Get it right!

Context: Paul’s Call for separation

Text: 2 Corinthian 6 : 11-7v1

*@ Nelson road on 20th July 2008

Introduction

This passage marks the end of the ‘long digression’ form 2:14–7:4, a lengthy part of the letter which has been devoted to ‘ministry’—the ‘ministry of the new covenant

In that this new covenant presents the terms by which we can be reconciled with God, because of Jesus and His work for us

Is therefore fitting that as we get to these verses the man who spent much of his time pleading with men and women to be reconciled with God should conclude his argument with a an attempt to practice what he preached.

There was no longer closeness between Paul and his friends at Corinth, and he longed for things to be put back on the old footing

So Paul concludes this part of the letter, with a twofold appeal to the Corinthians—to be reconciled to him and to separate themselves from over-close involvement with ‘unbelievers’.

A) It’s a two way thing!

Paul starts by saying “O Corinthians”!

Paul has spent enough time laying down the principles. Now he makes a pointed appeal to the Corinthian Christians, based on the depth and passion in his heart

Paul does not often refer to his readers by name after he has done so in his opening greeting but when he does, we can see that this reflects his feelings for them

He hardly needed to tell them how wide open his heart and that of Timothy was towards them, because they have been mad aware of it:

As he wrote of his sufferings (1:3–11)
And explain why he has not yet re–visited them (1:12–2:5)
And showed his attitude to the man who has caused trouble (2:611)
And as he revealed what makes him ‘tick’ in his ministry (2:12–6:10)

He has been remarkably frank.

He has simply opened his heart and shown them what his feelings are. In modern parlance, he has worn his heart on his sleeve and in so doing has shown how deep, is his love for them

When Paul says you are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections is probably means that the Corinthian Christians were playing the “victim” before Paul.

He had, out of godly necessity, been firm with them on previous occasions (1 Corinthians 4:18-21, 2 Corinthians 1:23).

Now, they are probably claiming to be restricted by the “hurt” Paul has caused them.

They were probably saying, “We would love to reconcile with you Paul, but the pain you caused us restricts us. We just can’t get over it.”

But the real problem was that the Corinthian Christians were restricted by [their] own affections.

It wasn’t that Paul did not love them enough (which was their claim as “victims”).

It was that they loved too much! Their own affections were restricting them.

What did they love too much? First, they loved the world too much, and Paul will deal with that love in following verses. But they also loved themselves too much, and refused to really deal with their selfish, worldly attitudes towards Paul.

Paul had revealed his true feelings for the Corinthian believers -- he and his coworkers were not withholding [their] affection from them.

The Corinthian church however, was reacting coldly to Paul. They criticized his preaching (11:6; 1 Cor 2:1-4), his writing (1:13), and his demeanor among them (10:9-10).

Therefore Paul confronted the Corinthians for withholding their affections.

They had let suspicions and misconceptions ruin their relationship with Paul. Instead of accepting him, they were becoming mean-spirited and hard-hearted.

But Paul wants to see the same self-searching honesty in the Corinthian Christians that he has just displayed to them.

They had to do this to bring about reconciliation. The rift between Paul and the Corinthian church could be healed, but it was in the hands of the Corinthian Christians to do it. They had to also be open.

In verse 13, Paul employs the kind of playful logic that might be used in a family situation, and he does this because he is like a father to them (cf. 1 Cor. 4:14–16; 1 Thess. 2:11–12).

There is no doubt that to lead others to Christ can set up a special kind of bonding, the same kind of bonding that a parents feels for a child

So He says, in effect, ‘It's only right for you to open your hearts to me when I have opened mine to you.’

Paul wants to see the same self-searching honesty in the Corinthian Christians that he has just displayed to them. They had to do this to bring about reconciliation. The rift between Paul and the Corinthian church could be healed, but it was in the hands of the Corinthian Christians to do it. They had to also be open.

The phase Do not be yoked together with unbelievers (verse 14) is the key to the whole section.

All that follows relates back to this negative demand.

It is a simple metaphor based on Deuteronomy 22:10, which forbade the yoking of ox and ass together, suggesting that ‘the Christian is a different breed from the unbeliever and is forbidden an improper relationship with him’

There is no call here, as is often claimed, for Christian to separate from Christian for doctrinal or ethical reasons.

Neither is Paul requiring a wholesale separation from unbelievers.

If a Christian is married to an unbeliever the believer should not seek divorce.

If invited to the home of an unbeliever he is free to attend. Unbelievers were not forbidden to attend the Christian meetings. Indeed, as Paul writes earlier, total separation from sinners would necessitate going ‘out of the world’ altogether.

But there are different ideas on what it means

It is a specific call to avoid pagan temple worship
It is a specific call to separate form those who are against Paul
The exhortation here is a general call to believers to seriously think about all the close relationships they have with unbelievers

But whatever the underlining reason was, was affecting their reconciliation with Paul

And surely it applies to any situation where we let the world influence our thinking.

When we are being conformed to this world and are not being transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2), we are joining together with unbelievers in an ungodly way.

The change of tone here is certainly very noticeable, but it is altogether consistent with Paul's assertion of his deep affection for the Corinthians.

After all, real love, as distinct from its sentimentalized counterfeit, is always deeply concerned for the highest good of the one it loves , and that good for God's people is holiness, likeness to Christ (Rom. 8:28, 29).

The Law of Moses was much more compassionate than many tend to think.

There was a very valid reason to forbid the yoking together of an ox and an ass

The unequal pairing would have been painful and perhaps injurious to the animals and moreover would have produced very poor furrowing.

The principle here is about being in the world, but not of the world, like a ship should be in the water, but water shouldn’t be in the ship!

We all like to believe that we can be around ungodly things as much as we want, and that we are strong enough to ward off the influence.

But that is not the case, Gods word says Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits” (1 Corinthians 15:33). Or as the ESV says: Do not be deceived:” Bad company ruins good morals."

It needs to come back to the simple question from Romans 12:2: are we being conformed to this world or are we being transformed by the renewing of your mind?

The Corinthian Christians were thinking like worldly people, not like godly people. And this can be seen in there attitude towards Paul

They gained this way of looking at life – or at least stayed in it – because of their ungodly associations. Paul tells them to break those yokes of fellowship with the ungodly!

A farmer troubled by a flock of crows in his corn field, loaded his shotgun and crawled unseen along the fence-row, determined to get a shot at the crows. Now the farmer had a very "sociable" parrot that made friends with everybody. Seeing the flock of crows, the parrot flew over and joined them (just being sociable, you know). The farmer saw the crows but didn't see the parrot. He took careful aim and BANG! The farmer crawled over the fence to pick up the fallen crows, and lo, there was his parrot - badly ruffled, with a broken wing, but still alive. Tenderly, the farmer carried the parrot home, where his children met him. Seeing that their pet was injured, they tearfully asked, "What happened, Papa?" Before he could answer, the parrot spoke up: "BAD COMPANY

That was the problem

B) It’s a two different ways

Paul now gives a series of five rhetorical questions.

The five rhetorical questions are set out in balanced pairs, and each requiring a negative reply, are now asked.

The point of each question is that God’s people are to be distinct and separate from the characteristic beliefs and practices of unbelievers.

Taken together these questions reinforce the basic incompatibility between righteousness, light, Christ, being a believer, and the temple of God on the one hand
And wickedness, darkness, Belial, being an unbeliever, and idols on the other.

The fact that in 6:14 “righteousness” is contrasted with “wickedness” demonstrates once again that for Paul “righteousness” is a concept that includes both one’s relationship with God in Christ and its outworking in a life of “light” (6:14c) as a “believer” (6:15b).

Here “light” is not a mystical concept, but a moral designation that refers to the new life of obedience to God, engendered by trusting in Christ and enabled by the power of the Spirit.

The fact couplet referring to the temple is significance.

Because it points back the “new covenant” which he became to talk about in chapter 2

Nowhere in the Old Testament is Israel ever identified with the temple.

But the parallel between the phrase “the temple of the living God” in 6:16 and Paul’s earlier reference in 3:3 to “the Spirit of the living God” indicates that he can equate the church with the temple because, under the new covenant, believers themselves are now the “location” of God’s Holy Spirit on earth (cf. the same parallel in 1 Cor. 3:16).

As a result of the pouring out of the Spirit in fulfillment of Ezekiel 36:26 – 27 (cf. 2 Cor. 1:22; 3:3 – 6, 8, 17 – 18; 4:13; 5:5), the church, both in regard to its individual members (1 Cor. 6:19) and in its life together corporately (1 Cor. 3:16), is now the place of God’s presence in the world.

Paul’s application of the Old Testament prohibition against idolatry to the Corinthians is based on the identification of the temple with God’s people in Christ since they, like Moses, may be in God’s presence without being destroyed (2 Cor. 3:6, 18).

Paul’s point is clear. Whereas Israel as a people fell into idolatry and disobedience

The Messiah has brought the church back into the presence of God’s glory and begun the process of transforming her into the image of God himself

The separation described in 6:14 – 16a that is to characterize God’s people under the new covenant is thus the positive counterpart to Israel’s history of syncretism under the old.

Paul is therefore stunned that believers would consort with idolatry and wickedness.

How could the righteous that belong to the Messiah and have been delivered from their idolatry and wickedness and brought back into the presence of God’s glory go back to doing such a thing?

The thought that God is always with us is a sobering and yet a comforting thought.

But we need to ask how does our behavior reflect on the God we represent?

How does the knowledge of God being in us at all times give us boldness to clearly share our faith with confidence?

C) Two different families

Having supported his command in 6:14 by pointing to the “new covenant” identity of the Corinthians in 6:14b – 16b, in 6:16c Paul initiates a second line of support directly from the Scriptures.

His command to separate from unbelievers is the immediate application of the Scriptures’ expectation regarding the reality of the new covenant.

Note that the chain of quotes in verses 16c – 18 is introduced in verse 16c with a single citation formula, “as God has said,” And closed off in verse 18c with the corresponding formula, “says the Lord Almighty.”

Hence, verses 16c – 18 do not function to support the fact that believers are the temple of God (6:16b), but are introduced as a single citation, composed of six Old Testament passages, which, when read as a whole, support the command of 6:14 and its restatement in 7:1: 13 “Do not be yoked together … as God has said … since we have these promises let us purify ourselves …

Several Old Testament quotes illustrate how the church at Corinth was a fulfillment of God's promises long ago.

When God brought the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage, he made them his holy people.

He had them construct a tabernacle, where his glorious presence would reside in its inner sanctuary.

In this sense, God would live with them -- even walk among them. He wasn't going to be a far-off God, who watched the Israelites from a distance. The Israelites were his people, and he would be intimately connected to them

The prophet Ezekiel also prophesied of a time when God would live among his people forever (see Ezek 37:26-28). By quoting this passage, Paul was saying that Ezekiel's prophecy was being fulfilled in the Corinthian church.

Jesus, a descendant of David and the Son of God himself, had defeated Satan. He had begun his reign as the King of a heavenly kingdom. As believers, the Corinthian Church was part of this spiritual kingdom.

Jesus, as God in human form, had literally shown people what God was like (Matt 1:23; John 1:14). In a real sense, God had lived among his people. After Jesus' resurrection and ascension, God sent his Holy Spirit to the believers who had gathered in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. From that day to the present, every believer has God living within his or her spirit (Rom 8:9; 1 Cor 6:19; 2 Tim 1:14).

"Therefore Paul says come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

After his first negative command to the Corinthians -- to not partner with unbelievers -- Paul quickly gave them a positive command. Instead of partnering with unbelievers, they were to be separate from anything that was unclean or anything sinful.

To emphasize his point, Paul strung together several Old Testament quotes. He loosely quoted Isa 52:11: "Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing!"

Originally this was a command for the exiles to come out of Babylon and to abandon any object associated with pagan worship. In this passage, Paul interpreted this command as also a command to Christians to separate themselves from the immorality of the pagan peoples around them.

Paul continued his comparison of the Corinthian Christians with the returning Israelite exiles. The phrase "I will receive you" is an adaptation of Ezekiel's prophecy that God would gather all of Israel's exiles together (see Ezek 20:34).

Finally, Paul adapted God's promise to be the Father of David's Son Jesus to also refer to believers.

Christians would become the sons and daughters of God, through Christ's death, believers have become part of God's loving family

Then in the first verse of chapter 7 Paul says:

Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit.

Because God has given these promises: to live with his people (6:16), to welcome them as his people (6:17), and to act like a loving Father toward them (6:18), Christians are to cleanse themselves of everything that can defile.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul used the word "defile" to describe how eating food sacrificed to idols made a conscience impure. Paul was primarily worried about the way the Corinthian’s were still participating in some of the pagan feasts.

Paul explained to the Corinthians that participating in such feasts would be wrong and would provoke God (see 1 Cor 10:14-22). By abstaining from these feasts, the Corinthians would begin to cleanse -- or more literally, "to purify" or "to prune" -- evil out of their lives. The Corinthian’s were to have nothing to do with paganism. They were to make a clean break with their past and give themselves to God alone.

What does the phrase "work toward complete purity" mean?

"Work toward complete purity" literally means "perfecting holiness."

The Greek word connotes "becoming mature" or "becoming complete."

Thus, Paul was prodding the Corinthians to work at maturing in their faith. God had provided them with all the resources they needed, and Christ's Spirit would empower them to become Christ like (see Rom 8:2).

Paul exhorted the Corinthians to pursue purity out of fear of God.

"Fear" means to keep respect or awe for God.

He is the almighty Creator. Just as we show proper respect to presidents and sports heroes, we should show even greater respect to the King of kings.

Genuinely honoring and loving God means obeying him (see John 14:15). Thus, obeying God's commands and pursuing spiritual maturity are the best ways to show respect for God

Conclusion

What does being a member of the new covenant really mean to you?

Is it just something you take for granted…or is it something that motivates you to be all that you can be for God

Is it something that reminds you that you are different now!

You are a part of Gods temple, you are part of Gods family and with that comes responsibilities

To life our lives in such a way that it speaks well of God!

Not letting ourselves be conformed to this world …but allowing God to transform us to be like his Son

We need to be different in all that we do!

We need to be obedient to God and stay clean….in this dirty world!