There is another principle to which I slightly alluded when referring to the matter of failure under responsibility, and that is, though judgment be pronounced in consequence of failure, God is never in haste to execute that judgment, and before it falls, He prepares a pathway for those who desire to be faithful to Himself. The question for us then is, What is that pathway at this day?
It is plain to every godly soul that no one is ever compelled to be associated with evil. Hence therefore the first and most evident duty of the saint at all times, and under all circumstances, is to “depart from evil.” This is what we have in the passage at the beginning of this paper. The seal of God’s foundation has two sides. On the one side there is God’s faithfulness, notwithstanding all the ruin that has come in. “The Lord knoweth them that are His,” no matter how much confusion there may be in the eyes of men. On the other side is the Christian’s responsibility: “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ [or rather of the Lord] depart from iniquity.” It is not a matter of choice; it is a matter of the plainest necessity, and that because of the character of God.
In 2 Corinthians 6:17, we learn how this departing from iniquity is to be carried out: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” The previous verses show us the character of what we are to be separate from, and this is the practical way of doing so.
We have further details in this second chapter of 2 Timothy as to how this is to be practically carried out. The apostle had just referred to the “house of God” in the first epistle. Here the figure is slightly changed. “In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor and some to dishonor.” Not only valuable materials, “gold and silver,” but also base materials, “wood and earth,” and to different uses too, “some to honor, some to dishonor.” What, then, is a person to do who finds himself in this state of mixture and confusion? “If a man therefore purge himself from these [the vessels to dishonor], he shall be a vessel unto honor,” v. 21. I see no way in Scripture for a man to be a vessel unto honor when confusion has come in, but by separation from it. It is impossible to be a vessel unto honor while you continue in the place where the confusion and the evil are. Therefore, beloved friends, it ceases to be a question of choice on the part of the saints; it becomes a matter of simple obedience to God, and of the maintenance of the character that belongs to Him as holy and righteous. It is important to see this and accept it, that we are bound to separate from evil whatever the character of it may be, and to do so also without question.