"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." 2 Corinthians 6:17-18
"An unequal yoke is anything that links the believer with an unbeliever in a common purpose—whether it is social, commercial, religious, marital, or political. Such false links undermine Christian fellowship and have a way of restricting our affections toward the Lord and our brethren. We are not “of the world” because we are heavenly men through the call of the gospel. However, we have to live “in the world” (John 17:11-15), but even in this, we don’t have to be unequally yoked together with the world. We have to do our business in the world, and thus we come in contact with it, but we don’t have to become personally involved with it. Negative influences of the world do not result from contact with it, but from complicity with it. It was complicity that was the problem with the Corinthians. Therefore, Paul’s remedy for their restricted affections was,
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.”
In these verses (14-16), Paul asks five rhetorical questions designed to show how unnatural, incongruous, and unsafe alliances with the world are. Each touches on a different realm of incompatibility in regard to believers and unbelievers:
“Righteousness with unrighteousness”—the sphere of moral behaviour.
“Light with darkness”—the sphere of spiritual knowledge.
“Christ with Belial”—the sphere of spiritual authority.
“He that believeth with an infidel”—the sphere of faith.
“The temple of God with idols”—the sphere of worship.
The five words Paul uses—“fellowship,” “communion,” “concord,” “part,” and “agreement”—should be carefully noted. Such words imply complicity with the world. Some would like to dismiss Paul’s exhortation by relegating it to the marriage bond and making it nothing more than that, but his remarks concerning the unequal yoke go far beyond marriages with unbelievers. An unequal yoke could be a social link with unbelievers in games, clubs, associations, fraternities, etc. (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15). Or, it could be a business partnership with unbelievers (Deut. 22:10; 2 Chron. 20:35-37; Prov. 6:1-5). Or, it could be an ecclesiastical link with a sect in Christianity where unbelievers are allowed to partake in the communion services (1 Cor. 11:19). Or, it could be a marital tie (Deut. 7:3-4; Josh. 23:12; 1 Cor. 7:39). A Christian should not marry an unbeliever, but if a believer is married to one, this passage does not justify divorce (1 Cor. 7:12-16). Or, the unequal yoke could be a political link with unbelievers by joining with their political endeavours (2 Chron. 18:1-34; 25:5-10; Isa. 45:9). The point here is that there are two great opposing spheres of moral and spiritual action that cannot go on together in a Christian’s life without serious practical ramifications.
Chap. 6:17-18—To encourage the Corinthians to separate from ungodly links with the world, Paul quotes the Lord Himself, saying,
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.”
This statement is in the aorist tense in the Greek, meaning that it should be a once-for-all thing in a believer’s life.
Therefore, the Corinthians needed to not only change their attitude toward Paul (vss. 11-13), but also toward the world (vss. 14-16). They needed to open their hearts to Paul and close their hearts to the world. We all need to treat the world as it truly is—an enemy of our souls. The soul of the Christian is ever being lured back into the world, just as Israel was constantly tempted to turn to idolatry. There are some very important reasons why separation is necessary in a Christian’s life. Without it:
Our personal holiness will be compromised by the defilements of the world (2 Cor. 6:17).
Our communion with the Lord will be seriously threatened, if not lost altogether (John 14:21-23).
Our hearts will be drawn away from the Lord (Deut. 7:2-4).
Our moral standards will become corrupted (1 Cor. 15:33).
Our spiritual growth will be hindered (Hos. 7:8).
Our spiritual energy and discernment will be dulled (Hos. 7:9).
Our personal testimony will lack power with others (Gen. 19:14).
Separation from worldly people and things does not mean that the believer ends up walking alone. The Lord makes a three-fold promise to compensate us with His personal companionship; we are given a special sense of His presence. He says:
“I will receive you.”
“I will be a Father unto you.”
“Ye shall be My sons and daughters.”
This is an incredible reward held out to those who walk in separation—the Lord promises to be our nearest and dearest Friend! It reminds us of Abram when he declined the offers of the king of Sodom as a reward for his help in the slaughter of the confederated armies under Chedorlaomer. The Lord immediately appeared to him and said,
“I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Gen. 15:1).
Could there be a greater Person in the whole universe with whom we can walk? Conversely, if a believer chooses to go on with worldly alliances and friendships, he cannot expect to have this special sense of the Lord’s fellowship in his life. It doesn’t mean that the Lord abandons him (Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5), but that he is not given that special sense of His presence (Luke 24:15-16). This privilege is conditioned on obedience (John 14:21-23). There will also be other Christians with whom we can walk in the path, but that is not mentioned here (2 Timothy 2:22).
Chap. 7:1—This verse belongs with the exhortation in chapter 6. With the encouragement of the promises of the Lord in hand, Paul says,
“Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
This exhortation goes beyond not being unequally yoked together with unbelievers. A person could do that and still live in unholiness. Separating from unholy outward connections with the world should be coupled with cleansing ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit within us. It shows that it’s possible to separate from things outwardly, but go on with all sorts of uncleanness inwardly in our personal lives. Hence, the exhortation would not be complete without this side of things being addressed."
