Disconnecting From the World
Last week, in 2 Corinthians 6:12, Paul said, “You are not limited by us, but you are limited by your own affections.” We are often limited by what we love when our love is not directed at God. As we continue this letter, Paul is going to continue to affirm our need, as believers in Christ. to place our affection in the right place. When we do align our affection with the Creator of the Universe, it will inevitably disconnect us from worldly things and ideas. It is a careful tightrope we walk. We are not taken out of the world, but, at the same time, we are not to be of the world. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed that we not be taken out of the world, but that God would protect them from the evil one. We are sent into the world, but are no longer of the world. We are separated out by what we loved more.
Vs 6:14-16a Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? And what agreement does God’s sanctuary have with idols?
While this text is usually used about marriage, the context of the earlier verses do not suggest marriage is the only thing Paul is talking about. To understand fully, we must go to the scripture Paul is referring to: Deuteronomy 22:9-11. “Do not plant your vineyard with two types of seed; otherwise, the entire harvest, both the crop you plant and the produce of the vineyard, will be defiled. Do not plow with an ox and a donkey together. Do not wear clothes made of both wool and linen.” What, you may ask, do grapes, oxen and cloth have to do with being unequally yoked? Actually quite a bit. The different laws in the Torah are often misunderstood. What do they have to do with the modern world.? A lot, as we will see. The laws in the Torah have just as many practical and philosophical lessons for us as spiritual ones. Let’s go through each of these starting with the vineyard. What happens when you plant two different kinds of grapes side by side? After a bit of research with some folks who grow grapes for wine, I found grapes cross pollinate. Planting two different ones side by side causes them to influence the outcome making the harvest unpredictable and often not what you want. In fact, in the case of Muscadine grapes, non- muscadine grapes will not pollinate the muscadine grape at all. What about yoking an ox and a donkey together? A couple of things complicate the work. First, donkey’s won’t eat after an ox because of the saliva and second, the ox, being the stronger animal would literally pull the donkey along torturing the poor animal. Then finally, linen and wool. These are two very different types of material in durability, wear and temperature. Putting them together makes for a very ill-fitting, temperature control nightmare. These scriptures show us a few amazing things about God. First, God cares about the everyday lives of His people. His desire is for them to live the most fulfilled lives possible, even down to how they plant their crops, and what they wear. That’s pretty amazing to me! Second, as with all things in the Torah, the spiritual lessons and implications are many. The Jewish people were to separate themselves out from the world. They were not to conduct themselves as the world around them did. The laws of the Torah were there to literally make them different so they could focus their attention and affection on God.
So Paul says – don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers. As I stated above, this verse has mainly been applied to marriage, but Paul was talking about several issues. The Corinthian church had issues with their appearance in the world. They had issues with Paul’s suffering because of how it was perceived by society. Paul has just addressed their limitations because of where they placed their affections. So, we must look at being unequally yoked beyond just the bounds of marriage. As believers, we should not be unequally yoked in any other aspects of life. Paul draws us to these verses in Deuteronomy so we can see that, just as God asked Israel to separate themselves out from the world, we too, must separate ourselves from the world. We cannot koinonia, or share intimately as we do in communion with the unrighteous because we are people who serve a righteous God and seek to be holy as He is holy. We cannot sychnázo, a word for to haunt or inhabit, with darkness because we are people of the light. We can’t serve two masters – Christ, who is righteous and holy, and Belial, the embodiment of wickedness and evil. Who you koinonia with or sychnazo with and serve will show who you are yoked with. Instead, we remember the words of Paul to the Romans in 12:1-2: “Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” The lesson – as oxen in the world, don’t yoke yourselves with donkeys. It just doesn’t work!
Vs 6:16b-7:1 For we are the sanctuary of the living God, as God said: I will dwell among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty. Therefore, dear friends, since we have such promises, let us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, completing our sanctification in the fear of God.
These verses are actually quotes from several Old Testament scriptures. Paul is giving the Corinthian church a scripture lesson about being separated from the world. I have broken them down into 4 categories.
1. For we are the sanctuary of the living God, as God said: I will dwell among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. You can find this phrase in several places throughout scripture – specifically: Leviticus 26:12; Jeremiah 31:33; and Ezekiel 37:26. Leviticus 26 lays out the covenant blessings and disciplines of being God’s people. His covenant promise is that He will dwell among them and be their God and they will be His people. Jeremiah 31:33 says, “I will put My teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.” Finally, Ezekiel 37:26 says, “I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will establish and multiply them and will set My sanctuary among them forever.” So we are to be God’s sanctuary. When the scripture was written, the sanctuary was the temple of God. In fact, the Greek word for sanctuary is naos, which means temple. Paul is reminding us that God resides in His temple and now we are the temple where He resides. He once dwelt with His people, He now dwells in His people. Why separate ourselves from the world? Because we are the temple in which God resides.
2. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you. Dio – for this reason – you need to separate yourselves from the world. This is a quote from Isaiah 52:11. The full passage tells the story of God’s redemption of His people. Vs. 7 says, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the herald, who proclaims peace, who brings news of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” It is God who reigns on high. For that reason, just as the priests purified the temple of the Lord, we leave the world behind and purify ourselves. Why separate from the world? Because, we are the temple of God that should be purified.
3. I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty. Paul once again refers to several passages throughout the Old Testament: 2 Samuel 7:14; Isaiah 43:6; 49:22; 60:4; Hosea 1:10. The passage in 2 Samuel 7:14 is a statement of the Davidic covenant. David had wanted to build the temple of the Lord, but this was not God’s plan. Instead, God reminds David that He will establish His line forever – fulfilled in Christ. The Isaiah passages all refer to the sons and daughters being brought back into the Land. They will be gathered from all over the world and brought back. As Christ has fulfilled the Davidic covenant, people from all over the world will be sons and daughters of God. They will follow Him and Him alone. Hosea 1:10 speaks of a day when those who are called “Not My People” will be be called “Sons of God”. In Ephesians 2:13-16 Paul puts this together for us. “But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away (Gentiles) have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. For He is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In His flesh, He made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that He might create in Himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. He did this so that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross and put the hostility to death by it.” God, who resides in us has claimed us for His own. We are His sons and daughters. His love for us knows no bounds. Why separate ourselves from the world? Because we are the purified temple of God and now He calls us His children.
4. Therefore, dear friends, since we have such promises, let us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, completing our sanctification in the fear of God. We need to katharizó, spiritually cleanse ourselves from every molusmos, defilement or pollution. That seems pretty straight forward. As believers, we know we need to be holy as God is holy. But, the eye-opening thing here is that we must cleanse ourselves from defilement of both the flesh and the spirit. We can easily understand the reference to the flesh. Paul talks constantly throughout many of his letters about the need to stay away from the evils of the flesh. So what impurities need to be cleansed from the spirit? It’s easy to cleanse ourselves of the flesh – both in understanding and activity. It’s a lot harder to cleanse our impure spirit. These are the things that may look good on the outside, but are rotten on the inside. The Pharisees had this problem. Matthew 23:1-36 outlines the woes Jesus had with them. Here is one example that perfectly explains what Paul is talking about. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every impurity. In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness,” Matthew 23:27-28. Everything looks great on the outside, but inside it’s all about death. Hypocrisy is just as bad or worse than outright fleshly sin. The sinners – prostitutes, tax collectors etc. – had a much easier time coming to Christ then the Pharisees. It’s easier to receive grace when it’s evident to all what the problem is. But, when things look okay, when it looks like our affection is in the right place, it’s harder to admit the filth inside. Paul wanted the Corinthian church to take a good look outside and in. As children of God who are the temple of God, we must constantly seek to purify both the outside (flesh) and inside (spirit). We do this so we can epiteleó, be complete.
Disconnecting from the world will not be easy – especially in this day and age. There are so many things around us that try to keep us from walking through the “narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it.” Matthew 7:13. It all starts with who our affection is for. Is it for God and God alone? Is it for His purposes and His plans? If so, this will mean disconnecting from anything that is not of God. Walking as light in the world, walking in koinania with those who also walk with God, and making sure to cleanse ourselves from the impurities of both flesh and spirit.
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