As we've seen in both 1st and 2nd Corinthians, the people in the church in Corinth had a tendency to be connected to the surrounding culture in a way that distorted their understanding of the truth and harmed their ability to serve God and love others. Paul wanted them to be open and accepting of Paul and his words in the way they had been open and accepting of the false ideas and philosophies of their surrounding culture. (v.11-13)
The Corinthians had become "bound together" or "yoked together" with unbelievers. (v.14) The original Greek word for this idea presents a picture of two unequal animals yoked together to pull a weight behind them. If one of the animals is much stronger than the other, they will be harder to control and one will be doing most of the work. This idea is an echo of Deuteronomy 22:10, referring to purity in its context.
Obviously, Paul spent time with non-believers. So did Jesus. The difference is that their faith was not infected and their worldview was not distorted. They didn't "bind themselves" to unbelievers in the way Paul is warning against here. Verse 14 gives us plenty to think about as we consider who we will "bind ourselves" to. Dating relationships, marriage and even some business relationships are meant to unite people to work toward the same vision, sharing the same values. If a Christian enters a relationship like one of these with a non-believer, it will result in a serious lack of unified Biblical direction and there is great risk of damage to the faith of the believer. Goals will naturally separate, parenting will be a source of conflict and the potential unity that can exist between believers will be completely absent.
Paul makes his point by asking a series of rhetorical questions. ("Belial" in verse 15 is another Hebrew name for Satan.) This isn't to say that marriages, dating couples, co-owned businesses and other similar relationships can't have any good come from them. But for the deepest kind of unity we are meant to experience with others, believers and unbelievers are simply not compatible.(v.14-16)
God's desire has always been for us to be close to him. As Paul reminds us, believers actually serve as "temples" that God lives in! (v.16) But God is Holy. The word Holy means to be set aside for the specific purposes of God. So for God to be Holy means that he is set aside for his own purposes and unique by his very nature. He is "other". He is so different from us, we have no concept for how amazing and wonderful he is. God wants a perfect existence for both himself and for us. But for this to be the case, he can't allow himself or us to be unified with something less than perfect, truthful or outside of his purposes. For this reason, Paul echoes God's consistant desire as spoken in the Old Testament (Isaiah 52:11, 2 Samuel 7:14).(v.17-18)
It's amazing that God wants us to have any kind of unity with him. It's amazing that he has bothered to do anything for us. It's stunning that he would submit himself to torture and death so that we could be with him forever, completely and justly forgiven and perfectly positioned to experience all the unknown wonders he has waiting for us.
It's this promise of eternity that should motivate us to remove sinful thoughts and habits from our lives. It's this promise that should motivate us to understand the truth about the world, ourselves and God, tossing aside any priorities or philosophies that would distract us or cloud our perception of the truth. Our aim should be to perfect our separation to God's purposes (the meaning of holiness). Not so that God will accept us. Believers are already accepted because of Christ's sacrifice. Instead, our motivation should be a sober recognition of who God is.(v.7:1)
Next Week- Are bad feeling ever good for us?
Coffee House Question- In general, what harmful effects have you witnessed or experienced in binding relationships between a believer and a non-believer?
Having extended family where one spouse is a believer, and the other isn't has had effects on their children. Thankfully, their oldest son took a leadership role in the church, and thus helped mentor his younger sister. But it's been tough. I also see cases where the unbeliever pulls at the Christian through their habits or attitude. Much like in our world today, as a christian, sometimes you get tired of fighting sin, and either give into it, or grow more apathetic.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that, Matthew.
ReplyDelete-Paeter