📖 Biblical Definition
Biblically, elimination refers to God's righteous removal of sin, wickedness, and corruption from among His people. God commands His people to put away evil from their midst: "So shalt thou put the evil away from among you" (Deuteronomy 13:5). This is not mere social cleansing but covenant faithfulness — God will not tolerate the presence of unrepented sin among those who bear His name. Ultimately, all evil will be eliminated in the final judgment when God creates a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness (2 Peter 3:13). Sanctification itself is the progressive elimination of sin from the believer's life through the work of the Holy Spirit.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
The act of expelling or throwing off; rejection; the act of casting out.
expand to see more
ELIMINA'TION, n. The act of expelling or throwing out; the act of discharging or secreting by the pores. Note: Webster understood elimination as active expulsion — putting something out beyond the threshold. This aligns with the biblical pattern of God's people putting away evil from their midst by deliberate, obedient action.
📖 Key Scripture
• Deuteronomy 13:5 — "So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee."
• 1 Corinthians 5:13 — "Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person."
• 2 Peter 3:13 — "We, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."
• Revelation 21:27 — "And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Elimination is now associated with violence and cancel culture rather than righteous purging of sin.
expand to see more
Modern culture has severed elimination from its moral and covenantal context. In secular use, "elimination" conjures images of extermination, ethnic cleansing, or cancel culture — the removal of people rather than the removal of sin. Meanwhile, the church has largely abandoned the biblical practice of church discipline (the legitimate elimination of unrepentant sin from the body), calling it "judgmental" or "unloving." The result is a church that tolerates everything and eliminates nothing — the precise opposite of the biblical pattern. God's elimination is always just, always aimed at sin rather than persons, and always with the goal of restoration where repentance is possible.
Usage
• "Scripture calls the church to the elimination of unrepentant sin from its midst — not the elimination of sinners from God's offer of mercy."
• "Sanctification is the Spirit's work of progressive elimination — rooting out sin and conforming the believer to the image of Christ."