's temple, joining what belongs to Him to what is opposed to Him.

Those who live unchristian lives should be urged to change and shown their wrongs, and if they do not change they should be separated from the faithful and from the holy so God may have a clean and pure people. Linking the clean with the unclean and joining the holy with the unclean dishonors Him.

God's temple has no agreement with idols, and there is no union between Christ and Satan or between their followers. When Christians joined with people only partly converted from paganism they moved farther from truth and turned against those who remained faithful, and separation from an apostate church is necessary when it refuses to abandon falsehood and idolatry. Peace and unity cannot be bought by sacrificing truth and righteousness, and tolerating fatal errors can endanger the faithful and imperil the faith of their children. Solomon's incorporation of pagan worship violated this separation, for instead of turning idolaters to truth he let pagan beliefs corrupt his worship and ceased to honor God as the only true and living God. Building the Lord's temple means finding believers hidden among false doctrines, forms, and ceremonies and placing them on the true foundation as a holy people separate from the world by divine truth.

As God's own denominated people brought out from the world, they must repent of compromising with worldly principles and stand forth separate and distinct, for truth and error cannot stand in co-partnership and no effort to serve both God and Baal will be sanctioned. This forbids placing God's institutions on a level with worldly institutions by calling them undenominational, conforming to worldly policy, uniting with popular churches, and representing God's people as one with worldlings. Such compromise offends God and will be punished, destroys sacredness of the work in minds of unbelievers, humiliates God's people, and prevents God from being glorified in them until they take their assigned position and recover themselves at any cost. Unity must be sought, but not on the low level of worldly union.

Loyalty requires standing distinct from unbelievers and not joining them or following their worldly counsel, shunning temptation as far as possible and obeying the divine word on every point, especially in times of outward security and ease and earthly blessing when there is greatest danger of forgetting the constant Benefactor. This forbids spending time talking politics or acting politics, because doing so gives the enemy opportunity to come in and cause variance and discord; it applies to all God's people high or low, and those in ministry who desire to stand as politicians should have credentials taken from them. Those who love God will keep His commandments and must live separated from the disobedient, putting loyalty to God before friendship with the world and expecting opposition and hatred from those who hate His precepts, without letting those in darkness lead them away from truth. It forbids belittling the Sabbath to link with unbelievers, departing from principles of faith so conforming to the world appears harmless, and heeding the counsel of any man whatever his position who works against separation. Human wisdom and judgment cannot be trusted when men in responsible positions depart from old landmarks and by words deny the faith to carry out plans, and the danger of being led unguardedly from loyalty is greater now than ever because God has given a decided warning message as He gave Noah for the antediluvians. Careless exposure to influences fostering unbelief and error and joining to idolatry must not occur.

The house dedicated to God must be kept sacred and separate from common use and must not be used as schoolroom, lunch room, or business room. Worshipers must enter the sanctuary with solemn awe and reverence as the audience chamber of God where He reveals His presence, leaving behind all common worldly thoughts. Idols mean not only images but pride and passion, dissension and self-esteem, selfishness and covetousness, which are inappropriate where God meets with His people. Reverence is required of the person as well as in the house of worship, because each one is the dwelling place of the living God, and entering the house of worship is entering the presence of God and angels, with respect shown by acts such as removing the hat and children taught reverence with earnest effort. Even the most splendid house of worship amounts to nothing if hearts are not right, so greatest anxiety should be over spiritual condition, with reverence taught in coming in and going out and children educated to direct thoughts heavenward. This applies also to the home and the company allowed in it, which must be kept clean and holy with only those whose influence helps toward salvation, for God can come in and bless a parent's efforts to save children only where all around them is pure. Those who do not love God must not be kept there whatever sacrifice removal requires, for where corrupting deathly influence remains saving the children is impossible.