2 Corinthians, 6:11-14

We're going to jump forward to chapter 6 and verse 11. We're just finishing up where Hal was in chapter 5, verse 10. Took three weeks on that, kind of going over the different judgments that are there for believers and unbelievers. So now this morning we're going to be in chapter 6 and verse 11. So, let's see.

Larry, would you read for us, just verses 11, chapter 6, 11, down through 7, 1. Chapter 6, verse 11, all the way down through chapter 7 and verse 1. Just read that for us, please. Our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians. Our heart is open wide. You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained when you will affect us. Now that your life has changed, I speak as to children, open wide to us all. Do not be bound together with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness and lawlessness? For what fellowship has light with darkness? For what harmony has Christ with Galileo? For what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? For what agreement has the temple of God with idols? 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. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord. and do not touch what is unclean. And I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and ye shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty. Therefore, having these promises beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, protecting holiness and the purity of God.

Okay, thanks Larry. We're going to hopefully get through verse 14 today, and then I think that we'll get through the rest next week. So obviously we're not going to be able to get through all of this here today. But if you would look on your first slide, he starts off this passage in the KJV, it starts off by saying, O Corinthians, and in the NAS, as Larry read, it says, Our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians.

So here we see the strong bond and the emotion that he felt for the Corinthians here that he's writing to. This is the second letter that he wrote, and elsewhere, This personal reference to his audience is only used two other times, so I think it's really communicating to us the intimacy that he had with the Corinthians.

Just for getting familiar with it, let's go over to Galatians in chapter 3, and let's look at verse 1 here. Galatians in chapter 3, and let's go over to verse 1. He says, you foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you or tricked you before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. So there we see a similar usage of words opening as he is in Corinthians. You foolish Galatians. Very personal, very intimate and strong emotions that he had with the Galatians there as he has with the Corinthians also.

Over in Philippians in chapter 4. And let's look at verse 15. He says, You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone. Again, a personal reference to the people there of that church, and of that area there he's referring to, to the Philippians.

So I think as we look in this passage, Corinthians, who he's writing to in chapter 6 and verse 11, it's a very personal section of Scripture. His heart's kind of laid out. And we've seen that throughout the chapters that we've looked at. There's this a little bit of tension between the Corinthians and Paul, and he's exposing himself, he's laid himself open, he's exposed himself, he's of a pure conscience, he's mentioned that numerous times, and so the intimacy and the personalness, I think, is important as we get going in this passage. Also, in 2 Corinthians, in chapter 7, it says this, and I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls, though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved."

Laying it out there. His love for these. O Corinthians, this strong emotional feeling, laying it out there, the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. Imagine that. The more he loves them, the more love he shows for them, the less he is loved in return, and the less love he is shown back by them. Let's look at chapter 12 and verse 15, 2 Corinthians. Let's look at chapter 12 and... I'm sorry, let's look at chapter 7 and verse 3. Yeah, chapter 7, verse 3, down a couple verses there.

I do not speak to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together. Again, just this strong feelings and this strong tie and relationship that he has with these folks. So keep that in mind as we go through this passage. So, O Corinthians, our mouth has spoken freely to you, our heart is open wide, as the KJV reads. Or, our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians, our heart is open wide. So there's two things that Paul is communicating to the folks here as we see this first verse, verse 11. First of all, he says that our mouth has spoken freely, and that's the way that the NAS reads, and our mouth has spoken openly to you is the way that the KJV reads, and he's being real candid with them. He's being very open with them. He's not holding anything back. Then the second thing that he mentions to them is that his heart is opened wide. His heart is wide open, as the KJV mentions. It has been enlarged, or it has been unrestrained. And we're going to talk about this word unrestrained in the upcoming verses.

So, one he's communicating, talking about his mouth, and the other he is communicating and he's talking about his heart. Very important for us to understand those things in this first verse. Let's just review. as we have, because I think he's kind of continuing along the same theme that we have seen repeated over and over again. So back in chapter 1, and we looked at this, I think, several months ago, back in chapter 1 in verse 12, he says this, Paul writes, For our proud confidence is this, that the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godless sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world and especially towards you." So, the testimony of their conscience, that's communicating that his mouth is spoken freely and that his heart is wide open. So it's something that we've seen continually throughout this book so far of 2 Corinthians.

In chapter 3 as well, verses 1 through 3, are we beginning to commend ourselves again or do we need as some letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our letter, written in our hearts. Known and read by all men, be manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts."

So they're not, again, going to commend themselves. They don't need these letters of commendation because they've been open. because their mouth is spoken freely and because their hearts are wide open. This continual theme here. Then one more over in chapter 4, verses 1 and 2.

Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we receive mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor adulterating the word of God, But by the manifestation of truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." And we talked about that pretty extensively. Commending ourselves to every man's conscience. That's talking about being open and having your heart open and spoken freely. You haven't said anything that hasn't been true. You haven't tried to be deceitful in any way. You have just been honest and open with the folks.

We're continually seeing this. And then one more. Chapter 5. 11B-12 But we are made manifest to God, and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences. We are not again committing ourselves to you, but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. So, we are made manifest also in your consciences.

Very, very clear here. So his open speech showed his open heart. If you're going to speak very openly with somebody, you're not going to keep things back. That's going to show that you have an open heart, that you're not trying to keep things back from people. I think that's what Paul is communicating here.

Come on in guys, say Craig. How are you? There's a couple of packets of notes there that you guys can grab. Morning, Erlene. How are you? You're here. That's good. Alright, let's ask this question. As we read the verse, why are heart and speech singular and not plural? Because as we start the verse off, He starts off with our mouth, which is more than one person.

So who is he? Paul is obviously the author. Who is the other person that he is talking about? Paul and who? Who is the other co-author who he would be writing from the position from with? That's right, Timothy, correct. If we go back to the very opening verses of this letter to the 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians says, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother. Sure. So it's Paul and Timothy are the ones who are writing this letter. So he says, our mouth has spoken freely, meaning Paul and Timothy. Our mouth has spoken freely.

So the question there, why are heart and speech singular and not plural. Wouldn't it be more natural to say, our mouths have spoken freely and our hearts are wide open? Instead of the way that he's written it, our mouth has spoken. It's a little bit kind of peculiar there that he has used the singular and he didn't use the plural.

My dad's here and if I'm going to say, my dad and I have said something, I would say our mouths have said this. I wouldn't say our mouth said this. So, what are your thoughts? Why has he said it this way? Why has he worded it this way? Is it a mistake? I don't think so. I think it's there intentionally and purposefully. Paul and Timothy are saying the same thing, sure, our mouth has, they have the same message, sure, that's a good thought. What else?

If we were to read down, which maybe you already did, It's interesting that the source of their ministry and their speech and their hearts was Christ and not themselves. And I think that's why they use the singular. Our mouth has spoken freely and our heart is wide open because Christ was living his life in and through them as ministers and they have nothing to hide. That truly has to be the source for why all the things that we've looked at in Chapter 1, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5 can be true. There's no way that any human can produce that in and of themselves on a continual basis.

And because of that, their speech has been true and correct, and their hearts have been pure, and their hearts have been open wide. So Christ was speaking through them, and their mouth has spoken freely, So we're seeing Christ as the source of their speech. Their mouth has spoken freely, and their heart, meaning Christ's heart, Christ's heart in them, was open wide. So think about a little while for, in a sense, Christ being their speech. And that's how they were, that's why the singular is used, and that's why they were always able to say the same thing, to be consistent.

And think about for a little while, Christ being our speech. I mean, we talk a lot. God has designed us and he has created us of creatures of speech. That's just how we communicate with people. So, I just think about the idea there of Christ being our speech. And it's so easy for us to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Isn't it? To speak before we think. Yeah? So we're seeing here that Christ was a source of his speech and a source of his heart. I think that we can draw from that. I think that we can learn from that.

The other day, Rachel and I were in this framing shop. My folks were getting this picture framed for us for a Christmas gift. And guys are wired a bit differently than the women, which is by God's natural design. And so we're getting some, we picked out the frame, and now we're getting this picture matted. And so, have you ever been to the framing shop and getting something matted?

There's a rack of mats this long, and the difference between the colors in each matting is so minute, you can hardly, you know, but, and it's all fine. Rachel's pulling everyone out and laying it down, and laying it down. And it doesn't matter to me nearly as much as it matters to her what the color of the mat is. I mean, I care, but not nearly as much as she cares.

So, I'm just kind of back there watching, and I'm watching, and I'm thinking, OK, in the flesh I'm wanting to be impatient. OK, this one looks good, let's kind of get on with it, let's choose it, let's go do something else. You know, it was a day, this was Christmas Eve day, we had a couple of other things that we needed to do, but by God's grace, and it doesn't always happen this way, I was able to just sit and rest and not kind of lash out and speak before I think. Eventually there came some words that by God's grace came from Him and not from me. So I was able to respond appropriately at the time. It doesn't always happen that way. Sometimes I'm just lashing out and it's coming out wrong and in the flesh.

As Christ is the source of their speech and the source of their heart, I think too that we can trust the Lord to be the source of our speech and to be the source of our hearts as well. I think we can draw some applications for us from that. Any thoughts? Just kind of continuing on there, that their speech was Christ's speech and their heart was Christ's heart.

So, because Christ's heart is open, then Paul and Timothy's heart was also open. I mean, what is Christ's heart like? It's a heart that is open and it is desiring to see all people come to know Him. and for all people to come and to have a relationship with Him. That's a description of Christ's heart. We could do a study in and of itself on the heart of Christ, we won't this morning, but just think about for a moment, what does Christ's heart look like?

If Paul and Timothy were walking by faith in the Spirit, Christ is living His life in a tomb, they're going to have that same heart. So their heart was open because Christ's heart was open to the Corinthian people. And there was one speech, and there was one heart. Very clearly we see back in 2 Corinthians, in chapter 1, verse 17. Let's read through this, back to chapter 1, verse 17. I think I covered this several months back, actually. Chapter 1, verse 17. I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, and no at the same time?

Kind of being double-minded there, we talked about that several months back. But as God is faithful, Our word to you is not yes and no, for the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us, by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not yes and no, but is yes in Him. For as many as are the promises of God in Him, they are yes, therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.

Because of Christ being the source, there was one speech. There wasn't this vacillating, double-mindedness, kind of back and forth. Also, we look back in chapter 1, verse 12, they have conducted themselves not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God. So because Christ is their source, they were not walking in fleshly wisdom, but Christ was their speech and Christ was their heart.

Very important for us to understand that foundation, the foundation that Paul and Timothy were functioning from. He's going to make some statements here in verse 12 and verse 13 and verse 14, kind of a gentle reprimand to the Corinthians for their behavior. So he's saying Christ is our source and he's going to make these statements to them. So it's important for us to understand the foundation from which Paul is making these statements.

We've also looked at chapter 6 and verse 1. Working together with him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. So, Paul and Timothy have not received the grace of God in vain. because Christ is their speech and Christ is their heart. This is an example there for us that they have not received the grace of God in vain, but he's going to point out that the Corinthians, to a degree, have received the grace of God in vain, because he's going to be a gentle reprimand to them for some of their actions. Let's read the verse again to kind of get the context. Therefore, our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians.

Our heart is open wide. Verse 12. You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own afflictions. Interesting. Here's the gentle reprimand that's coming. You're not restrained by us. You're not restrained by something that we have said. You're not restrained by something that we have done. But you are restrained because of yourselves. Because of your own Mistakes because of your own affections.

That he says here at the end of verse 12. So let's kind of talk our way through this verse here. Constrained is what is used in the KJV. It uses the word restrained in the NAS and it means straightened or restricted. To be pressed for room. To be pressed into a narrow space. is what is being communicated here, or to be straightened.

Carries with it the idea of narrowness, and I think that it was Hal who covered this, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, and verse 8, the same word is used here, translated different, but the same Greek word is used here, 2 Corinthians 4, 8. The KJ, let's see, 2 Corinthians 4, 8. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not despairing. So, in the KJV, distressed is the same word that we're looking at here as constrained in chapter 6 verse 12. And crushed is what is translated in the NAS.

So, they're talking about being pressed into a narrow space. they are being pressed into a narrow space. That's clear. But they're not being narrow, pressed into this narrow space because of Paul and Timothy. They're being pressed into this narrow space because of something that they're doing, because of their own affections, because of their own mistakes, because of their own walking in the flesh. And we see what that means specifically to them in the next few verses. So, their hearts were narrow, or small to Paul and Timothy, not open as Paul's was to them, and Paul and Timothy's was to them. So there's kind of the opposite here.

The reason that they are not restrained by Paul and Timothy is because Paul and Timothy are walking in the Spirit, and Christ is the source of their ministry. Nothing to be restrained by. Does that make sense? They're open, functioning with a pure conscience, Open speech, open heart, there's nothing for them to be restrained or constrained by. Because Christ is their source. And Paul makes that very clear. You are not restrained or you are not constrained by us. But he continues on, it's because of your own affections.

Yes? And it's not the Lord that's saying anything against me, but I'm knowing that somehow that attitude or desire is not quite right, not appropriate in some way. and feeling like I want it anyway, or I want to do this anyway, indulges feeling anyway, or whatever, and I feel constrained then in my relationship to the Lord, and people around me, whoever it may be that I need to relate to at that moment. That's right, yeah, sure, sure, yeah.

There's a verse in Corinthians, it says where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, or freedom, So when we're walking in the Spirit, there is that freedom and that liberty, just open with the Lord. When we're walking in the flesh, we know we're not right with God, and so there is that constraint there, that being restrained. We're not free. We're bound in the flesh, under the law, sure. Any other thoughts?

Good thought, Gil. Do you think this plays into why why the Corinthians were not, their hearts were not wide open to Paul? Does that question make sense? If the Corinthians know that they're doing some things that they shouldn't be doing, if they know that they're walking in the flesh, do you think they're going to be wide open to Paul, who is the person that's kind of their shepherd or their person who's ministering to them?

I don't think so. They're going to hold back. maybe even slightly despise that person. If we're walking in sin, if we're walking in the flesh, and there's a person who we, a good friend or whatever it might be, who kind of has a friendship or relationship to the minister, we're not going to be open to that person because we know we're walking in sin. So there's the broken fellowship with the Lord, because of that, not being walking in the Spirit and being open, there's no freedom there, but also even with friendships. So I think it goes with the Lord and also just with other people. Any other thoughts? Please speak up. Okay. Kind of continuing the same thought here.

Paul and Timothy's heart did not have just a little room for the Corinthians because Christ's heart did not have a little room for them. But Christ's heart was completely open to them and therefore Paul's was as well. Again, getting to the source. Because Paul's not putting out this gentle reprimand because he's a better person. I think we've got to understand that. He's not saying, I'm a better person than you are and you guys need to have a heart wide open like mine is, because I'm just such a good person. No, the issue is really the source. And Paul writes in other places, follow after me as I follow after Christ. He doesn't say follow after me because I'm a great person, but follow after me because I am following after Christ. So, why was there restraint on the part of the Corinthian believers? What caused the restraint there?

Well, they were restrained or constrained because of their own affections. Verse 12 says, you are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affections. So it's pretty specific that they're constrained here, they're restrained because of their own affections. And if their affections are wrong, what's the root for wrong affections?

The self, the self-life, exactly right, the flesh. They're walking in the flesh, which is resulting in an unopened, narrow heart toward Paul and Timothy. I think, you know, Gail's point was great. We're walking in the flesh, it's going to result in a narrow heart toward the Lord. If I'm walking in the flesh, it's going to result in a narrow heart toward my wife. If I'm walking in the flesh, it's going to result in a narrow heart toward anybody. I'm not going to be open and free with folks.

It's known that the Corinthians had shown some reserve. They seemed to have some reservations about Paul, maybe he was in it for the money, whatever these different motives were, and we saw that. They were questioning him all the time, and he repeatedly said, I'm not going to continue to commend myself to you, I'm not going to do that, because you know our open heart, you know our open mind, you know our motives, our pure, so there seemed to be this tension where they were not open. They were not receiving of him. There seemed to be some hesitation on the part of the Corinthians.

So, what are their affections? If the root is the self, as Wayne pointed out, or the flesh, and it's written that you are restrained or constrained in your own affections, what are their affections? It's a question we need to ask now, we're going to unpack it a little bit later, but what are their affections? Based on the text that we've read, what do you think their affections are? The desires of their heart? Sure, right.

And if you read down a couple of other verses, specifically, What are their wrong desires of their heart? Which are their wrong affections? Which comes from the root being the flesh? What is it? How about verse 14? Don't be bound together with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

Their affections were mixed. They were mingling themselves with the world. They were mingling themselves with pagan culture. So they were believers, they had this relationship with the Lord, but their affections were shared. And you know what? God had a problem with that. And Paul had a problem with that. We'll unpack that in a little while, but specifically that was how the flesh played out in their affections.

They were mingling themselves with pagan culture, and mingling with the world okay now interesting verse 13 so we've had the gentle rebuke there in verse 12 you're restrained by your own affections now in verse 13 now in a like exchange I speak to you as children open wide to us also open wide also to us.

So, notice his response. He deals with them as a parent would a child. He doesn't slam them, he doesn't put them down, but he continues to love them unconditionally. And that's why we read the verse, the more I love you, the less I am loved back. Because Paul loved these people. He had an unconditional love for them. Look back at chapter 2 and verse 4. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you." Paul loved these people. He was concerned for them.

He's speaking freely. He has an open heart with Christ as his source, but he's concerned for them because their affections are off base. He does not want to see their affections in the wrong place. He doesn't want to see their affections in the world or in pagan culture. He wants to see their affections on Christ. So he comes up with this gracious response despite inappropriate affections and behavior.

So note the command, open wide also. It's a command. So why do you think he puts it in the command? He wants them to enjoy as he and Timothy are and were the life of Christ being lived out and through them, resulting in their hearts being wide open and in God being glorified. You think that he says open wide also just so that they can have a better life? Just so that things might be easier for them? No, the deep underlying motive for him saying that is so that they could enjoy the life of Christ being lived out and through them as Paul and Timothy were.

That's what Paul wants for these folks. That's why he comes in with a gentle command. And how about our interaction with people? Paul is interacting with the Corinthians here. Affections are off base, resulting from the flesh, resulting in wrong conduct. How about our interaction with people?

Every now and then do we possibly gently try to direct somebody back to the Lord? I think we probably do that. That's an encouragement of the saints towards one another. So I have to ask the question, why do we do that? What's our motive in encouraging people back to the Lord?

Is it so that they can have circumstantial ease? Is it so that things can just be easier in their life? Or is it so that they can enjoy that fellowship and oneness in the Lord? Hopefully that's it. You know, we're pointing them back to, encouraging them back to fellowship with the Lord so that they can enjoy that, with Christ living His life in Ephesian, and thus God being glorified. He was also urging them to be unrestrained in their affections towards Paul, as he was unrestrained in his affections towards them.

Open up yourself also to us. Open up wide also to us. Now, he couldn't force them to do this, but he appealed to them as a parent would appeal to his child. He says that. I speak as to children. Open wide also to us. No appealing to your children like that. I'm learning. I can't quite appeal to Henry like that because he doesn't understand quite yet.

But that's kind of the heart of Paul. Can you see the big picture then? Christ is a source. He's got this speech that's coming from Christ's life. He's got this heart that's coming from Christ's life. He sees the Corinthian church in some error, and he comes in to them with this gracious parental redirection back to the Lord.

Incredible, I think, as we see that. So then in verse 14, he begins to speak freely. And he dealt with them in very similar things in 1 Corinthians. Specifically, it was in the areas of dining in the pagan temples, and eating meat that was sacrificed to idols. These were things that were being addressed. So then as he points, he kind of gently comes in, asks them to open up their hearts to them, be unrestrained, then he begins to get very specific with their incorrect behavior, which is coming from the source of the flesh and the wrong affections.

So let's read verse 14 here. Do not be bound together with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? Verse 15. Or what harmony has Christ with Baal? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever, or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God."

And then he goes down and he quotes some other passages. I thought it would be very helpful for us to get a little bit of a cultural insight into what these Corinthian believers were going through in reference to what Paul is talking about here. I found this to be very interesting to see it in a bit of a contextual light from their point of view. So oftentimes we take this passage, I think, and we... what do we immediately apply it to? When we read this passage, what does it oftentimes immediately apply to being unequally yoked?

Marriage. Exactly right. And oftentimes we don't go past that. Right? It's referring to marriage. And it is. It's correct. It is referring to marriage. But often times we don't see beyond that. So I think by seeing a bit of a cultural insight that we can hopefully broaden our view and our scope of this passage. So let's read through this together. Let's see. Anybody like to read? Anybody just dying and itching to read? Okay, I'll read it through.

These activities, talking about dying in pagan cultures and eating meat that was sacrificed to idols, these activities were not simply a function of pagan religiosity from which the new believer could easily abstain. Rather, they were an integral part of the social fabric of Roman society and were often associated with the fulfillment of civic responsibilities." Okay, so try to put yourselves in the shoes of these new believers, okay? And now, they are not to dine in pagan temples any longer, they're not to be eating meat that is sacrificed to idols any longer, but associated with that, It was an integral part of the social fabric of the Roman society.

So it's not just like, OK, I'm just going to stop. And it's not going to mean very much at all if I stop doing that. I mean, in a sense, it was their civic responsibility to do that. So to stop was a major thing. It wasn't just a minor thing that they can do without anybody really noticing.

It was a major thing. Since only the well-to-do had homes large enough for a formal dining room, the abundant temples of Corinth provided facilities for entertaining dinner parties. The related fees were naturally used for the support of the temple and cult. Numerous invitations to these ancient cocktail parties survived. Here's one. Herius asked you to dine in the dining room of the Serapion at the banquet of the Lord Serapis tomorrow, the 11th from the 9th hour.

Drunkenness, gluttony, and sexual promiscuity were part and parcel of such affairs, and against this backdrop, Paul's harsh warning against the contamination of body and spirit, chapter 7, verse 1 of 2 Corinthians, which we'll look at, becomes more comprehensible.

Also understandable is Paul's insistence that Christ and Baal, or Satan, cannot consort. They're not compatible. There's nothing in common. Not only were offerings and toasts made to the God, but the deity was believed to be present at the meal and sometimes even sent the invitation. Here's an example, the God calls you to a banquet being held and it's the Orion tomorrow from the ninth hour. Given Paul's conviction that the worship of pagan deities is actually the worship of demons, no participation in such rituals could be tolerated. But in a culture where religion and the social order walked hand in hand, such separation was a delicate and dangerous task. It is not surprising that Christians were later charged with misanthropy or anti-social behavior." Gives us a little bit of insight into what they were up against. And it was quite severe. It was quite intense. It wasn't just some minor thing.

Is there anything comparable in our culture today? when someone becomes a new believer, are there any similar situations that we might come up against or new believers might come up against having to change their lifestyle or change their culture? Can you think of any examples? Okay. Sure. If your lifestyle was one of gambling or drinking, sure. And God's going to change that lifestyle. Once you enter into a relationship with Him, it'll be changed, sure.

Okay, so chapter 6 and verse 14. Go to the last slide here. So he begins to speak freely here, but remember he's in the context of laying the foundation from which he's speaking. He's not slamming them or hammering them, he's coming at them with a gracious response, but he very clearly addresses the problem. And he says, do not be bound together, as the NAS says, or I think to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.

Now it's interesting, let's go back to Deuteronomy 22.10. Deuteronomy, way back in the Old Testament. Let's look at chapter 22, and let's look at verse 10. Obviously this is the law, and we know now in the church age we're not under the law anymore, but an interesting verse and principle from the law comes out here. Deuteronomy 22, 10.

You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. Now there's the picture of you know, being yoked together and plowing a field of the donkey and the ox being yoked up together. Don't do it. So I think this is, as we go back, that's kind of, it has to be our starting point to find out what does it mean to be unequally yoked? Or what does it mean to be bound together in an inappropriate way? What's the problem with binding a donkey and an ox together to plow a field?

Different size. different walks, sure. Strength is going to be different. A donkey is not going to, you know, so you're going to end up, one's going to be pulling much, much harder than the other one, so you're going to end up going, you know, way off course.

Going in circles, sure. You're going to get nowhere. Absolutely right. So, there's no compatibility. I think, you know, if you were to boil it down, there's nothing in common when it comes to plowing a field and yoking together the donkey and the ox. They're just completely incompatible.

So that has to be our starting point when we look at this verse about being bound together in an inappropriate way or being unequally yoked. When you look at the word yoked, it means to be bound together in a relationship. You bind two oxen together, they're bound together at that point in a relationship for the purpose of plowing that field. And when you put two people together in a marriage relationship, they're bound together in a relationship. That's what it's talking about, about being yoked, or bound together.

Now, when we talk about our position in Christ, we are bound together in Him. Right? There's a relationship between us and the Lord, and we are bound together in this relationship with the Lord. So He says, do not be bound together. and it's a verb, and it's in the present active, and it's a command. So right now, the subject producing the action, who's the subject? The Corinthian believers are. They're the subjects. Do not be bound together. So he's saying, right now, you Corinthians, do not be bound together with unbelievers.

And it's an essence verb, which means to come into a new state of being. To come into a new state of being, Well, their present state of being is that in their position they're bound together in Christ. It is binding relationship with them in Christ, and he's saying, do not become in your condition what you are not in your position. You're not bound together with unbelievers, you're bound together with Christ. So do not become into a new relationship that doesn't exist.

Does that make sense? Strong, strong. Do not be bound together with unbelievers. Why? You're not compatible. It's like, go back to the example of the ox and the donkey. They're going to be going around in circles, getting absolutely nowhere. That's Wayne pointing out. There's no common ground. There's no compatibility. Do not be yoked together in a relationship with unbelievers.

Why? Two reasons are given why. Partnership and Fellowship. First one is partnership. Let's look at that. He says, Do not be bound together with unbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? So there's the two reasons why. One has to do with that partnership, and the other one has to do with fellowship. Well, the idea of partnership is to be with something, or to have, or to hold.

So what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness, or unrighteousness? What does righteousness have that it can be with unrighteousness? There's nothing. There's no common ground. They're incompatible. What does unrighteousness have that righteousness can hang on to and create a partnership. There's nothing that righteousness has that unrighteousness would want that can be bound together. It just cannot work. There can be no partnership between the two. So, there can be no partnership between believers and unbelievers.

Now, that's creating a lot of questions in our minds, and I understand that, okay? So, we're going to talk this through practically, but I want to see principles from God's Word first, and then we'll talk about how it plays out practically. Then the last one, the second one for this first fellowship. The idea here is a sharing in common of community or communication. So what fellowship has light with darkness? What does light have that it can share with darkness?

There's nothing there that they have in common, that they would be sharing. They're in total opposites. Christ says what? I am the light of the world. And the unbelieving world hates the light. They love what? The darkness. So, for them to come together is almost diametrically opposed. I mean, God works in the lives of believers, draws them to the light, we know that's true.

But the principle here of light and darkness coming together, again, they're incompatible. Thus, there can be no fellowship between a believer and an unbeliever, so why yoke? There can be no fellowship between a believer and an unbeliever. I probably should have put in there, no spiritual fellowship. between a believer and an unbeliever.

The last statement, I think, kind of summarizes it. Just because believers are not to be in binding relationships with unbelievers, does not mean that believers are to be isolated from unbelievers. Because what does Jesus say? To be salt and light. To be in the world, but not of the world. Exactly.

So, we're going to continue through these other descriptions. What harmony has Christ with Baal? What has a believer in common with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? We're going to go down through this list. He's making this point about being unequally yoked. So we'll continue through this next week, and we'll talk about practically how does it play out. What does it mean to be yoked? And we want to be salt and light in the world, not of the world, yet not yoked to unbelievers, not yoked to the world. flesh out.

So be thinking about that. This is important stuff for us to think through. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this morning. Thanks for your word here. which gives us instruction in so many different areas of our lives about you being our source so we can speak freely and speak clearly because you are our mouths and you are our speech, you are our hearts, so we can be open to you and open to other people that we fellowship with.

Yet also, as we see, you do not want our affections to be shared You and our affections 100% completely. You do not want us to have any other affections other than You. Lord, make it clear to us where our affections might be off base and where they might be shared. And then point it out to us and draw us back to You. Yet also, communicate to us what it means to be salt and light to this world that needs You so much. In Your name we pray. Amen.