November 18 Click on verses for Full Scripture

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Today's Pathway: II Corinthians 6:11-18 O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged. Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels. Now for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 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.

In the previous verses Paul has shared his experiences as an apostle of Jesus Christ. In verses 11-13 he tells the Corinthians that he has poured out his heart to them. He loves them dearly, and "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matthew 12:34). In verse 12 he is not restrained ("straitened") in his love for them. It is not a narrow or confined love, but rather it is an abundant concern that exists for all those in the church there. The problem is that they do not love him in the same way. Their love is limited. We know that the Corinthians did not get along with each other, and it is clear that many in the church did not appreciate Paul's ministry either. Ray Steadman wrote,

"Though Paul knew their struggles, their weaknesses, their heartaches, their failures and their resistance, still he loved them. The problem was that they were not loving him in return. They were closed; they were unresponsive; they were coldly self-contained toward him. And the result? Paul puts it in one word: They were 'restricted'. What does that mean? It means they were limited; they were bound; they were tied up by themselves; they were imprisoned within the narrow boundaries of their own selfish lives. As a result, they could not experience the richness of life."

"The idea in this verse is, that the only compensation or remuneration which he expected for all the love which he had shown them, and for all his toils and self-denials in their behalf (II Corinthians 6:4-5) was that they would love him, and yield obedience to the laws of the gospel."

Having asked the Corinthians to respond to his love for them, Paul spells out one way that they could do so in verses 14-18. He tells them that they need to be separated from the world. He opens by telling them not to be "unequally yoked together with unbelievers". The verb tense used here indicates a continuous action command: this is something they were being instructed to never do. The unequal yoke referred to plowing with two different species of animals. The two animals were teamed up in the yoke, but because they were of different species that plowing was never going to be effective. This principle went back to the Mosaic law, where Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 22:10,

"Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together."

"The clear inference is that believers and unbelievers are so different in character and interests (as well as ultimate destiny) that they should never be 'yoked' together in situations requiring strong agreement of attitudes and goals (e.g., marriage, churches, business partnerships, lodges or other organizations with religious overtones). The prohibition is not intended to require complete repudiation of all secular friendships (I Corinthians 5:10). But when one's Christian faith is in jeopardy, or his Christian conduct and influence is endangered, then such connections should be severed. One can witness to unbelievers without partaking of their beliefs or sinful behavior."

We will continue looking at this principle tomorrow.