I’ve been receiving a number of comments about the sermon from Sunday on 2 Corinthians 6:14 – 7:1. It’s not surprising that this passage would stir up a response. It is a hard passage but St. Paul is clear in his admonition.
Here’s a link to the audio.
And below is the text.
Bringing Holiness to Completion
If you know my wife, Martha, you know how sincerely she loves the beach. If you know me, you will know how sincerely I love the mountains. So I am happy to report that God has been quite faithful – to me. Our family vacation this summer was to the mountains of NC. It was great to get away to the sand-less, cooler, less humid, uncrowded, beautiful Appalachians.
It was a bit of a homecoming as Martha and I met during our undergraduate years in the mountains. It was a blast to take our sons on hikes we used to love – even to the mountaintop where I asked Martha to marry me. While Martha and I were soaking in the memories, our sons were so impressed, all they had to say was, “What time is lunch?”
While we were there, we visited a trail which had been the scene of a break up. I was graduating soon and was planning to find a job in computer software in RTP. She was graduating soon and was applying to be an inner city missionary in South Central Los Angeles. We had to make some very difficult decisions. More on that later.
We’ve been talking for most of this summer about how God intervenes and even interrupts our lives for the sake of bringing about change and deeper conversion to Christ. That’s certainly been a theme in this community during this summer. This morning we’re going to continue looking at 2 Corinthians. If you have your Bibles, please turn to 2 Corinthians 6:14. Here, St. Paul strongly and clearly commands the church in Corinth, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.”
The concept of yokes has its roots in the book of Deuteronomy 22:9-11 where it says, “Don’t sow different kinds seeds in one field. Don’t yoke animals of different breeds together. Don’t wear clothes of mixed materials.” This wasn’t about efficiency or fashion – thankfully as I stand before you wearing cotton, wool, and probably some form of polyester this morning. No. These rules or guidelines were intended to put the spotlight on the principle that God desires purity. In fact, he calls us to live holy, pure and unpolluted lives.
That’s what Paul is getting at here in his plea. See, yoking is when two animals are harnessed together, to pull together in the same direction. In the yoke there is no freedom of independent movement. When one animal moves in disagreement with the other there is pinching and pain. You’re absolutely locked into what the other is doing. It requires commitment to the same task and purpose or else there is friction and chafing.
So what he is saying is we are not to be harnessed with unbelievers – the Greek word is apistoi – those who do not have faith. Don’t get yoked with them. Don’t get into partnerships with unbelievers if it will implicate your ability to be faithful to God.
For, if you do, it will injure your faith and you’ll be hard pressed to remove yourself from the relationship. A Christian who is yoked to an unbeliever in a significant way will find that their ability to follow Jesus Christ is compromised and restrained.
This just makes sense. The believer is always asking the question, “What does it mean to please my Lord?” That question is nowhere on the unbeliever’s radar. So, Christ cannot truly be Lord of the relationship. Rather than a pulling together as one, for a single purpose in the yoke, there will be struggle that will possibly smother the Christian life. Therefore, this passage is a call to make intentional and at times difficult decisions to avoid those relationships that hinder our faith in Christ.
Undoubtedly, St. Paul has concerns of being unequally yoked with those who are in the church. Unbelievers in the church, how is that? Well, you see, he has spent a great deal of time up to this point in the letter and he will spend more later on rebuffing the claims and teachings of the “false apostles” who had come to the Corinthians and led them astray.
In part, because of their teaching, this church had run into some serious problems. A man is living with his father’s wife. Christians are suing each other in court. Some are participating in sexual immorality at the pagan temples. Some were using church services to showboat their spiritual gifts. There is even a denial of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Paul is saying to those in the church at Corinth who are yoked together with these false teachers, “You are rejecting the gospel of reconciliation and denying your faith in Jesus Christ!” Do not be yoked with them!
As we consider this in our own context, this is not about separating from people in the church for secondary or tertiary reasons; like Heaven forbid the personal choice of education for their children – public, private or homeschool; or whether a person is democrat or republican; or even about which local ACC team is most honorable – though that would be convenient for some of us. Nor is this a call to split theological hairs with people and call them unbelievers if they disagree with you.
This is a call specifically to separate ourselves from those who hold to a Gospel contrary to that which has been proclaimed always and everywhere and handed down to us in the Apostolic tradition. A supposed Gospel where people aren’t reconciled to God through the atoning work of Jesus Christ is to be refused. A so-called Gospel where people are able to please God by their own efforts and good works is to be rejected. Nor are we to yoke ourselves in ministry with those who do not regard Scripture appropriately – seeing that it contains all things necessary to Salvation.
Another area that may be in your minds as we discuss being unequally yoked is obviously around the area of dating and marriage. For good reason, I think. Dating and marital relationships have the ability to greatly encumber or encourage faith in Jesus Christ.
Case in point, the story of Martha and I breaking up. As I said, she was going to the West Coast to do inner city missions. I was looking for a job out in RTP. It was a clear point of decision for us. Her conviction to follow God in such a radical way caused me to examine my own faith. I could not comprehend why she was the most important thing in my life and I was not the most important thing in her life. Jesus Christ was. She modeled what it looks like to follow him as Lord and God opened my blind eyes. Over the course of the next couple of years, the roots of my faith deepened and by God’s grace in his timing we were reunited, engaged and married.
I want to speak now to those who are dating and/or longing to be married. It is very possible to fall in love with someone who is not a Christian. And falling in love is a wonderful thing. It opens up the heart to the joy of relationships and the beauty of the beloved, it softens our hearts toward another in a way that can be very noble, even very Christlike.
But we must be very careful when the one we have fallen in love with does not recognize the lordship of Jesus Christ. I’m quoting CS Lewis, “Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also things above it. Loving someone – as opposed to being “in love” with them – is not merely a feeling. Loving someone is a deep unity, maintained by the will but reinforced in Christian marriage by the grace which both partners ask for and receive from God.” If the common ground of Christ is absent, you’re going to be yoked in a relationship that will create immense challenges for your faith.
While being in love is a good thing, the best thing is living faithfully in the love and service of the Lord.
I have known a number of people who have unyoked themselves to potential mates because of this very issue. In every situation, there was hardship and grief, but in retrospect not once was there regret. God moves and works all around us. We cannot convert anyone. That is God’s job and his alone. However, the role we play is one of obedience – to model Jesus as Lord.
If you are dating an unbeliever or you’re considering marrying an unbeliever, I would urge you to take some time to carefully consider what you are doing. God is not a life denying God who wants to make you miserable. And your faith in him impacts the decisions you make and how you are to live in this world? The question for you to ask is do you trust him enough to obey him? I also encourage you to find some folks to pray with about this.
I’m sensitive also to those who are here and are married to unbelievers. I would commend to you 1 Corinthians 7 and 1 Peter 3 and I would add, that even though it may be a hard road, there is grace and sufficiency for you to live fervently in your faith to Christ.
We’ve spoken to Paul’s concern with the false apostles and teachers – those unbelievers in the church. We’ve talked about marriage as a powerful yoke which needs to be carefully considered. But the admonition in verse 14, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers” also has implications on how we are to live in all of our relationships. What about in your business or in the work that you do in the marketplace? Are you being asked to do things that compromise your faith or impede your ability to come and follow him? If so, this verse challenges you to ask yourself the question, “What am I going to do about it?”
In our lives, we will be pressed to draw a line between faithfulness to our Lord and compliance with sin. It’s true in our social life. It’s true in our business life. It’s true in what we allow ourselves to participate in, what we look at on the internet, what we allow to penetrate us.
Where is your line? Do you have a line? The reason we don’t draw a line is because we don’t fear sin. It’s like handling radioactive material and pretending it won’t have any negative or unhealthy effects.
But you see, God has ordained clear lines, clear boundaries for his followers (see verses 14-16):
- What partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?
- What fellowship has light with darkness?
- What accord has Christ with Belial or Satan?
- What portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?
- What agreement has the temple of God with idols?
As followers of Christ, we must draw lines to live faithfully in this world. There are some things we simply cannot do. These boundaries are not the iron fisted rules and regulations of an oppressive Deity. These are the instructions of a loving Father, who knows what is best for us. He says, “You are not to commit adultery because I am faithful to you. You are not to steal because I am your great provider! You are not to lie, because I’m the God of truth. You are not to kill because I am the God who gives you life!” Indeed, this is the God who makes and keeps promises – Paul lists six of them here in verses 16 – 18:
Promise 1: God says to us, I will make my home with you.
Promise 2: I will walk among you and be with you.
Promise 3: I will be your God.
Promise 4: You will by my people, my children
Promies 5: I will be your Father.
Promise 6: You will by my sons and daughters
Interestingly, each of these 6 promises were promises God made to Israel in the Old Testament as specific promises regarding restoration and return from exile to their land. These were promises made to those living far off who were longing for return; aching for rescue.
And notice what St. Paul says in verse 7:1, “Since we have these promises!” WE HAVE these promises! Through Jesus Christ, God’s promise keeping has escalated and expanded. We are full beneficiaries of his deliverance and restoration from exile!
“Therefore,” the verse continues, “Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”
Another way to say it is, “God’s promises assure us that we are his children, therefore, we get to join with him in bringing our holiness to completion. In this light, the Christian life becomes a great adventure. You may feel as if your decisions have exiled you from the world you know, but the Holy Spirit will be present and available to remind you of your Heavenly Father’s great love for you; to assist you, to strengthen you, and to assure you that God is for you!
So for example, as you choose to make inconvenient but necessary decisions to be involved in orthodox communities of faith that uphold the Gospel, you will know that he is with you. As you break off a dating relationship with an unbeliever, he will be there. As you leave a party by yourself because there is no place for you or your faith, you will not walk alone. As you draw a line in your business dealings and walk away from deceitfulness or refuse selfish gain for the sake of Christ, you are never without your Father.
To that end, I received an email from a friend this week. For the past year, he has been wrestling with a business decision – a place to draw a line – that would not only impact his company but also his family’s finances. The decision that would secure for him the most money violated God’s commands. But obedience to God would cost him greatly. He chose obedience to God.
In his email he says, “David, everything is done. I’m glad it’s the end and I’m thankful we avoided the worst. Praise God! This morning I was thinking back over this past year. It has been one of the toughest in my life. But here I am a year later, feeling nothing but gratitude. I was adding up all that I’ve lost – and it’s a lot – and yet I feel happier than I’ve ever been before. That’s only because I have grown so much in my faith and knowing the Lord. David, God is good. He has been here with me and my family through this entire experience. Moving forward, all that matters is to trust him and obey. He will take care of the rest. Amen.
My friend made some tough decisions to be faithful to God and as a result he has encountered life and faith in ways he never has before. Glory to God!
As we close, what’s being stirred up in you? What is on your heart? What must be different? What must change? Do you have some difficult decisions to make? Do you need to be unyoked from someone? Are you drawing the necessary lines in your work and in your life to be faithful to God? Are there obstacles or impediments to believing the promises of God? That he is good. That you are his beloved child. Are you sitting here this morning needing more…longing to have more life and have it abundantly?
If so, I urge you to come to our Service of Public Healing tonight here at the church at 7 PM. It will be a chance for all us to draw to near to God for healing, for guidance, for renewal, for a fresh experience of God and the Holy Spirit.
Let’s pray.
