Caution to Whom We Open

If you have your Bibles, open them with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and go to verse 14.

2 Corinthians chapter 6 and go to verse 14. Before we read,

I just want to make a few preliminary comments. A few months ago,

I was asked to begin writing for a publication. It's a new publication.

It's called Clear Truth. It's an opportunity to write articles on a monthly basis on the subject of theology, culture, things like that.

And so I'm going to begin doing that soon. I've already written a few articles that have been submitted to the publisher and will be going out in the first inaugural opening of the publication.

And the first article I wrote is called Denominations are

Great. Okay, now I don't have anything. The first article

I wrote is entitled Denominations are Great. Now that may seem like an odd thing to say.

But the reason why I wrote that article is because one of the things that has been accused, especially by non -denominational churches and Roman Catholics, it's one of the only things that non -denominational churches and Roman Catholics actually agree on, is that denominations are bad and that there's 30 ,000 denominations and we shouldn't have these denominations because all the denominations do is encourage division in the church.

And I wrote and I said, no, I think actually denominations are great because denominations allow us to be able to identify the things that are definitional to being a

Christian and say we are willing to say that these people are Christians even if we disagree on the secondary things.

We can say that there are people who are believers as long as they are holding fast to the core principles of the gospel, the core principles of who

God is. And this is why we distinguish between denominations and cults. My brothers and sisters in the

Presbyterian church, yeah, they baptize babies, but, and we disagree on that, but we hold fast to the same gospel.

And while we disagree on secondary matters, we can hold fast to that truth that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. While at the same time we can look at groups like the

Mormon church and we could say they have gone so far from Christian orthodoxy that they are no longer brothers in Christ.

And so what denominations allow us to do is they allow us to make a line and say, here's the line and we won't cross it.

Here's the line, we're not going over it. Here's the line and this is where we're going to stand. Now the reason why

I bring that up is because in today's passage, Paul is going to warn us to not make partnerships with those who do not hold to the gospel and primarily the focus of this text is making partnerships in ministry with those who do not hold fast to the exclusivity of the

Lord Jesus Christ. And so let us stand and read this text and hopefully come to a right understanding of it.

Paul writes, do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.

For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God has said.

I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them and I will be their

God and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst and be separate from them, says the

Lord, and touch no unclean thing. Then I will welcome you and I will be a father to you and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the

Lord Almighty. Now we're going to go into chapter 7 just for one verse. Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

Father in heaven, I pray first and foremost. Lord, keep me from error and give me boldness.

And Lord, may it be boldness without hubris. May it be confidence,

Lord, which is confidence in You and not in self. And I pray,

Lord, as I preach this text, I pray that the truth of this text would come forward and would go out and Lord, that Your Holy Spirit would be the teacher, that I would decrease, that Christ would increase and the message would go out into the ears of everyone who is here and not only into their ears, but through the mind and into the heart.

And Lord, that You would use this text as a reminder that there are lines we should not cross.

There are areas we should not go. And we should be a people who is known as a holy people.

As Your Word says here, that we ought to bring holiness to completion in the fear of God.

I pray, O God, for the believer in the room. I pray if,

Lord, there has been confusion over the issues of this text and maybe perhaps even confusion over what they ought to be doing in life.

I pray, Lord, that this would bring clarity. And Lord, for the unbeliever in this room, who may not realize,

Lord, that they are outside of the covenant and Lord, that they continue in a state where Your wrath hangs above them.

Lord, may it be today that they would turn from their sin, turn to Christ, be saved.

And Lord, that they would know that the wrath of God, which was meant for them, has been taken by Jesus Christ.

And that His righteousness has been granted, Lord, as their eternal reward.

Not for anything that they have done, but because of Your mercy and grace.

Lord, may we, as a church, be moved to closer conformity to Christ as we study

Your Word. In Jesus' name. Amen. Ever so often there will be an event held in Washington where leaders of various religious groups will come together for some kind of a gathering.

Often it is for prayer. And you'll look on the dais and you will see all kinds of religious figures.

Typically you will see someone representing the Roman Catholic Church, someone representing Islam, someone representing the

Hindu religion, someone representing the Buddhist religion. And usually there are a few representatives, even from the mainline

Protestant denominations, but typically they are among the more left -leaning or liberal side of the

Protestant denominations. You can tell them by their colorful stoles. That's true, but it's also funny.

Have you ever stopped to consider the fact that perhaps such a gathering is not good?

It's often lauded as a great thing. All of these people are religious people. All of these people are seeking to find

God, seeking to go after God, seeking to serve God. They're just doing it in their own ways.

They're all going up the same mountain. They're just all taking different routes. But they will all eventually arrive at the same top of the mountain.

Beloved, have we ever stopped to consider that perhaps that's not the way it should be? Have we ever stopped to consider that actually partnering with those who reject

Christ is blasphemy? Especially when it comes to partnering with them in ministry.

Well, in today's text, Paul commands the Corinthians to not partner with unbelievers.

If you have been a part of our study, you know that we do verse -by -verse studies, so this just happens to be where we are this week.

Well, Paul, last week in our service, we studied the first part of chapter 6, and we noted that Paul admonished the

Corinthians to widen their hearts to him. He said, I have spoken freely to you.

In fact, in the original language, he says, I have opened my mouth to you, but you are not opening up yourselves to me.

In fact, you're withholding your affection. I've given you my affection, but you are withholding your affection from me.

So, Paul has admonished them to open their hearts to him, but they have not.

Yet, they have opened their hearts to others. If we read through 2

Corinthians, what we find is that the Corinthian church had given an allegiance to another group.

Paul identifies this group as what is called the super -apostles.

And the super -apostles, which are so named in 2 Corinthians 11 .5 and 2 Corinthians 12 .11,

he says, these are the people that are actually opposed to my message.

So, while Paul has been rejected, these super -apostles have been embraced.

So, this is the context that is leading us in to verse 14.

So, real quick, let's just go through it again. Paul has admonished the Corinthians to open their hearts to him, but now he warns them not to open their hearts to everyone.

That is the context of verse 14 when he says, do not be unequally yoked. And we're going to talk about what that means in a moment.

But for now, let us just remember the context. Paul has admonished the Corinthians to open their heart to him, but not to open it to everyone.

Remember Paul's adversaries, the super -apostles, 2 Corinthians 11 .5 and 12 .11.

Paul has been rejected, these men have been embraced. Now, we don't understand that because today, 2 ,000 years later, we say, how could anyone reject the apostle

Paul? And yet, you understand that that is what was happening in the first century.

Paul would go along and he would plant these churches. He planted churches in Galatia. He planted churches further out in Asia Minor, in Ephesus and other places.

He planted churches in Macedonia. He planted churches in Corinth. And as he planted churches, behind him would come men who would claim to have a superior pedigree, who would claim to have a superior education, and who would claim to have a superior message.

And they would come along and they would say, what Paul gave you is either not the whole story or it's the wrong story.

Here's the true gospel. And often what they would add to the gospel is that they would add to the gospel the ceremonial laws of the old covenant.

We call this group the Judaizers. And the Judaizers would come along and they would say, hey, you can't be saved unless you're circumcised.

And all the Gentiles would say, well, I'm not circumcised. Well, it looks like you can't be saved unless you get circumcised. You can't be saved unless you keep the dietary restrictions.

I'm Gentile. Hey, I don't keep the dietary restrictions. Well, you can't be saved unless you do these things. And so these men would come in with a very erudite personality.

They would come in with a very erudite explanation as to who they were. Paul even mentions in chapter 3 that some of them brought letters of commendation for themselves.

Paul says, I don't have any letters of commendation. What did he say? You're my letter of commendation. I planted this church.

I gave you the gospel. You're my letter of commendation. But these men would come in with certificates.

They would come in with their fancy seminary degrees. And they would say, see,

I know more than the Apostle Paul. And you need to listen to me rather than listen to him.

So Paul's adversaries, these super apostles, rejected Paul's message.

And this means they are unbelievers. If you reject the teachings of the

Apostle Paul, you are a false brother. And if you teach that the

Apostle Paul got it wrong, you are a false teacher. Understand this.

And I've been explaining this on Wednesday night because I've been preaching through the gospel of Mark. And I'm just about to finish this

Wednesday night. We're going to complete the gospel of Mark. But what I have mentioned throughout the gospel of Mark is that when you read the gospels, you are reading the story of Jesus' life, the narrative.

And in the narrative of his life, there are many didactic passages, many things that we learn that are true and important for us to know.

But the gospels are not meant to give us all of the theology of Christ.

The theology of Christ comes to us in the epistles. For instance, the gospels tell us

Jesus died on the cross. The epistles tell us why he died on the cross.

The epistles tell us he rose from the grave. The gospels tell us he rose from the grave. The epistles say why he rose from the grave and why it matters.

So if you only read the red letters, people say, oh, I'm a red -letter Christian.

Well, then you're not a whole Christian. Because, yes, the red letters matter if you have a red -letter edition of the

Bible. And Jesus' words certainly have authority because he is the Son of God. But guess what? The black letters are inspired by the same

Holy Spirit. And they don't disagree with the red letters. And so when we read

Paul's writing, we are reading a writing that is just as authoritative as the red letters.

And when we read that, Paul tells us the truth. And that truth must be upheld by all believers.

I cannot stand it when I hear someone say, oh, that was just Paul. It usually comes up when they don't agree with Paul.

Something about, you know, Paul says women shouldn't be pastors. Oh, that's just Paul. No, that's the Holy Spirit.

Paul tells us many things. People say, oh, that's just Paul. No, that's the Holy Spirit. We take the whole

Bible and we trust the whole Bible. And so these men come along.

They say, you can't trust Paul. That means they are, in fact, unbelievers.

So it is these, I believe, who are on Paul's mind when he warns the church not to be teamed up with or unequally partnered with unbelievers.

Now, when we begin looking at verse 14, the reason why I read to chapter 7 verse 1 is because there is a context which begins in 14 and goes down to 7 .1

and it actually flows together much like a sermon. In fact, some people believe this may actually have been a sermon that Paul preached and he introduces it into the text as part of his argument because it agrees with things that he has said in other places.

And if you look at the structure, there really is a sermon -like structure. It begins with an imperative statement, which an imperative statement means a statement of command.

After that, you have rhetorical questions, which was a form of oratory communication in the early church and it continues to be so today.

We ask a question knowing that the audience either knows the answer or the answer will be implied in the question.

Right? And then we move to scriptural citations. Paul backs up his argument and his affirmation with the scripture.

And then finally, this is why I go into chapter 7 because in chapter 7, verse 1, we have a restatement of the imperative.

So this is the outline of the text. We're going to walk through it as if we're reading Paul's sermon and seeking to understand what he means because I'm preaching basically his sermon after him, if this is, in fact, a sermon.

So it begins with the phrase, Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.

We'll stop right there for a moment and just try to understand what that means. The term do not actually is in the present imperative.

At this point, it is a verb. It is an imperative command and the construction indicates that it may actually be something that is already taking place.

So rather than simply saying do not be unequally yoked, it could also be stop being unequally yoked.

Does that make sense? It's like don't do it and if you are doing it, stop. It's present, it's imperative, it's now.

Don't do this and if you are, stop doing this. But then the next phrase comes up.

Do not be unequally yoked. The New American Standard Bible, 1995, says bound.

Right, Mike? Okay. The New American Standard Bible, the later translation, which

I think came out in 2020 or something, says mismatched. Strange word, but it means the same.

The New English Translation says partner with. Do not partner with unbelievers. The New Living Translation says do not team up with unbelievers.

And it's interesting because in this section, from 614 to 7 -1, we actually have six words that are unique to Paul and unique to the

Bible that are only in this section. Meaning they're called hapexlegomenon, but you don't need to know that.

It means a one -time -use word. And these one -time -use words come up a lot with Paul because sometimes

Paul just makes words up, like theanoustos. I'm convinced Paul created the word theanoustos, which means

God breathed, in 2 Timothy 3 .16. It's nowhere else. We don't see it until after Paul being used in extant literature.

And so that word theanoustos is probably a Pauline word. It means God breathed.

Well, in this term, he's using the word unequally yoked. And the closest that we have to that particular word outside of the

New Testament, because it's not used elsewhere in the New Testament, it comes up in the Septuagint in Leviticus 19, verse 19.

In Leviticus 19, verse 19, in the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the

Hebrew Old Testament, it says this, You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind.

Heterozugon. Heterozugon is the same root that Paul uses in this phrase when he says do not be unequally yoked.

It's a longer form of the word heterozugontes, but it's the same idea. The idea is being partnered with a different kind.

And we see this also in a specific command in Deuteronomy chapter 22.

I'm sorry, Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse 22. No, it is Deuteronomy 22. I'm sorry, I'm all over the map here.

In Deuteronomy 22, verse 10, the

Bible says you shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.

Now, why would that matter? Some people argue, well, it's because one's clean and one's unclean.

And that could be the case, but more likely is the case is there are different kinds of animals, and if you strap two different kinds of animals together, what's going to happen?

They're going to pull apart. They're not going to work together. They're going to work against one another, and it's going to be a problem.

In fact, I like Jameson Fawcett Brown's commentary on this. This is what they say.

An ox and a donkey, being of different species and of very different characters, cannot associate comfortably nor unite cheerfully in drawing a plow or a wagon.

The donkey, being much smaller and his steps shorter, there would be an unequal and irregular draft.

Besides, and this is funny, it says the donkey, from feeding on coarse and poisonous weeds, has a fetid breath.

I mean, stinky. Which his yoke fellow seeks to avoid, not only as poisonous and offensive, but producing leanness, or, if long continued, death.

And hence, it's been observed always to hold away its head from the donkey and to pull only with one shoulder.

So you've got an animal that has a different gait. You have an animal that has obtrusive breath. You have an animal that's going to cause the other animal to pull in another direction.

If you tie them both together, what's going to happen? Nothing good.

Nothing good. It's all going to be bad. And so, it is very likely that this is what

Paul is referring to, this passage in Deuteronomy, when he says, do not be unequally yoked.

And if you don't know what a yoke looks like, that's it. It's basically a piece of wood that goes over the backs of the two animals and the two loops go up underneath their neck and it ties them together.

So what is this about? This is about the inability of different kinds to work together toward the same goal.

The inability of different kinds to work together toward the same goal.

In the same way that you would not unite a donkey to an ox, the believer should not be united to an unbeliever.

That's Paul's point. That's what he's saying. He says, do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.

Now again, I'm convinced that in his mind, who he's referring to there is false teachers and false brothers.

Beloved, you understand that when we gather as a church, we welcome unbelievers into the church.

Amen? There are unbelievers here today, I'm certain. I've walked around and looked for the

E tattooed on you to see if you're elect, but I'm pretty sure there are unbelievers here. But yet when you become a part of the church, when you enter into the covenant within the body, what is expected that you would become part of the church?

That you profess faith. That you profess faith. One of the most popular and largest churches in America, it's up in Atlanta, and the pastor of that church makes it very well known that his church is open to all people and you can join the church even if you are an unbeliever.

He said, we don't care. We just want you here. And we want you to belong. And we want you to know that you belong.

And you can come in and you can join the church even if you are an unbeliever. I'm not making this up. I can take you right to the

YouTube video where he said it. I ask you church, is that the way it should be?

Should it be that the church is made up of believers and unbelievers as part of the covenant community?

Now it's going to be that way because we can't know for certain the heart of a man. But the reality is that the church is believers.

And the idea that we can be tied together with unbelievers, that we can be in covenant with unbelievers is something that Paul is telling us no.

And this is specifically the case in ministry. We can do work with other ministries.

We can work alongside. Some of my best friends in the world come from different denominations. And as I said from the beginning of this sermon,

I do think denominations are a good thing because they allow us to say, okay, what are the things that are essential to being a

Christian and we can stand together in lockstep on those essentials? This is why John MacArthur and R .C. Sproul could share the same stage for all those years because even though they differed on the secondary matters, they were able to hold fast to the things that were essential.

But guess what? R .C. Sproul couldn't join John MacArthur's church. That's not good.

No, it actually is good. I don't have time to explain why it's good right now, but I can tell you this.

There is value in having a church where we say we stand together even on the secondary things and we uphold certain foundational things that we say.

All things that are definitional to Christianity we uphold and secondary things we uphold as well.

And that's what defines us. That's why we're called Baptists. Y 'all know we're Baptists, right?

Haven't always been. This church was once a part of the

Disciples of Christ. In 1999, the same year

I got saved, this church decided to leave the Disciples of Christ. Paul was there,

Jack was there, Pat was there. Several of you were there. Why did we leave the

Disciples of Christ? Because the Disciples of Christ is an apostate denomination.

I can't believe you said that. Well, go listen to their preachers preach the gospel. They reject the gospel of Jesus Christ.

They reject the exclusivity of Christ. There has to be a line that we don't cross.

There has to be a circle where we say we're not going outside of this circle. Oh, you're an exclusivist.

Yeah, I'm an exclusivist. I have to be an exclusivist. I read my Bible. And there has to be a line where we say we're not partnering, particularly and especially in ministry with those who would deny the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This really comes up in a lot of ways. And, again, I remember years ago.

This might be careful.

That's me talking to me. Years ago, my wife went to the

Walk for Life. And if you don't know what the

Walk for Life is, I think it's an annual thing where people go to the federal.

There's two courthouses downtown. There's the city county courthouse, and then there's the federal courthouse.

And at the federal courthouse, they walked around the Walk for Life. They walked around holding signs and standing against abortion.

Now, I am 1 ,000 percent against abortion. I believe it all should be abolished.

So in case you want to know where I stand, that's where I stand. But as I was walking around,

Jennifer, remember, she was with me. We're walking around, and I noticed everybody around us is either a nun or a priest.

There were very few Protestants there. We were all incognito. Nobody would have known.

But the vast majority of people surrounding us were either wearing a collar. Now, of course, they could have been Lutherans.

Lutherans wear collars as well. Some other people wear collars. But the point I'm making is when it was over, the nuns and priests began to go up and pray the rosary, and they began to do their

Roman Catholic prayers, and Jennifer and I couldn't become part of that.

The rosary is blasphemous. We do not hail Mary. Guys, if this offends you, don't leave this place angry.

Come talk to me. This has to be considered here. Who do we partner with in ministry?

Where do we draw the line? And I said to my wife, I said, I need to be preaching the gospel to them. Just as much as the federal courthouse needs to hear that abortion is the worst and the most terrible act of hatred and killing of the most innocent among us for the last 50 years and has killed millions of people, absolutely the federal government needs to hear that.

But these Catholics need to hear the gospel too. You understand the line

I'm saying? And again, this is going to get me. People are going to not like this. That's fine.

But this is the reality. Where do we draw the line? With whom do we minister?

Who do we tie ourselves to? Who do we team up with? Paul says, do not team up with unbelievers.

And then he goes into his rhetorical questions. He says, what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?

Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial?

And what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols?

This is a rhetorical structure. It's based on three blank spaces.

He says, for what has blank with blank? For what blank has blank with blank? So what partnership, fellowship, accord, portion, and agreement?

Those are all basically synonymous. Has righteousness, light, Christ, believers, and temple? Those are all basically synonymous.

With lawlessness, darkness, Belial, unbelievers, and idols? Those are all basically synonymous. And basically what he's saying, is what common ground do you have?

That's the question. What common ground is there? You say, well we have all kinds of common ground.

If the common ground isn't Christ, then you really don't have common ground. That's the point he's making.

If the common ground is not Jesus Christ, then you really don't have common ground.

John MacArthur, in regarding this passage, said, The kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness cannot be linked in a common cause.

And then Paul gives his scriptural support. Beginning in the half of verse 16, he says, For we are the temple of the living

God. As God said, and he begins to quote the Old Testament. And Paul does what he often does here.

Paul doesn't quote from one specific passage. But what Paul does, is he gives us somewhat of an amalgam of several passages pressed together to make a point.

He does the same thing in Romans chapter 3, when he's defining sin. He talks about sin, and he says,

For as the scripture says, and he gives all these scriptural passages. You say, wait a minute, he's all over the map. He doesn't care. He's not saying, in John 3, 16, it says.

No, he's saying, this is what God has said. And he quotes several passages. He quotes from Exodus 25,

Exodus 29, Leviticus 26, Ezekiel 37, and Isaiah 52. So he's grabbing all of these passages that make a point.

And the point is this. That God has, from the beginning, called his people to be a peculiar people.

I remember saying that one time, and I got a little side -eyed. What do you mean peculiar?

It means set apart. It means to be distinct. It means to be different.

Usually, if you say peculiar, you're thinking in the negative, right? You're a peculiar guy. But in this sense, what it means is it means to be distinct.

God's people are supposed to be distinct from the world. I didn't get an amen then.

No, I mean, seriously, we hear that, and we say, oh, that's uncomfortable. No, that is what these texts say.

The Old Testament is filled with calls to Israel to be separate from the unbelieving nations.

In fact, just for a moment, go to Psalm 1. Just for a moment, run over to Psalm 1.

Keep your place in 2 Corinthians because we're going to go right back. But Psalm, the beloved songbook of Israel, begins with a call of separation.

Notice what it says in Psalm 1, verse 1.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Notice the blessing that is given in the very first chapter of the very first book in the

Psalms, or rather the first chapter of the Psalms. It says, blessed is the man whose posture is one of separation.

That's the Keith Standard version. But notice he mentions three postures. He says, blessed is the man who does not walk, who does not stand, and who does not sit.

That's everything. Because you're either walking, standing, or sitting, or flying, and you ain't got wings.

So the writer of the Psalm here is saying, in whatever condition you are in, you are blessed when you are not in the condition of being tied to these type of people.

And who are the type of people that Psalm 1 says? People who walk in the counsel of the wicked, sinners and scoffers.

Again, throughout the entire Bible there is a call for separation.

There is a call for peculiarity. A call for distinction. And beloved, it's not just an

Old Testament concept. If you go into the New Testament, what does it say in 1 Corinthians 15, 33?

It says in 1 Corinthians 15, 33, Do not be deceived.

Bad company ruins good morals. That's basically

Psalm 1 restated. Who you spend time with, who you make your life with, who you partner with, who you minister with, is much more likely to bring down than for you to raise them up.

And so when we go back to 2 Corinthians, and if you're in your Bible, go ahead and go back. So after Paul gives us these

Old Testament citations, which again, wouldn't have been Old Testament for him, just to be clear. That's just the

Bible for Paul. There was no New Testament, he's writing it. But as I've said many times, chapter divisions don't matter, they were added in later.

So Paul goes right into the next argument in this restatement of the imperative.

Notice in chapter 7, verse 1. Since we have these promises, what promises? The promise of the verse that just came before.

God says, I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me. Why? Because you have separated yourself.

You're my children, you're distinct from the world, you're peculiar, you're different. And you're going to be my children, my sons, my daughters.

And since we have those promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement, body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

Do you realize that the Bible calls you to a holy life? Fewer amens the longer

I go, ain't it? That the Bible calls us to holiness.

It actually calls us to separation. Body and spirit.

There are all kinds of things in this world which can defile our bodies.

All kinds of things that come in through the eyes, that come in through the ears. And we're constantly having to protect ourselves.

We're constantly having to shield our children from what the world tries to put in front of them.

Because there's always an attempt to try to bring these ungodly things in. And he says that we ought to cleanse ourselves from those things.

Body but also spirit. You know what is amazing to me?

How many parents wouldn't dare let their children hear a curse word. But are happy to let them hear false teaching.

They wouldn't dare let their child loose on YouTube. But they will allow them to be engaged in hearing false things about Jesus.

Body and spirit. There are dangerous false teachers all around.

Paul says, since we have these promises. Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit.

Bringing holiness to completion. The King James and the

New American Standard Bible say perfecting holiness. And I know, just so you know,

I know what some of you are thinking. I'm not perfectly holy. I'm not going to be perfectly holy on this side of the veil.

I'm not going to be perfectly holy as long as I'm in this flesh. Okay, I'm not disagreeing with you.

But the pursuit of the Christian is the pursuit of Christ likeness. And this is what

Paul is telling us we must pursue. Is Christ likeness. And to do so in the fear of God.

Robertson says on this, The fear of offending God is a very necessary element in the process of sanctification.

The fear of offending God is an element in sanctification. He goes on to say, we cannot do without awe.

There is no depth of character without it. Tender motives are not enough to restrain from sin. Tender motives are not enough to restrain from sin.

We actually have to have a fear of God. No, no, no, it's just reverence. Explain the difference to me, please.

Write me a five paragraph essay. On what you mean when you come and tell me that later.

Oh, I don't fear God, I reverence God. Please explain to me the difference. Because that's what we want.

We want to take the teeth out of God. We want to ruin the lion's mouth.

By making it nothing but gums. You remember the question from Narnia?

When they saw the lion Aslan? Is he safe? No, he's not safe.

But he's good. He's not safe.

But he's good. He can be trusted. But we stand in fearful awe of the mighty lion.

And it leads us to holiness. So what is

Paul's main concern in this passage? He does not want the Corinthians to unite with unbelievers.

I read a really good article on this passage this week. And it says this. A holy God requires a holy people.

And God has made his home among his people. But there are demands he places upon humans. In order to make them an acceptable dwelling place.

They are to physically separate themselves from the pagans. With whom they have lived.

And not to touch any unclean thing or person. And you say, wait a minute. Does that mean I can't have un -Christian friends?

And the answer is no. You can have un -Christian friends. In fact, you should. Because 1

Corinthians 5 tells us that. The same person who wrote 2 Corinthians 6.

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 5. But you know what he says in 1

Corinthians 5? He said, I wrote to you previously. Not to engage with the sexually immoral.

But I did not mean the sexually immoral of this world. For to do that you would have to go out of the world.

But I told you not to engage with the sexually immoral. Who call themselves brothers. You understand when someone calls himself a

Christian. When somebody professes to be a believer. When someone professes to follow Christ.

And yet they are still living like the world. They are false professors. And they are more dangerous than any unbeliever in the world.

So does this mean we cannot have unsaved friends? No. It doesn't mean that.

Does this mean we can't do business with unbelievers? No, it actually doesn't mean that either. I mean,

I can walk around the room with all you guys who have businesses of your own. I mean,

Mike, you hire subcontractors. Do you get their statement of faith before you do? Adam, you work with police officers.

You and Christian. Right? You have guys watching your back that don't believe in Jesus. Right?

And you have to have that relationship. We get it. This is not what this is talking about. This is not telling us to go find a compound somewhere.

Surround it with an 8 foot fence. Don't let anybody in. That's the way it's been taken.

And that's not what Paul is saying. The monastic life that arose during the 4th century and had its heyday throughout the

Middle Ages of the church was not what Christ called the church to. The separation that he is calling us to is a separation that is so obvious that when we go out into the world, the people who do business with us know that man's a

Christian. They've got to know Mike's a Christian. He witnesses to every one of them. I know for a fact he has lost jobs.

Excuse me for saying this. Lost businesses. He does painting because he shared the gospel.

Somebody got upset with him and they don't want to have anything else to do with you. He walks with Christ in front of him. And I praise

God for that. But that don't mean you ain't painting an unbeliever's house.

Right? That's right. You don't paint an unbeliever's house. Right? So we've got to understand.

So we've got to be able to make distinctions here. We do have to be able to make distinctions here.

Now the one that normally comes up on this passage is the subject of marriage. I want to say first of all, this passage isn't in context talking about marriage.

It's talking about ministry, I believe. But I will say this.

I will not marry a believer to an unbeliever. Mike, Andy, we've talked about this.

We do not promote the marriage of believers to unbelievers because throughout the Bible such a thing is at best unwise.

But let me add to this. If you are currently married to an unbeliever, this passage does not give you the right to get a divorce.

I've heard people use this passage to say, Oh, I got saved and my wife's an unbeliever.

That gives me the right to leave her. It does not. In fact, the opposite is true. Because Paul says in 1

Corinthians 7, If you are married to an unbeliever and they consent to live with you, you do not leave them.

But you stay in that marriage and you be a sanctifying influence in their life. So you understand.

Again, beloved, there's a lot to learn from this passage. But let us not make it say what it doesn't.

Be a witness to unbelievers. Engage with the world. Go out and share the gospel.

But do not be like them. And when you see someone naming the name of Christ, who is a false brother, do not be unequally yoked with them.

Let us pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth.

And we pray, Lord, that this passage would remind us of so many important truths, not the least of which is the truth that you have called us to be a holy people who live in awe of you.

Lord, help us to live in awe of you. Help us to know that the lion has teeth and he roars from heaven and one day he will return to receive his own unto himself and to lay destruction to his enemies.

O God, may we be those who are received of you in Jesus' name.