2 corinthians 6:14-7:1

2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1 (NRSV)

14 Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship is there between light and darkness? 15 What agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be your father, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God.

◦ Holy: (Holman Bible Dictionary) “to set apart.” This applies to places where God is present, like the Temple and the tabernacle, and to things and persons related to those holy places or to God Himself … Christians are called to holy living. They are saints who lead godly, righteous lives. Being sanctified, or made holy, is a work of the Holy Spirit on the basis of Christ’s atonement that calls for obedient submission from those who have been saved.”

◦ Holy: (Strong’s exhaustive concordance) “to be holy is to be morally blameless.”

◦ To be holy means to be separate from sin and consecrated to God.

◦ The word holy signifies “separation to God, and the conduct befitting those so separated.” (Vines Expository Dictionary)

We are not to:

◾ compromise with the world

◾ or conform to the world,

◾ but we are to come out from the world!

God calls for His people to be a holy people. God is concerned with our holiness! A few years ago while still commentator for ESPN’s Sunday Night Football, Joe Theismann, former Washington Redskins Quarterback, was reported to try to explain to his soon to be 2nd ex-wife why he had an affair: “God wants Joe Theismann to be happy.” God is more concerned about our holiness than our happiness! As Christians we are called to live a holy, consecrated, and separated life which:

→ shines the light of Jesus into the world

→ shows the love of Jesus to the world!

Christians are to seek to honor the Lord Jesus Christ in this world as His representatives. We are to:

→ endorse what He endorses

→ promote what He promotes

→ stand for what He stands for

→ and reject what He rejects

Hebrews 12:14 says, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” Holiness is indeed an important doctrine!

A Christian man was invited to visit a lodge meeting to be considered for membership. This man was a church elder and strong in his faith and witness. He met many of the members who were all prominent members of the community. The master of ceremonies took the man aside and said, “We always close our meetings with a word of prayer. Some of the members asked that I invite you to give the closing prayer tonight. Would you do so?” The Christian man replied, “I’d be honored.” The master of ceremonies said, “Good! Now, please keep in mind that we are a nonsectarian organization. Everyone here believes in God, of course, but our members come from various faith traditions. I trust you’ll keep that in mind as you pray.” The Christian said, “I certainly will.”

A few minutes later the master of ceremonies called him to the front to give the closing prayer. So the Christian man prayed and throughout his prayer he referred to Jesus. He spoke of “the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” He thanked God the Father for sending “Your Son Jesus to die for our sins.” He spoke of “the resurrected Lord” and “Jesus the coming King” and “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Throughout his prayer, this man heard people coughing nervously. Finally, he concluded, “We ask these things in the name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.”

Afterwards, the master of ceremonies leaned over and, with obvious annoyance, said, “I thought I made myself clear! Some of our members do not believe in Jesus Christ! We pray to God—but never use the name of Jesus! Your constant references to that name were offensive to some of our members!” The Christian man said, “Sir, I didn’t wish to offend anyone. But if I can’t mention the name of my Lord and friend Jesus Christ in this place, then I won’t be coming back.” He left that night and never returned!

Separation from the world and holiness is costly! We have to determine that we love the Lord God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. We have to resolve to stand for Jesus Christ and never be ashamed of our Lord! Paul declared the proclamation for holiness, the purpose for holiness, and the prerogative for holiness. Christians must obey the command to be holy, display the characteristics of holiness, withdraw from those things that would defile them and default them, and pursue righteousness and godliness. Have we truly heard God’s command to be separate from the world? Have we heeded God’s command to be holy? Are we a holy people? Does God have His hand of power, blessing, and anointing on us? This passage reveals some reminders about what the Bible says about holiness.

I. The requirement for holiness. (14–16a)

A. The argument about communion. (14)

“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?”

The Corinthian church was bombarded with liberal theology, pagan idol philosophy, a wicked culture that packaged and promoted sin in the name of religion. Corinth had a wicked and sinful culture. Corinth was anything and everything but holy. Even in the midst of a wicked and godless culture God still required that the Corinthian Christians to Christ-like. The church at Corinth was still to be holy. Even though they were in the world they were not to be of the world. That still applies to the church today! We live in a wicked world! Godlessness abounds and holiness is nowhere to be found! That is no excuse for the Christian. We have the call to be holy.

Paul lays down the argument about their communion. We are not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Unequally yoked together: heterozugeo, het-er-od-zoog-eh’-o; to yoke up differently, i.e. (figurative) to associate discordantly, unequally yoke together with. We are commanded not to be bound together with unbelievers.

Paul draws this analogy from the Pentateuch. Deuteronomy 22:10 says, “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.”

◾ One was considered a clean animal and one was considered an unclean animal

◾ The ox was a stronger animal

◾ The ox was a bigger animal

• Yoke: was a wooden frame or bar with loops at the end that fitted around the necks of the two animals to tie them together and to cause them to work as a team.

When animals were yoked together they were in tandem and were expected to work together in unison. Ray Stedman wrote, “Any relationship that does not permit a believer to follow his Lord is a yoke. A friendship can be a yoke … A business partnership can by a yoke … A yoke is a relationship that binds you and is hard to break and constrains you and limits your freedom to follow your conscience and follow your Lord.” We are not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers in marriage! No Christian should ever marry an unbeliever! No Christian should ever date someone that is an unbeliever because you shouldn’t date someone that you would not or could not marry. What if you are already married to an unbeliever? 1 Corinthians 7:13–16 says, “And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. 15 But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. 16 For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?” This prohibition forbids being yoked together with unbelievers. John Phillips said that this command “frowns upon the marriage of a believer with an unbeliever. It looks with disfavor on a believer entering into a business partnership with an unbeliever. It discountenances a believer joining in a club, society, lodge, or fraternity with an unbeliever. The reason is simple. Before long, the believer and the unbeliever will start to pull in opposite directions—either that or the believer will be dragged into behavior which will compromise his testimony and trouble his conscience.” Today many men and women will live together (co-habitat), have children together, unite together, and do their own thing and still claim to be Christians. Christians have the call to not be unequally yoked!

Then Paul asks a series of questions that demand a negative answer!

• Question #1: “For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness?”

The point is that righteousness is to have no fellowship with lawlessness. They are at opposite ends of the spectrum. He gives an argument about communion! Righteousness is to have no communion with lawlessness. Righteousness: equity (of character or act), justification. Lawlessness: (KJV: unrighteousness) anomia, an-om-ee’-ah; illegality, i.e. violation of law or (genitive) wickedness, iniquity, x transgress (-ion of) the law, unrighteousness. Right and wrong do not mix! Righteousness and sin cannot mingle! Those who know Jesus Christ and serve Jesus Christ are not to be in fellowship with sin. There is no communion between righteousness and lawlessness. Christian’s are not to be lawbreakers—they are not to be bound together with lawbreakers—they are not to pull in tandem with lawbreakers! Are you righteous before the Lord? Are you lawless before the Lord? Are you bound together with those who are righteous or bound together with those who are lawless?

◾ Question #2: “And what communion has light with darkness?”

The answer is none! Light should have no, and really can have no, communion with darkness! Light is a metaphor for truth; darkness a metaphor for error. Morally light refers to holiness; darkness to evil. Those who belong to Jesus are called out of darkness into His light and therefore we are to walk in the light as He is in the light!

→ When light appears darkness disappears

→ When light is present darkness is absent!

→ When light is displayed then darkness is dispelled!

→ When light is on darkness is off!

The words “fellowship” and “communion” are closely akin to one another. They come from two different Greek words but they share close meanings. There is no fellowship, communion, or participation of light with darkness. Those who walk in the light and live in the light will have no fellowship with darkness. Ephesians 5:8–14 says, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” When we are walking in holiness we will have no fellowship with darkness. The standards of holiness and righteousness must be maintained in the church for the cause of Christ.

The makers of the movie “Courageous” have been used by God. Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia is being used by God in getting the gospel of Jesus Christ out through the medium of the movie industry. During the making of their previous movie “Fireproof’ the church had a unique opportunity to have Kirk Cameron play their lead role. The popular actor of ‘Growing Pains’ volunteered to work for free, but that didn’t assure him of a role on the cast. He was auditioned and then put through a spiritual interview. In an interview after the movie came out Cameron talked about the process. He said, “It went like this: ‘Is there anything going on in your life that might cause God to remove his hand of blessing on this project? We don’t want any hypocrites. So if you’re involved in drug or alcohol problems, or you’re sleeping around or have issues with morality, tell us so we can find a different actor.” The budget for the movie was $500,000.00 for a major motion picture, and it would have been easy for them to count it a blessing to have Cameron donate his star power, but the production team demonstrated that purity always trumps popularity and power. We must never have fellowship with lawlessness and we must never have communion with darkness. The Bible tells us about the argument about communion, and then we see:

B. The accord of Christ. (15)

“And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?”

◾ Question #3 asks what accord has Christ with Belial?

Accord: (KJV: concord) sumphonesis, soom-fo’-nay-sis; accordance, concord. We derive our English word “symphony” from this Greek language. Belial: Belial, bel-ee’-al; worthlessness; Belial, as an epithet of Satan, Belial. This title is found in the Dead Sea Scrolls in reference to Satan. That is exactly who Paul has in mind. There is no accord with Christ and Satan. There is no symphony between the two. They are not singing the same song; they are not conducting from the same score—they are not playing the same notes!

One week as I was getting Elijah ready to take him to school I always turn on the television and let him watch “The Little Einstein’s.” During that episode I noticed that the kids were trying to solve a problem by getting into a castle by conducting music to open the door to rescue the “Good Knight.” The trouble was that there was a “Bad Knight” outside the castle messing the song up. He was slowing down the song, messing up the notes, disrupting the tempo—the kids had to combat the “Bad Knight” and his off-beat and off pace music. That is the way the devil is. He will disrupt the symphony of our spiritual life and walk—he will cut in on our songs of praise—he will mess up our service, worship, and devotion to our King. The Corinthians would have understood fully the impact of the question! There is no accord between Christ and Belial—none whatsoever! Christians today need to understand this fact again!

◾ We are not to compromise with the devil

◾ We are not to give place to the devil

◾ We are not to underestimate the devil

◾ We are not to walk hand in hand with the devil!

In the same way that Christ has no accord with the devil so too the believer is to have no accord with an unbeliever. These questions are given to drive home the point that there is to be holiness in the life of Christians and there is to be separation from the world! The Bible gives the requirement for holiness. We’ve talked about the argument about communion, the accord of Christ, and we also note:

C. The agreement of the church. (16a)

“And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?”

◾ Question #4: What agreement has the temple of God with idols?

Again this question is to hit home with the church to be separate from the idol worshipers. Agreement: “to be in company with, to have common ground.” The prophet Amos asked this question: Amos 3:3 says, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” As Christians we are the temple of God and we are not to unite the temple of God with idol worship and false gods. God is a jealous God and He demands that we worship Him and that we have no other god before Him! Deuteronomy 5:6–9 says, “ ‘I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 7 ‘You shall have no other gods before Me. 8 ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image-any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 9 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,”

Idol worship was prominent in Corinth! Paul had addressed that issue in his first letter to the Corinthians.

◾ In Corinth there was the temple of Aphrodite that had one thousand temple priestesses—which were nothing more than temple prostitutes.

◾ These “priestesses” would descend down on the city to take captive “worshipers” to participate in idol worship and sexual immorality.

◾ The term “Corinthianize” meant “to go to bed with a prostitute.”

Corinth was a pagan city and godless culture and it was in the midst of this backdrop that Paul called for the church to holiness, separation, and godliness. No matter how wicked our culture gets or how unholy Newberry may become—we are to still be holy—we are still to walk in the light! The Bible tells us about the requirement for holiness, we also note:

II. The reason for our holiness. (16b–17)

A. Our positional holiness. (16b–c)

“For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

Paul gives an irrefutable argument to the church for our holiness. We are to be holy because we are God’s holy people and our holy God dwells in His people. Paul reminds the church that we are the temple of the living God. Contrary to the temples of the false and dead gods that were made out of bricks, stones, wood, hay, gold, or silver—the church of Jesus Christ is the temple of the living God. The living God lives in us! The God that made us came to dwell in us. Paul quotes from Leviticus 26:12; Jeremiah 32:38; and Ezekiel 37:27 to substantiate his point.

This New Testament truth is found throughout the epistles. God promised that He would dwell in us and walk among us and be our God and we should be His people. Why should we be holy? If we are born again Christians we are in Christ and Christ is in us! When we are placed in the body of Christ we are sanctified from the world, we are set apart as God’s holy people. We have positional holiness by being in Christ! God sees us in Christ and we are holy through Jesus Christ our Lord. We are to realize that God dwells in us and that God walks among us, and that He is our God and that we are His people. Do you have positional holiness? The Bible also tells us about:

B. Our practical holiness. (17)

“Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord, Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”

Paul gives another strong reason for our holiness—we are indwelt by the Living and Holy God therefore we are to be holy people. Not just in position, but in practice! What Christ has made us inwardly and spiritually should be manifest outwardly and physically! John Phillips wrote, “The principle that salvation from sin is to be followed by separation from the world is taught throughout Scripture, both in plain statement, and in type and shadow … It is a sad day for us when we forget that saved people are to be a separated people and a sanctified people.” God cannot and will not use us if we are defiled by the world, in love with the world, and consumed with the world.

Robert Murray McCheyne wrote these words to Rev. Dan Edwards on October 2, 1840 after his ordination as a missionary to the Jews:

◾ I trust you will have a pleasant and profitable time in Germany. I know you will apply hard to German; but do not forget the culture of the inner man, I mean the heart.

◾ How diligently the cavalry officer keeps his saber clean and sharp; every stain he rubs off with the greatest care.

◾ Remember you are God’s sword, His instrument, I trust a chosen vessel unto Him to bear His name.

◾ In great measure, according to the purity and perfections of the instrument, will be it’s success.

◾ It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.

The call to the church from God is to come out from among them and be separate. This calls for a definite action on our part—we are to intentionally come out from unbelievers. Separate: aphorizo, af-or-id’-zo; to set off by boundary, i.e. (figurative) limit, exclude, appoint, etc … divide, separate, sever. This doctrine of separation has been misunderstood and misapplied down through the years. People go from one extreme to the next. One group will withdraw physically from the world with no outside contact whatsoever. Examples: Monks and their monasteries and puritans and their communities.

◾ Warren Wiersbe wrote, “In our desire for doctrinal and personal purity, we must not become so self-centered that we ignore the needy world around us. Our Lord was ‘holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners’ (Hebrews 7:26), and yet He was ‘a friend of publicans and sinners’ (Luke 7:34). Like a skillful physician, we must practice ‘contact without contamination.’ Otherwise, we will isolate ourselves from the people who need our ministry the most.”

We are to be in the world, but not of the world! We are to minister in the world but not be marred by the world. Some people go to the other extreme—they stay in the culture. In the name of trying to reach people they will:

◾ go to clubs with people

◾ drink alcohol with people

◾ and watch the trashy movies with their so called friends

◾ they will smoke what the world smokes

◾ take what the world takes

◾ dress like the world dresses

◾ talk like the world talks

There’s no difference in the so called “people of God” and the “people of the world.” We are to come out from among them and touch not what is unclean! Paul quotes from Isaiah 52:11; Ezekiel 20:34; 41 to further substantiate our call to practical holiness. Christians should never portray outwardly or have the attitude that we are better than anyone else. But we are to hate sin and the damage that it does. We are to distinguish between righteousness and lawlessness and between light and darkness.

Christians are to live a holy life for the glory of God and for the benefit of a lost world. We are not to compromise with the lost or go along with those in their sin so as not to offend them! John MacArthur wrote, “The church’s goal is not to make unbelievers feel comfortable and non-threatened. On the contrary, it is to make them feel uncomfortable with their sins and threatened by God’s judgment and the terrors of hell that they face.” Here’s the promise of God—if we will come out from among them and be separate and touch not what is unclean then God will receive us. I want God to receive me—welcome me, bless me, and use me for His glory! We have a call to practical holiness. We are to work out what the Lord Jesus works in! The Lord promised to be a Father to us and that we would be His sons and daughters. God is holy and He calls for His people to be holy. 1 Peter 1:14–16 says, “as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” We’ve learned about the requirement for holiness, the reason for holiness, and lastly, we note:

III. The response to holiness. (7:1)

A. The promises of the Father. (1a)

“Therefore, having these promises, beloved,”

The response of God’s people to the call of holiness should be based on the promises of God. Paul had just listed promises from God. In light of those promises and because of those promises Christians have an obligation to be holy and live separated lives! The promises are from God the Father to His beloved. Christians are the called out by God, the claimed by God, and the cared for by God.

God is the loving heavenly Father—He’s the greatest father that anyone can have. He loves us like no earthly father can love us. He has called us to be holy and we have the promises of God to know Him, to have fellowship with Him, and to be known by Him. Homer Kent wrote, “Since God is pleased to dwell among His people, to acknowledge them as His own, and promises to treat them as a father does his sons and daughters if they separate themselves from unbelievers and from sinful actions, then it follows that they should comply with the conditions that He has set down.” We are to respond in holiness because we have the promises of the Father. We also to respond by:

B. The purifying from filthiness. (7:1b)

“let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit”

In response to the call to holiness we are to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness. Cleanse: katharizo, kath-ar-id’-zo; to cleanse (literal or figurative) (make) clean (-se), purge, purify. Do we cleanse ourselves or does the Lord cleanse us—yes! We are cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ from all our filthiness and sin. Our call to holiness is a call to remove ourselves from sinful actions and attitudes. We are to repent of sins and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. To cleanse ourselves from all filthiness entails our active participation in distancing ourselves from sin. The cleansing is to be outwardly (of the flesh) and inwardly (of the spirit). We will seek, by confession of sins to God, and repentance of sins before God, to remove ourselves from sin. Jerry Bridges, in his book ‘The Pursuit of Holiness’ wrote, “The battle for holiness must be fought on two fronts—without and within. Only then will we see progress toward holiness”

We are to respond to God’s call for holiness by separating ourselves, not touching the unclean, and cleansing ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit. The Bible tells us our response is based on the promises of the Father, the purifying from filthiness, and lastly,

C. Our perfecting from fear, (1c)

“perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

Our perfecting holiness is done because of our fear of God. (Perfecting) “to fulfill, to complete, and to finish” We are to be ever increasing in holiness and always in hot pursuit of holiness. Holiness: hagiosune, hag-ee-o-soo’-nay; sacredness (i.e. properly the quality) holiness. When we have a proper fear of God it will be a powerful motivator for holiness! We will seek to obey God, be separated to God, worship and serve God all because we fear God. Charles Hodge wrote, “This is the motive which is to determine our endeavors to purify ourselves. It is not regard to the good of others, nor our own happiness, but reverence for God.” Do we have a proper fear of God? Are we seeking to be holy? Have we come out from among sinners and sin?

→ Have we touched what is unclean with our heart and with our hands?

→ Have we touched the unclean with our eyes and with our ears?

Have we been unequally yoked with unbelievers? Would you repent today of an unholy life? Would you come to God on His terms and leave the sinful life? Would you remove yourself from godless influences and hindrances to your faith? Would you begin to perfect holiness in the fear of God? We have the requirement for holiness—may we walk in the Light as He is in the Light. We have the reason for holiness—believers are in Christ and Christ is in believers. We have the response to holiness!