God has covered a lot of ground through Apostle Eric vonAnderseck in this new apostolic season of change, separation, and renewal. I want to talk to you about what sanctified separation is and the pattern God designed for it to take place.

Since the devil raised a counterfeit separation, our focus on God’s pattern will help you to discern when a minister tries to jump ahead of God.

God’s plan behind separation is covenant. He wants to separate you from the world unto Himself to equip you with the things of Jesus Christ for fruit bearing, that He might present you to Himself holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.

Hebrews 7:26
“For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.”

Because God designed truth to enable faith to reflect Jesus, our reciprocation is required. What is our response (obedience) to God’s command for separation? Our response is simple. We use the knowledge and tools of Jesus to separate ourselves from the world unto God (this is true holiness). In this design we see the binary elements sanctification and holiness and we’re able to observe God’s intended pattern for them to work.

You will find some ministers now admiting that sanctification means separation, but there is no function behind their words. They adopt a language, but neglect the function. Ministers who hear God’s call for separation, but do not obey, are trying to reverse engineer the truth to bypass God’s pattern in order to continue in their own independent ways. We’ll get into examples of that in a moment to let you observe what it looks like, so you’ll know what to avoid.

Because God’s plan behind separation is covenant, you will find that God is making distinction between the wheat and the chaff. As God breaks down theological barriers to free His people to Himself, He is splitting open long held beliefs spawned by the Charismatic and other modern movements. A great shift is taking place as God calls His people out of the false religious system to enter into Jesus’ new covenant. As choices are made, God is separating the wheat (His people) from the chaff (those who refuse to enter into a covenant relationship with Him as choices are made).

For the longest time ministers have resisted God’s teaching that He is causing a separation between the wheat and the chaff. Most clung in desperation to the idea that we cannot tell who is the wheat and who is the chaff until the very end when we stand before the throne of God (when alas, it is too late to make another choice).

Most continue to treat God’s call to separation lightly as if everyone has some sort of “chaff” (stuff) that needs to be dealt with. They reason that it’s alright that the chaff is among the wheat because, after all, the chaff is a natural part of the wheat, so we don’t have to worry about it too much right now. These ministers act as if God is talking about brushing lint off their shirt.

Let’s go deeper. Of course, when God speaks of the wheat and the chaff He is not speaking of the wheat of the field, but of two types of believers: Those who belong to Him (the wheat) and those who don’t belong to Him (the chaff).

Luke 3:17
“Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.”

THE WHEAT: These are believers who are converted by entering into Jesus’ new covenant. They follow the due process God designed for their separation unto Him: separation, preparation, consecration, and initiation. God receives them into His kingdom as kings and priests. They are the redeemed of the Lord and He accepts them as His own. He nurtures them and cares for them.

THE CHAFF: These are unconverted believers who refuse to enter into covenant with God. They have not followed God’s true pattern for separation and choose to separate themselves from the world their own way (revival meetings, conferences, spiritual fads). They claim to know Jesus based on the history of their belief system and the spiritual traditions of the current Christian culture, but they have not accepted the terms of the new covenant and therefore God does not receive them as His own.

The chaff believer learned to build faith upon the foundation of his own record, which God calls a lie. As unconverted believers continue to present their case to God, He continues to reveal why He cannot accept their faith – it does not reflect Jesus. Their end is to be burned with fire that cannot be quenched. This is the fire of God’s wrath.

In truth, ministers cannot tell the difference between the wheat and the chaff because to them, all believers look alike. As they observe the many well intended efforts to give one’s life to Jesus his/her own way, it is very much the same as their own stumbling ways.

Everyone who says they love Jesus believes they are the wheat, and everyone who picks up the Bible believes they are the wheat, but it’s God that is making the distinction, not them.

The vital need to discern now whether you are the wheat or the chaff is clearer with an example. Ministers will direct you to say, “Jesus take control of my life”, but they refuse to give you the law of grace and truth whereby Jesus governs your faith. This is another example of giving believers language that sounds like surrender and submission, but lacks the function. Is this person saved? No.

Doesn’t this person want Jesus to control his life? Yes, but the doctrine of Christ is not present to help guide the meaning. So guess what, the flesh takes over in the absence of truth.

Let’s go deeper: What lies behind this difficulty to discern the wheat from the chaff? We can trace this foggy understanding all the way back to the problem ministers have discerning truth. To them, all doctrine appears to have some truth to it, so they cannot tell the difference between truth (sanctified knowledge) and error (false knowledge).

While they say that “theology cannot save you, but obedience can”, their form of doctrine has removed them from the sanctified things of Jesus Christ that God designed for them to touch Him. So, their doctrine (belief system) creates barriers to faith, and under these conditions it is not possible for them to obey God, and they now feel God’s chastisement for continuing to choose their belief system over His truth.

Ministers, stuck in this rut, talk in circles about how they connect to different truth(s) and patterns, but unfortunately, they cannot describe the ONE truth that is consistent to God’s character, purpose, and plan.

Yet, God confirms, “They that spoke against My government shall now learn doctrine that is from the foundation of truth.” [Apostle Eric vonAnderseck’s podcast “Is Your Separation Sanctified?”]

Let’s recap: When God talks about chaff, He is referring to unconverted believers whose development was under false stewards who fed them a rich diet of false doctrine and, therefore, their faith lacks the substance of Christ. God cannot not take them into His house, for they have not gone through the due process: separation, preparation, consecration, initiation.

So, chaff isn’t something you can simply brush off yourself and be done with it. A cleansing needs to take place. What kind of cleansing? Doctrinal cleansing. The window of faith that has been dulled by generations of the grit and grime of false knowledge has to be wiped clean. We can understand that in order to enter into a covenant relationship with God (God’s way), the first separation is to stewardship in order that doctrinal cleansing can take place.

Exodus 34:27
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.”

God gave words (doctrine) to Moses (His steward) to give to the people. God’s people were obedient to separate themselves to Moses to receive instruction from him (the words, terms, and tools of the first covenant).

When Jesus told His apostles to be aware of the leaven of the current religious leaders, He had to tell them that He wasn’t talking about baking bread, but rather talking about doctrine being laced with false knowledge, which is false doctrine. The religious leaders had strayed from the teaching of the first covenant by simply adding their own interpretation to the words and terms God gave to Moses (His steward), thus they neglected to obey God, while at the same time wanting to appear as if they doing His will.

Matthew 16:12
“Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”

Jesus did not say that we cannot tell who is teaching false doctrine and who is teaching truth, neither did He say that truth does not matter, that we can teach and believe whatever we want as long as we believe the Holy Spirit is our teacher.

On the contrary, Jesus gave the one blueprint of truth to His apostles who are the stewards of the new covenant. They are the authorized, sanctified standard bearers of Jesus’ truth (1 Cor. 3:10). By this God confirms that to be separated to Him by covenant, our first separation is to His steward. Let’s go back to the book of Exodus to see how God lays this out for our understanding.

Exodus 32:26
“Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.”

Moses asks, Who is on the Lord’s side? The call is made! Whoever is on the Lord’s side needs to come to him. In this we see the first separation is to the steward. If you come to the Lord, you must come to the steward. And the reason for this separation then and now is doctrinal cleansing. 

WHY doctrinal cleansing? Separation is for the purpose of preparation. Truth has to be prepared in your heart before you can function in your priesthood, before you can serve God, before you can worship Him, before you can overcome yourself, the world, and the devil, before you can grow in the grace of God. 

We see in Exodus 32:26 that all the sons of Levi (the priests) gathered themselves together unto Moses to accept his stewardship. By this, God points to your priesthood as your first calling. 

Before a Christian can function as an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher he must go through the due process whereby faith receives mobility to function in the priesthood: separation first to the Lord by coming to God’s steward, and then the steward prepares the heart by teaching the doctrine of Christ, which prepares the heart to serve God (God’s way). 

This is the perfect segue into the favored topic of accountability and how it is manipulated in the current Christian culture. Ministers talk about the need to be under “someone” as a means of manifesting a show of submission, but it’s merely an opportunity to check off an item from a list that is unrelated to how God works. 

Moses was not “someone”. He was God’s sanctified steward who taught the terms of the old covenant according to the pattern God revealed to him for all Israel to follow until Christ should come to transition faith to Himself.

When Jesus’ apostles prepare the heart with the new covenant terms by laying the 12 essential foundation stones in order as the foundation for faith to build, doctrinal cleansing is taking place. God cannot permit false knowledge to mix with His truth. God needs to remove the dirt and grime of false doctrine and false knowledge that prevents believers from seeing Jesus clearly. 

Ministers caught in the middle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the  flesh are out of step with God. While God’s purpose for revelation (grace for salvation and grace for growth) is to enable separation, the focus of ministers is remarkably different, so I want you to follow me on this one.

Ministers desire revelation to jump right into consecration. They’ll point to a dream or vision or prophecy and head right out into some kind of consecration format in hopes of waiting upon God to initiate it. God is reeling them back in and directing them to start over with His pattern. They cannot jump ahead of His will for their preparation in the doctrine of Christ.

We will now look at some examples from the Bible of this habit to jump ahead to learn why it causes so much confusion and why it is utterly destructive to your faith.

The false pattern (revelation for consecration) is the Laban revelation, which he used to contend against God’s steward, Jacob. While God did reveal Himself to Laban in a dream to direct him to submit to the steward (Jacob), Laban used the dream to consecrate himself. He wanted Jacob to know that he too receives revelation, and in his mind this meant that God was allowing him to retain his position as the head of the house. (Genesis ch. 41)

We see this in how Laban made a list of things that belonged to the steward that he insisted belonged to him, saying, “These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle are my cattle, and all that thou seest is mine.” Laban went through Jacobs goods to take ownership of them, even as Satan tries to take ownership of the things of God and false ministers try to take ownership of the new apostolic era.

But as Laban went through Jacob’s tents, what was he looking for? He was searching for his idols that he claimed Jacob had stolen. (Genesis 41:30)

So, now we see the true nature of Laban’s heart, don’t we? God was separating the true steward (Jacob) from Laban (the idolater). Though Laban received revelation from God in the form of a dream, he used the revelation for his own purposes, to establish his authority over Jacob and he used this self-authority to speak for God and set the terms.

Laban’s heart was not after God, which is not surprising when we consider the many times he changed Jacob’s wages to put himself in the position of increase. But God was with the anointed steward and increased Jacob and separated him from Laban.

Jacob responded to Laban’s dream by calling a spade a spade. Jacob knew that the revelation Laban received was not intended to confirm his authority, but rather a rebuke, and he said, “God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.” (Genesis 31:42)

When in covenant, under the stewardship of apostles, God’s pattern (revelation for separation) remains unbroken. However, the pattern ministers cling to is revelation for consecration (to use revelation as a false show of consecration to initiate their own path).

Ministers post their annual revelations and their daily revelations as they try to contribute to God’s prophetic path – 40 days of outpouring … 7 days of fasting … a new season … miracles are about to happen … God wants to heal you – but these are Laban revelations – the witness of man. The witness of man does not stand in God’s power because it is outside His covenant.

Most ministers fall into this same snare of misapplication of revelation. Let’s look at another example. The king of Assyria, Sennacherib received a revelation from God and sent Rabshakeh as his ambassador and spokesman to Jerusalem to tell Hezekiah, king of Judah and all the people to surrender, saying, “Am I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.” (2 Kings 18:25)

In other words, “God told me to come against this land to come against the idols of the land, so don’t let Hezekiah deceive you by saying that God will deliver you.” Hezekiah, turned to Isaiah (the steward) for direction, and the steward correctly applied the revelation Sennacherib had received.

The truth is, God had told Sennacherib to go against the land of Israel, but He did not tell him to go against Jerusalem and the Lord’s anointed. So, Sennacherib pushed beyond the revelation. When you use a revelation to come against the Lord’s anointed, you transgress; just as Korah transgressed against Moses and the Pharisees transgressed against Jesus. They came against God’s anointed and God judged them for this.

Charisma Magazine authors habitually say they are God’s spokesmen and they use various sources of revelation to point out that they are doing the will of God, but they have misdirected God’s revelation. Revelation cannot not save you, covenant can.

The same misapplication of revelation is also seen in how open signed are used. Whether it be an answer to prayer, or miracle, or healing, ministers take the sign to themselves to self-assume authority, which is really a religious aspiration.

Others run after the idol saying, “See, God answers his prayers, so he must be a man of God.” But answers to prayer does not validate a calling, it merely validates God and His goodness and His compassion, and cannot be used to assume authority.

God gives many examples of people who misdirected revelation. These are our negative role models that help us to observe the same spirit working in ministers today. Let’s visit another telling point of discernment in Nabal, the husband of Abigail who later became David’s wife.

The prosperity of Nabal blinded him and he ended up insulting David, God’s anointed. David had provided refuge for Nabal, but Nabal, drunk with his own pleasure, did not see God’s anointing on David. He was not aware of the refuge David provided, and therefore refused to reciprocate to him. He saw David through carnal eyes (a fugitive from Saul, a wannabe king, not prosperous, not in a position of authority, not part of his tradition, having nothing to offer).

Nabal read David as ministers do the stewardship of God’s anointed today. Nabal’s heart became stone and he died.

Let’s look at another aspect of Nabal’s sin to discern another stumbling block for him. Nabal refused to see God’s anointing on David because he was stuck on his own heritage. He was a descendent of Caleb who received the promise because of his faith. Nabal took confidence in the fact that he was born into this tradition, and used that for his authority. They called him Nabal the blessed, but he was Nabal the churlish man. (1 Samuel ch. 25)

Ministers today quote each other as a form of authority attempting to build many traditions they can point to as the true heritage of faith. For example, God heals a Catholic when taking communion or heals a Baptist during water baptism. People take the revelation of God’s compassion into the many directions of their own doctrines and limelight the theology and it becomes the new fable (spiritual fad or spiritual tic).

Believers take Gods acts of compassion to themselves and end up getting slain by their own doctrine.

God teaches us to make distinction that Christ may be seen. So, when we talk about receiving revelation, we are not talking about inventing revelation. Personal revelation is Satan’s calling card. It is not the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Believers who are caught up in personal revelation and personal prophecy do believe in God revealing Himself to them, but they are not following the pattern Jesus established in Himself in His new covenant. They’re seeking ways to hear good news about themselves and their life – God’s involvement in their peace, their happiness, and their security.

When a person does not have the foundation of truth, he will seek a revelation to confirm his own (personal) needs. He wants a revelation that will comfort and give strength of will in times of adversity, that will create a path forward in times of uncertainty. All of which God identifies as the revelation of the golden calf, which the children of Israel made with their hands in the absence of God’s steward, Moses.

Let’s look at the false pattern again: revelation for consecration = initiation = God’s wrath.

As I stated earlier, ministers want to jump right into consecration to get God moving, and God is correcting this dangerous mindset.

Before consecration can take place, separate has to take place. In the current Christian culture, when a minister talks about being consecrated to the Lord, he’s talking about getting ready to function in his calling. He’s talking about positioning himself in prayer to ready himself to receive from God. He’s trying to teach Christians how to empty themselves in order to present themselves as an empty vessel into which the Lord can pour His anointing.

But, God’s not looking for empty vessels. God seeks those who possess His Spirit and in whose heart truth has been prepared, even as Jesus said, “ But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.” (John 4:24)

So, God observes the vessel that is FULL of truth and therefore, full of the virtue of Christ. That believer is already working with the anointing. Why? Because he is following God’s due order to first separate himself to God’s steward to receive doctrine cleansing.

Separation first to God by coming to His steward, next, the preparation of truth in the heart, followed by consecration (this is the doing of our faith, our obedience to build God’s kingdom with the stones of His knowledge, our obedience when in resistance, whereas we develop the good habits of faith seen in the 3 Cs: consistency, conformity, and communication), and finally, initiation (faith is in motion and God’s gifts of propitiation are received and we live in the power of His grace).

The restored church is now in full mobility, while the chaff is still trying to invent new ways to surrender to God. As we observe the difference between these two patterns, we see that a believer does not have the opportunity to express obedience to God by simply trying to step into his consecration without first having the foundation of truth set in his heart that allows him to discern Christ in His knowledge and spiritual tools.

His truths and inventive revelations will always lead him into a crash course of consecration: Maybe if he fasts more, maybe if he tried new prayer positions (laying prostrate on the floor or on his knees), maybe if he calls for 15 minutes of dedicated prayer, etc..

I know I’ve given you plenty of examples, but stay with me on this one as I now want to address ministers who are getting onboard with the “idea” that separation is necessary, but again, can’t seem to help themselves from skipping ahead of God as they try to dive right into consecration.

To give you an example of this, David Hoffman’s article “God Is Separating the Wheat and Chaff Now More Than Ever Before” was peppered with the words “choice” and “separation”, but his did not follow God’s pattern.

Here’s why: Hoffman got ahead of himself, trying to make better choices while neglecting to first separate himself to the steward God called to correct his doctrine. Neglecting God’s sanctified pattern means that he can’t make distinction for Christ. While Hoffman calls for separation, he  is not following the pattern that Jesus gave to His apostles: separation, preparation, consecration, initiation.

Ignoring Jesus’ pattern, Hoffman is still encouraging the development of the chaff and not the wheat, and we see that in how he directs separation.

Skipping over God’s call to separate to His steward, Hoffman’s doctrine (truth(s), spiritual advice, interpretation of scripture, wisdom, direction) is not coming from the headship of Christ. What he has done is develop a culture, whereas believers are caught in-between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the flesh.

These unconverted believers talk a LOT about their sticky situations and gray areas they constantly run into, which, by the way, does exist when you have a covenant relationship with Jesus.

Presenting the profound dilemma experienced in the culture shared by unconverted believers, Hoffman offers to rehearse the trauma for them to try to show that better choices need to be made.

For example, he asked “…will they serve Christ or seek the “riches” of this world? Will they faithfully hold on to the truth of God’s Word, or will they compromise with the culture? Will they live in holiness or give way to the decadence around them? Will they look to the world for their hope, or will they look to Christ?”

This is not the dilemma God is addressing. This is the same old, tired, rehashed problems they have been dealing with in the past – and never resolved. Each time ministers present this same dilemma to believers they introduce a new round of “consecration” without separation and preparation. Is it any wonder that they are stuck in this nightmarish revolving door, addressing the same dilemma over and over again?

In his podcast, Apostle Eric brings out how this “program recall” is the result of not going through God’s due process, and I love his use of pottery as an analogy to help cement this to our understanding.

When the clay is undried you can’t use it, and instead of allowing it to go through its proper process, being put within a kiln for hardening, what they do is crush it back down again, and their repentance starts all over again, and they go through program recall. [Apostle Eric vonAnderseck’s podcast “Is Your Separation Sanctified?”]

It is impossible for a Christian to make any of these choices Hoffman advised without first making distinction for Christ. Truth gives us the proper scale to weigh the kingdom of God against the kingdom of the flesh. The conflict of mind that a believer battles with when they are part of the false religious system is the result of not following God’s blueprint of truth.

This is why separation begins with apostolic stewardship. So, say it with me: Separation begins with apostolic stewardship.

That is the real challenge God is placing before the church. The choices are then more specific. For example, Will you separate unto God’s elect and chosen steward to allow God to prepare your heart in truth or will you remain independent, claiming your own truth(s) are from God?

Will you accept doctrinal cleansing or seek after the doctrines that promise the glitter of the aspiration? Will you build the foundation of truth in your heart or continue to build with precept and line? Will you offer spiritual sacrifices of prophecy to God or will you follow the current Christian worship culture and psycho-phecy to make declarations and follow the invented revelation of personal prophecy?

This is not a time of desperate measures and self flagellations. You needn’t drape the pine tree flag over your body, or follow any other spiritual gimmickry. You need only  obey God’s call to come to Jesus by coming to the steward of the new apostolic season, Apostle Eric vonAnderseck.

God has given many confirmations of Apostle Eric’s stewardship. Mainly, the complete  restoration of the foundation of truth and understanding of the terms of the new covenant, the restoration of Jesus’ spiritual tools and the understanding how to use them, the restoration of Jesus’ priesthood, the restoration of true prophecy, the restoration of the 5 callings of the government of God, which now work in harmony, the restoration of the Christian growth cycle for fruit bearing – and more.

Further confirmations of God’s selection of Apostle Eric as His end time steward are too numerous to include in this article. One of the most significant that I can share with you is the vision I received while in prayer. I saw Apostle Eric rise up out of the ocean (the waters of many people) and as I saw him rise I wondered at what God was showing me. I first saw Apostle Eric’s head rising above the water, then his shoulders, and as he continued to rise up out of the water I saw that he was sitting upon Jesus’ shoulders and that Jesus Himself was rising out of the ocean. So, the Spirit is pointing to the headship of Jesus Christ and His restored government that is rising in His anointing to lead His people home to Him.

This confirmation does not produce the calling, but rather confirms that which the Lord is doing in this new season as He establishes the authority of His true government that sits upon His shoulders.

Isaiah 9:6
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”