"Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?" (II Corinthians 6:14)
In last week's lesson, on II Corinthians 6:3-13, the apostle Paul wrote how he "determined to give the Corinthians no cause for offense in anything, so that his ministry not be discredited," and he goes on to list a whole litany of deprivations he endured as a servant of God for the furtherance of the gospel--"in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;" noting the various graces and positive character qualities that God produced in him through these trials--"purity, knowledge, patience, the Holy Spirit, genuine love;" always operating within the confines of "the word of truth" (as revealed in Scripture), and in the power of God; by "weapons of righteousness"! These the spiritual weapons that God supplies: the "sword of the Spirit," the Word of God, the "shield of faith"!
And yet, despite the nobility and commendable characteristics of Paul's life and ministry, it was marked by a series of paradoxes, which Paul described in verses 8-10: "By glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, yet well known, as dying, yet behold, we live; as punished, yet not put to death; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making many rich, as having nothing, yet possessing all things"! Wow!
And so, while the human responses to Paul's preaching to the Corinthians varied greatly, God's estimate of him was always positive; and Paul continued to "fight the good fight of faith"! And he appealed to the Corinthians as a father to his children, "speaking with his mouth freely and his heart opened wide"--in order to stimulate them to accept him and his ministry so they would continue to experience all the blessings God wanted them to have!
All of which set the scene, and established the tone, for our lesson Tuesday night (on verses 6:14-7:1) where Paul charges them not to be "yoked together with unbelievers"--using an analogy from the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 22:10) where God prohibited the Israelites from putting an ox and a donkey together in a "yoke" for plowing a field! A yoke (which Mark Wever just happened to latch on to, and bring along to our gathering last night, so that we could actually see what one looks like!)--a bar or frame of wood by which animals were joined together at the neck, or head, to work in plowing a field. But an ox and a donkey are by nature different and couldn't walk together in a straight line to plow a furrow! But, more importantly, one (the ox) was deemed by Old Testament law as a "clean" animal while the other (the donkey) was deemed "unclean"! And therefore could not be "yoked together"! (And isn't it interesting that Jesus said (in Matthew 11:29) "Take My yoke upon you and learn from...and you will find rest for your souls!")
And so Paul used this insightful analogy to teach that Christians must not be bound, or "yoked together" with non-Christians in any spiritual enterprise or relationship that would be detrimental to the Christian's testimony within the body of Christ! This was especially important for the Corinthians because of the threat from the false teachers and the surrounding pagan idolatry! And it makes the point clearly and establishes the principle which applies just as much to believers in our world today!
God told the Israelites in Old Testament times, in Exodus 34:11-16, to "be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day...Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst...for you shall not worship any other god. For the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God--otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods!"
In Deuteronomy 7:1-4, He makes the point even stronger: "When the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites (and the Mennonites! Oops, no!), seven nations greater and stronger than you, and when the Lord your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them! You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods...."!
And, in the New Testament, in our passage tonight, the words, and the principle, couldn't be stated more clearly, or profoundly!
Verses14-16a say: "Do not be bound together (or 'yoked together') with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of the living God with idols?"
The book of James, addressing "the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad," says: "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God!"
And I John 2:15-16 says, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever!"
Ephesians 5:8 adds, "For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord! Walk as children of light!" (Reminding us of the song that calls for us to "let our light shine forth for Jesus...in the day-time and in the night-time..."!)
But, as MacArthur notes, this and other passages in the Bible don't mean that a Christian should end all associations with unbelievers; and that doing so would defy the very purpose for which God saved believers and left them on earth"! So that they (we!) can be "a light in the world"! And fulfill the "great commission" (as Jesus gave to us, in Matthew 28:19-20)!
Paul wrote in I Corinthians 9:23 that he himself had become "all things to all men," so that he might "by all means save some"! In I Corinthians 10:27-28, he wrote that if one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience sake..."! And in I Corinthians 5:9-13, he said that when he wrote in his letter for the Corinthians "not to associate with immoral people, he didn't mean with immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world!" But that he actually wrote to for them "not to associate with a so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolator, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or or swindler...!
And to clarify this principle of separation from unbelievers even further, he wrote this (in I Corinthians 7:10-16), concerning a brother who has a wife who is not a believer (and thus "yoked together" in the ultimate relationship): "But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife. But to the rest, I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her! And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away! For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband...!"
This same principle applies for believers in their relationship with government authorities! Jesus said (in Matthew 22:21 and in Mark 12:17) to "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's"! Romans 13:1-7 says that "Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God! Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves! For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same..."! (But if there's a conflict between what God and men in authority require, Peter and the apostles made it clear, in Acts 5:27, that "we must obey God rather than men"!)
MacArthur sums it up this way: "Relationships between believers and unbelievers are at best limited to the temporal and external! They may enjoy family ties, work at the same job, share in business relationships, live in the same community, experience the same hobbies and pastimes, and even agree on certain political and social issues. But on the spiritual level believers and unbelievers live in two different worlds!"
II Corinthians 6:16-18 says (and these are wonderful words), "For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said (in Old Testament writings): "I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people; therefore, 'come out from their midst and be separate,' says the Lord; and do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you, and I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty!" Wow!
Just as God said to His people (the Israelites) in the Old Testament; in Exodus 29:45, "I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God! They shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God!"
And as Jesus said in John 14:23: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word; and My Father will love him, and We will make our abode with him (speaking of the Holy Spirit who He would send to indwell us)!
Isn't it amazing that God would so love us--and be a Father to us--and send us His Son, and then His Spirit to dwell within us, and give us the hope and promise of eternal life in heaven? (Makes you want to sing "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saves a wretch like me..."!) And "How Firm a Foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent Word! What more can He say than to you He has said..." and many others!)
And, finally, another "therefore"! What's it there for--in 7:1? "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God!" Harkening back to Isaiah 52:11, where it says, "Depart, depart, go out from there, touch nothing unclean; go out of the midst of her, purity yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the Lord!"
Leviticus 19:2 says, "You (we!) shall be holy, for the Lord your (our!) God is holy!" And as I Peter 1:14-16 speaks to us: "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy Spirit who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, 'you shall be holy, for I am holy"!
Go with God, MOBsters! Til we meet again!
Lowell
In last week's lesson, on II Corinthians 6:3-13, the apostle Paul wrote how he "determined to give the Corinthians no cause for offense in anything, so that his ministry not be discredited," and he goes on to list a whole litany of deprivations he endured as a servant of God for the furtherance of the gospel--"in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;" noting the various graces and positive character qualities that God produced in him through these trials--"purity, knowledge, patience, the Holy Spirit, genuine love;" always operating within the confines of "the word of truth" (as revealed in Scripture), and in the power of God; by "weapons of righteousness"! These the spiritual weapons that God supplies: the "sword of the Spirit," the Word of God, the "shield of faith"!
And yet, despite the nobility and commendable characteristics of Paul's life and ministry, it was marked by a series of paradoxes, which Paul described in verses 8-10: "By glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, yet well known, as dying, yet behold, we live; as punished, yet not put to death; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making many rich, as having nothing, yet possessing all things"! Wow!
And so, while the human responses to Paul's preaching to the Corinthians varied greatly, God's estimate of him was always positive; and Paul continued to "fight the good fight of faith"! And he appealed to the Corinthians as a father to his children, "speaking with his mouth freely and his heart opened wide"--in order to stimulate them to accept him and his ministry so they would continue to experience all the blessings God wanted them to have!
All of which set the scene, and established the tone, for our lesson Tuesday night (on verses 6:14-7:1) where Paul charges them not to be "yoked together with unbelievers"--using an analogy from the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 22:10) where God prohibited the Israelites from putting an ox and a donkey together in a "yoke" for plowing a field! A yoke (which Mark Wever just happened to latch on to, and bring along to our gathering last night, so that we could actually see what one looks like!)--a bar or frame of wood by which animals were joined together at the neck, or head, to work in plowing a field. But an ox and a donkey are by nature different and couldn't walk together in a straight line to plow a furrow! But, more importantly, one (the ox) was deemed by Old Testament law as a "clean" animal while the other (the donkey) was deemed "unclean"! And therefore could not be "yoked together"! (And isn't it interesting that Jesus said (in Matthew 11:29) "Take My yoke upon you and learn from...and you will find rest for your souls!")
And so Paul used this insightful analogy to teach that Christians must not be bound, or "yoked together" with non-Christians in any spiritual enterprise or relationship that would be detrimental to the Christian's testimony within the body of Christ! This was especially important for the Corinthians because of the threat from the false teachers and the surrounding pagan idolatry! And it makes the point clearly and establishes the principle which applies just as much to believers in our world today!
God told the Israelites in Old Testament times, in Exodus 34:11-16, to "be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day...Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst...for you shall not worship any other god. For the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God--otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods!"
In Deuteronomy 7:1-4, He makes the point even stronger: "When the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites (and the Mennonites! Oops, no!), seven nations greater and stronger than you, and when the Lord your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them! You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods...."!
And, in the New Testament, in our passage tonight, the words, and the principle, couldn't be stated more clearly, or profoundly!
Verses14-16a say: "Do not be bound together (or 'yoked together') with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of the living God with idols?"
The book of James, addressing "the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad," says: "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God!"
And I John 2:15-16 says, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever!"
Ephesians 5:8 adds, "For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord! Walk as children of light!" (Reminding us of the song that calls for us to "let our light shine forth for Jesus...in the day-time and in the night-time..."!)
But, as MacArthur notes, this and other passages in the Bible don't mean that a Christian should end all associations with unbelievers; and that doing so would defy the very purpose for which God saved believers and left them on earth"! So that they (we!) can be "a light in the world"! And fulfill the "great commission" (as Jesus gave to us, in Matthew 28:19-20)!
Paul wrote in I Corinthians 9:23 that he himself had become "all things to all men," so that he might "by all means save some"! In I Corinthians 10:27-28, he wrote that if one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience sake..."! And in I Corinthians 5:9-13, he said that when he wrote in his letter for the Corinthians "not to associate with immoral people, he didn't mean with immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world!" But that he actually wrote to for them "not to associate with a so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolator, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or or swindler...!
And to clarify this principle of separation from unbelievers even further, he wrote this (in I Corinthians 7:10-16), concerning a brother who has a wife who is not a believer (and thus "yoked together" in the ultimate relationship): "But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife. But to the rest, I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her! And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away! For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband...!"
This same principle applies for believers in their relationship with government authorities! Jesus said (in Matthew 22:21 and in Mark 12:17) to "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's"! Romans 13:1-7 says that "Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God! Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves! For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same..."! (But if there's a conflict between what God and men in authority require, Peter and the apostles made it clear, in Acts 5:27, that "we must obey God rather than men"!)
MacArthur sums it up this way: "Relationships between believers and unbelievers are at best limited to the temporal and external! They may enjoy family ties, work at the same job, share in business relationships, live in the same community, experience the same hobbies and pastimes, and even agree on certain political and social issues. But on the spiritual level believers and unbelievers live in two different worlds!"
II Corinthians 6:16-18 says (and these are wonderful words), "For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said (in Old Testament writings): "I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people; therefore, 'come out from their midst and be separate,' says the Lord; and do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you, and I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty!" Wow!
Just as God said to His people (the Israelites) in the Old Testament; in Exodus 29:45, "I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God! They shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God!"
And as Jesus said in John 14:23: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word; and My Father will love him, and We will make our abode with him (speaking of the Holy Spirit who He would send to indwell us)!
Isn't it amazing that God would so love us--and be a Father to us--and send us His Son, and then His Spirit to dwell within us, and give us the hope and promise of eternal life in heaven? (Makes you want to sing "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saves a wretch like me..."!) And "How Firm a Foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent Word! What more can He say than to you He has said..." and many others!)
And, finally, another "therefore"! What's it there for--in 7:1? "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God!" Harkening back to Isaiah 52:11, where it says, "Depart, depart, go out from there, touch nothing unclean; go out of the midst of her, purity yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the Lord!"
Leviticus 19:2 says, "You (we!) shall be holy, for the Lord your (our!) God is holy!" And as I Peter 1:14-16 speaks to us: "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy Spirit who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, 'you shall be holy, for I am holy"!
Go with God, MOBsters! Til we meet again!
Lowell
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