2 CORINTHIANS 6:11-7:1 [GAINING PERSPECTIVE Series]
A FATHER APPEALS TO HIS CHILDREN
[Ephesians 2:20-22]
Love seeks to draw those loved nearer, and as we are drawn near to God our ability to love is enlarged and purified. God's love is holy and is therefore jealous of what would harm those He loves and keep them from returning His love.
God's love therefore is a purifying force. It causes us to seek that which would increase it and to abstain from what would decrease it. God here states His strong love for the Corinthians and exhorts them to keep themselves free from all contaminating alliances. God's love for us seeks to free us from all defiling influences (CIT).
I. LOVE'S FULL DISCLOSURE, 11-13.
II. AGREEMENT WITH CHRIST, 14-16.
III. THE PROMISE OF HOLINESS, 17- 7:1.
[Paul here resumes the tread of thought interrupted by his reflections into the glory of the ministry in 2:14.] At the conclusion of his fervent out pouring of spirit the apostle pauses to address the Corinthians by name, which is a mark of great love and warmth in his letters (Gal 3:1, Phil 4:15). Hear the deep emotion with which Paul addresses the church in verse 11. “Our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians, our heart is opened wide.”
Paul had not held back anything (spoken freely) in his portrayal of Christian service. He had spoken freely concerning the trials, the encouragements, the responsibilities, the judgements, the rewards that make service for God so glorious. His heart is open wide. [“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Mt 12:34). For good or bad, freedom in speaking forth is evidence of an unconstrained heart.] Paul opened wide his heart [Gk platynô, “widen”] and reveal himself as he is for all to see. Widening or enlarging his heart also gives the idea of increasing its capacity for sympathy and understanding.
In spite of all the problems and heartaches the church had caused him, Paul still loved the believers at Corinth very much. So often words of affection are left unspoken especially by men. Whatever failings Paul may have had, restrained affirmation of affection [splanchnous] was not one of them.
Verse 12 indicates the problem with the Corinthians lies in their inability to receive truth and therefore to receive Paul. “You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affections.”
Paul has just demonstrated that moving deeper into Christ, maturing in Christian service gives freedom to become, to grow, to become more Christ-like. Growing in our freedom to serve Christ is unlike the unrestraint that the world invites us to live which brings bondage and constraint in the chains of sin. Neither Paul nor his co-laborers were the ones making them fill hemmed in, restricted, uptight concerning the things of God. They felt uptight because of their affections for things they should not no longer desire. Paul wants them to know the truth, accepting the truth about the binding of wrong affections and associations will set them free of them (Jn. 8:32).
Satan says set your affections free and enjoy the sins of the world. Little by little these things rob our God-given abilities as we get caught up in our misdirected longings. We see things we want to do, we see what we want to become, and yet the ability to discipline ourselves and go for them is no longer with us, we are bound by our present way of living. We want to break free and let our desire run even wilder yet the excitement, pleasure and ability to do so are no longer readily available. Man then blames God or the man of God for this restraint; but sin is always its own worst enemy. Sin restraints (Heb. 12:2-3), thus the freedom it promises is an illusion.
In verse 13 Paul tells them the way to find freedom in Christ again. “Now in a like exchange (reward) I speak as to children open wide to us also.”
If they want to have the same exchange or reward as Paul, they must go the same way Paul did. This following Christ into Christian labor is what brings about the freedom to move into new areas of growth and new areas of freedom to be all that you can be. But they had closed their heart to Paul and his message of Christian service. They were shutting Paul out of their affection. So he asks them to open-wide their hearts to him also, just as he had done first to God and then to them. Be enlarged, exchange their affections for the world, the people and things of the world and they will grow in the grace and freedom of God.
Paul had told the Corinthian believers his true feelings for them, clearly revealing how much he loved them. The Corinthians were reacting coldly to Paul's, but Paul explained that his harsh words had come out of his love for them. So he pleads with the Corinthians to return the affection that he and his missionary companions have demonstrated to them. [He makes this plea to resolve the problem caused by those in Corinth who are trying to turn the community against them.]
It is easy to react against those whom God has placed over us in leadership, rather than to accept their exhortations as a sign of their love for us. We need an open rather than a closed heart toward both God's message and messengers.
II. AGREEMENT WITH CHRIST (14-16).
Why were Corinthians withholding their love? They had divided hearts. Rival suitors went after their affection and allegiance. They were compromising with the world. So Paul appeals to them to separate themselves to God, the way a faithful wife is separated to her husband in verse 14. “Do not be bound together (unequally yoked) with unbelievers for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?”
This prohibition, be not unequally yoked originated in the combining of different animals (clean & unclean) together in the same yoke (Lev. 19:19, Deut. 22:10). It included the forbidding of cross-breeding of different animals. The central teaching is that there is a radical difference, going right down to their different nature [natural verses spiritual] for those persons in Christ and those out of Christ. The Biblical teaching is that believers must not be paired together with unbelievers. [Believers should not be yoked with unbelievers.]
[A husband and wife who were having problems in their MARRIAGE asked their pastor for counsel. After a rather lengthy session with them, he realized that he wasn't making any progress resolving their conflicts. Noticing a cat and dog lying side-by-side in front of the fireplace, he said, "Look at how peaceful they are. They certainly don't see eye to eye on everything." The husband commented, “Yes,'" but just tie them together and see what happens! "
Marriage can be one of the most blessed or most miserable relationships. Differing backgrounds, contrasting personalities, varying like and dislikes, and irritating habits can quickly transform the fondest dreams into the wildest nightmares.
The unique intimacy of the husband/wife union is the very thing that makes it so susceptible to problems of incompatibility. Differences that are tolerable and even amusing in casual relationships can become seemingly impossible irritants in the bond of matrimony. And disagreements in spiritual matters can be the most difficult of all.
Are you contemplating marriage? I'm happy for you. But as you make your plans, do so thoughtfully and prayerfully. And before you tie the knot, make sure you are one in the Lord.]
This prohibition not to be yoke together with unbelievers certainly includes marriage (l Cor. 7:12-15) but it also includes other unions. Also intended are business partnerships and daily companions, not casual friendships but intimate friendships. These relationships most often, even with religious unbeliever, lead believers astray from "sincere and pure devotion to Christ" (2 Cor. 11:13).
JOHN TAYLOR, the son of a local MD in a community in which I pastored, went into partnership with another physical therapist. John was a faithful young man in our church who is now a deacon there. He cared about people and his job was an extension of his ministry. His partner cared only about money and used people and his job to get it. Going to work lost all its enjoyment because of the arguments over their different goals and business practices. The business finally dissolved with John taking a heavy loss. They had different kinds of standards and commitments to integrity. Through this event though he learned well this lesson of not being unequally yoked.
Yet it would be a serious mistake to conclude that Paul is condemning all contact and exchange with non-christians. Paul had explained that this did not mean isolating oneself from nonbelievers (see 1 Cor 5:9, 10). Paul even tells Christians to stay with their non-believing spouses (1 Cor 7:12, 13). God wants believers to be active in their witness for Christ to non-believers, but they should not lock themselves into personal or business relationships that could cause them to compromise the faith. Believers should do everything in their power to avoid situations that could force them to divide their loyalties [Life Application Study Bible. NIV 1988 Zondervan. Grand Rapids, Mich. P. 2100.] In another letter he will give instructions to believers who work for unbelievers. Paul himself became all things to all men that he might win some (l Cor. 9:20-23).
This not to be unequally yoke principle is so important that the Bible asks five rhetorical questions posing them in antitheses to reflect the wide chasm between the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of satan (Col. 1:13). The first contrast is “what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness.” The answer of course is that they have no partnership they are opposites. Righteousness and lawlessness stand in radical opposition to each other as two completely contradictory states. Christ's word to those who continue is such a state is "Depart from me ye that work lawlessness" (Mt. 7:23).
Next, “Or what fellowship has light with darkness.” No antitheses in daily life is more fundamental than that between light and darkness. We have been delivered out of the power of this darkness (Col. 1: 13) by the Light of the World (Jn 8: 12, 9:5). Christ's coming was a great light for those in darkness. The essence of unbelief is that the light has come into the world and that men love darkness rather than light (l Jn 1 & 3: 19). The end for the unbeliever is to be cast into outer darkness (Mt. 8: 12). God is light and in Him is no darkness at all (1 Jn 1 :5). Believers are called out of darkness into His marvelous light (l Pet. 2:9).
The contrasts continue in verse 15. “Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?”
Here the captains of the hosts of light and. darkness, the heads of the contending forces of good and evil are placed in opposition. Belial is the transliteration of a Hebrew word for “worthlessness” or “wickedness” and came to mean "a lawless person". It later was applied to satan the most worthless and lawless of all. The Greek word for harmony [symphônçis, voice together] is where our word symphony is derived. Between the Light of the World and the Prince of Darkness no harmony is possible, but only the deadliest antagonism (l Cor 10:20-21). The devil is a liar and a murderer. Christ is the Truth and Savior. Satan's supreme purpose is to overthrow the purposes of God. Christ had to die on the cross to break Satan's death grip on us.
4th, “Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? The unbeliever's life is centered on self. The believer's life is centered on Christ. One's treasure is here on earth, the other's is in heaven. One's values are those of this world, the other's are of the world to come. The believer seeks the glory of God, the unbeliever the glory of man.
[Paul does not want us to be Pharisaical about this separation. Paul is not talking about just a non-convert but a disbeliever who disapproves of Christ as his father Satan does.]
The fifth rhetorical question is found in the first part of verse 16. “Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols?”
“Agreement” is the last of these relationship words. It means “to approve by putting votes together [sug/kata/thesis- putting down together]. A building consecrated to the true God is no place for idols. Men cannot worship God if they are also worshiping devils. The greatest form of insult would be to place idols in God's own temple. The Jewish temple was void of any type of statue or idol.
To the Jew idols were an abomination (Rom 2:22) and they abhorred them. Not only breaking the second commandment but they break the absolute distinction between the Creator and His creation, exchange the seen for the unseen. Whenever a Gentile became a Christian they would destroy their idols for idols have no part in the Kingdom of God (l Cor. 6:9-10).
The chief reason believers don’t enter into relationship with unbelievers is because we belong exclusively to God as the second part of verse 16 indicates. “For we are the temple of the Living God; just as God said, I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be MY people.”
If it was unthinkable for a physical temple to have an idol how much more a living temple. “We” indicates not only are we individually the temple of God (l Cor. 6:18-19) but corporately we are the temple of the Living God. [The church is the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16, ) where the Spirit of God and Christ dwells ( Mt. 28:19-20; Eph. 2:22).] God lives in each of us individually and in a special way when we join together corporately. That is why public worship is so important. We join our hearts and spirits together and are a living temple of worship which God indwells (Eph.2:20-22).
“Just as God said” points to Old Testament Scriptures. The first comes from Leviticus 26:12, 26:9 and Ezekiel 37:27 which Paul's quote combines and condenses. Genesis 17:8 is God's Covenant of Grace made with Abraham where God said, "I will be their God and they will be My People.
God dwells in their midst and walks among His people when they gather together in His name. The Temple of God is not simply a building consecrated to God but one in which He dwells as in dwelt by His Shekinah glory in the Temple of Old. God walked with Israel and guided them in the desert while they were on the way to the Promised Land. He still walks with living Churches that are following His lead to inherit His Promises and abide in the land of the living.
III. THE PROMISE OF HOLINESS, (6:17 -7:1)
The promises of God demand a purity of heart and life on the part of those who receive them. Verse 17, “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate (gathered),” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you.”
Scripture is again reinforced by Scripture by the combination of two prophetic O.T. passages; Isaiah 52:5 and Ezekiel 20:33. This was originally God's call to [apostate] Israel, the original people of God and this call is now applied to the Church. Paul admonished in verse 14 the negative of not being unequally yoked, and here he admonishes the positive being separated or gathered together. It is far easier to stand against uncleanness when we have gathered together through worship, fellowship and service.
It is unfortunate that the important doctrine of separation has been misunderstood and abused in recent years, for it is an essential truth. Some sincerely zealous Christians have turned separation into isolation, until their fellowship has become so narrow that they cannot even get along with themselves. In reaction to this extreme position, other believers have torn down all the walls and will fellowship with anybody, regardless of what he believes or how he lives. While we applaud their desire to practice Christian love, we want to remind them that even Christian love must exercise discernment. (Phil 1 :9-11) [Wiersbe, Warren. The Bible Exposition Com. Victor Books. Wheaton, IL. 1989. Vol. 1. p. 651.]
God's command to “come out” is a call for a definitive act. Be separated suggests a unified devotion to God to accomplish His purposes. We who have been redeemed and rescued from the pollution of the world are not meant to turn our backs on life in the world but to avoid sharing the world's uncleanness. We are to be in the world but not of the world. If we do so God will welcome us. Personal purity is a prerequisite for you and your service to be received by God.
This separation [from the world means complete dedication to God, not mere outward isolation from the ungodly. I know a man who won't let his children attend any school functions. He insists that his wife have nothing to do with their non-Christian neighbors. He has adopted a hands-off-the-world policy for his family, but he is a selfish and ruthless businessman. He hasn't kept worldliness out of his own heart.
Another man puts little emphasis on external separation. He mingles with drug addicts, prostitutes, and drunks who want deliverance. He and his wife invite them over for meals and listen to their problems. They rub shoulders with unbelievers, but they are separated from the world in mind and heart.
The children of Israel lived in isolation. In Goshen they were separated from the Egyptians, but like that first man they still adopted many heathen beliefs and practices (Ezek.20:8). Even in the wilderness, out of contact with heathen nations, they rejected God's laws and desecrated His Sabbaths (v13)
Their experience shows us that separation from the world is really an attitude of the heart. It] is thinking and living by God's standards, but staying in contact with sinners. To be separated is to be insulated, not isolated. The Christian must live in the world, but he must not let the world live in him.
Verse 18 continues with the thought that separation from the world involves more than not giving in to sinful influences, it means staying close to God. “And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me," says the Lord Almighty.”
This is a continuation of the promise of the previous verse. Not only will He receives you into His favor, He will also be a Father to you. If we would have as our Father we need to obey Him and fellowship with Him. He longs to receive us in love and bring us into that special relationship as precious sons and daughters. When we are saved we share the Father's life but separating our self in holiness unto Him means we enter fully into the this love relationship. Jesus promised this deeper love in John 14:21-23.
Some new hymnals, and even Biblical translations, are changing references to God from Father to Parent or some other designation. But our Living Lord is inseparable form His identity as Father. Scripture uses this image more than any other. God is the loving Father of the Prodigal, waiting by the side of the road to run and embrace His returning child.
Is Father still a workable metaphor for God today? According to Reader's Digest, 33 percent of four and five-year olds surveyed said they'd rather give up their fathers than television. On any given night, four of ten children will sleep in a house not lived in by their fathers. For those children born in this decade, the figure will rise to six in ten. Steve Masterson of the Biblical Institute of Manhood speaks of a father wound felt by many men because of relational neglect and absent fathers.
The Christian must differentiate fathers - earthly and heavenly. Also, we must help non-believers who carry scars and unresolved feelings. To them, the word father may bring mixed associations.
Yet God is a Father like no other, lavishly showering us with wonderful gifts and willing to die in our place. Do you need to get reacquainted with Him?
In this age of broken faith and family relationships we may need to help people understand that God is the Father of all fathers, who never deserts, disappoints or dies and helps them learn how to honor His name.
The promise is from “the Lord Almighty,” literally [pantokatôr from pan -all & krateô] Ruler of All. This name speaks of the inexhaustible stores of His bounty. Did you ever want to be the son or daughter of a wealthy father? YOU ARE! But as with any wise Father, He will not give His children what will corrupt them or tempt them. His gifts are given so that we might become a blessing to others.
Chapter 7 verse 1 explains that because of God's gracious promises we have some spiritual responsibilities. “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the God.”
There are so many precious promises to us [2 Pet. 2:4, Heb. 11 :39-40]. They are not vague and general but specific and wonderful promises attached to God's everlasting covenant and as such belong to us. They motivate us to go onward in the hope of the Lord Jesus. Our Bible calls the recipient of these promises beloved, a term of tender warm affection, signifying God's love toward us. But those that would inherit the promise must make a clean break with every form of sin and compromise. God blesses us not to make us happy but to make us holy.
We must cleanse ourselves of any and all things that defile us. Defilement both external and internal, both seen and unseen, both public and private. It is not enough to ask God to do it, we must join Him in cleaning up and getting rid of those things and those people that lead us into sin. I don't know your sins of the flesh or sins of the mind that are defiling you, but God does. [The prodigal son was guilty of sins of the flesh and his "moral" elder brother was guilty of sins of the mind. He could not even respect his father's decisions.]
But cleansing ourselves is only half our responsibility. We must also be perfecting in holiness and the fear of God. Perfecting means to bring to completion, maturity, finishing. We are not merely to remove negative from our life we are to continuously and aggressively strive after holiness. Holiness is not a sudden attainment but a continuous process (1 Thess. 3;13; Rom 1:4,6). Holiness is matured in the fear of the Lord
In CLOSING
[“Every man that has this hope in Him purifies himself even as He is pure” (1 Jn. 3: ). Hope set on Jesus and fear directed towards God. It is in the fear of God that holiness is perfected. Fear the awesome reality of the Holiness and Righteousness of God, that makes us purify ourselves to draw near to Him as Father.]
Purifying ourselves is a two-fold action: turning from sin and turning to God. Do you hold God in awe - knowing He will not change - that you must? This is the only way to purify yourself even as He is pure.
The story goes that two cockroaches decided to visit their FAVORITE RESTAURANT. While the larger of the two finished his meal, the smaller one said, "You wouldn't have believed the house I just left. It was spotless. The lady had to be a cleanaholic. Everything was immaculate -the sink, the counter, the floors. Everything was sparkling. I couldn’t find a crumb anywhere.” The other roach stopped his munching, looked with some annoyance at his companion, and said, "Do you have to talk like that while I'm eating?"
This story about roaches can apply to human nature as well. The Corinthians had much to learn about clean living. They needed to develop a stronger hunger and thirst for righteousness. So the apostle pleaded with them to turn away from all filthiness. He reminded them that God wants His people to separate themselves from spiritual garbage.
If "cleanness" of heart sounds unappealing, perhaps our tastes are too. We need to learn to savor the flavor of godliness. Sin will not flourish where godliness is cultivated.[Mart De Hann. Our Daily Bread. Radio Bible Class]
Father, forgive us for feeding the craving of our sinful flesh. Help us to cultivate instead the tastes that Your Holy Spirit wants to produce in us.
