2 Corinthians 6 - How Can You Be In the World But Not of the World!

2 Corinthians 6 - NIV


Warning Against Idolatry
14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial[b]? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will live with them
    and walk among them,
and I will be their God
    and they will be my people.”

One of the problems of the Corinthians is that they were still "worldly". Though they were a "new creation in Christ", they were tempted to go back to their old habits from before they accepted Christ. Paul says to them, 

"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers." Jesus used the term "yoke" to refer to his "easy yoke" he gave to his followers. The yoke was fixed to the oxen as they pulled the plough. When Paul uses this phrase in the Old Testament he is referring to Deuteronomy 22:9, which prohibited two different animals from being yoked together in the field.

Specifically this passage is dealing with idolary, But in Paul's day, he is referring to the Corinthians being tempted to conform to the worldly ways of the Corinthians. Remember Corinth was the land of pagan idolatry and all kinds of sexual immorality. 

This teaching is used as the passage for a believer getting married to an unbeliever. We might call this an unequally yoked marriage. Paul tells the church they are the, "temple of the Holy Spirit". Since the Holy Spirit is God, this means God lives in us. This was prophesied in Ezekiel 36 and 37, when the prophet Ezekiel said,

"For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:24-26

"I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’” Ezekiel 37:14

So you can see why our bodies are so important, because they are the place the Holy Spirit resides! When we introduce darkness into our mind, body, and soul, we are mixing the light of Christ with darkness. 

Many times when an believer marries an unbeliever, they think they can convert them? But what if they don't? Besides God is the only who converts someone by the power of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, I don't believe we emphasize or teach enough about the person and work of the Holy Spirit.  We are not holy because of anything we have done, but because of who we are in Christ. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, who He gave to us when He went back to the Father.  In fact, Jesus said it was good for him to leave, because if he did he would send the Holy Spirit to them. John 16:7

So why is this important? Often as we think the Christian life is about "gritting out teeth and try to ge a good Christian" But if this is our strategy, we will certainly fail. Though living our Christian life is not passive, we can only do it in concert with the Holy Spirit.  We also call this, "walking with the Spirit". As Paul says, 

"If you live by the Holy Spirit you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." - Galatians 5:16

The key to a holy life is not what we do, but who we do it with!

Are there any areas of your life where you are unequally yoked with unbelievers? Are you in the world, but not of the world?

The bible doesn't tell us to disassociate with the world, but to be the salt and light of the world. John says, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." John 1:5  

Jesus, you called us to be "children of the light". Help us not to get caught up in the darkness of the world, but to be an ambassador of Your love and grace. Amen. 


  


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