[Prayer]
Today’s Message is from 2 Corinthians 6:3-7:1. It’s divided into two sections to which the HCSB gives the titles The Character of Paul’s Ministry and Separation to God. The first section, The Character of Paul’s Ministry, is really about how the apostle Paul gave credibility to the message of the gospel, the message of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus for our sin (and about how we, by the way we live our lives, can also give credibility to the message of the gospel—and to ourselves as the messengers). The second section, Separation to God, is about the vast difference there is between those who belong to Jesus and those who belong to the world (which, by the way, is ruled by the devil).
Remember, as always, as we read the passage, that we are reading the word of God. The word of God, the Bible, is given to us by God and tells who he is and who we are and how we must live our lives in relation to him. It tells us all we need to know about that subject.
Also, as always, I encourage you to read your Bibles every day. It’s something that essential to your life. Study and think about the word of God every day,
Before we go on to this week’s passage, to refresh your memories, I’m going to review briefly last weeks passage. It’s about the ministry of reconciliation, about men, about people, being reconciled to God. As I said, there is a vast difference between those who belong to Jesus and those who belong to the devil. It’s the difference between eternal life and joy and peace and eternal condemnation and misery—the difference between heaven and hell. It’s the difference between being reconciled to God and being God’s enemy. And all of us have this ministry of reconciliation—this ministry of reconciling people to God. God has given us various gifts with which to carry it out. Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 6:1, 2, the last two verses of last week’s passage.
1Working together with Him, we also appeal to you: “Don't receive God’s grace in vain.” 2For He says:
In an acceptable time, I heard you, and in the day of salvation, I helped you.
Look, now is the acceptable time; look, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians~6:1, 2)
The Holy Spirit speaking through the apostle Paul is saying, “Don't receive God’s grace in vain.” If you hear the message of salvation and ignore it, you are receiving God’s grace in vain. God’s grace is his favor. In our case it is completely unmerited favor. We did nothing to earn it and we certainly didn’t deserve it. It’s a gift, but we have to accept it. Paul says, “Now is the acceptable time.” Now is the day of salvation.” Now! Now! You’ve heard the message. If you haven’t accepted God’s salvation, don’t delay any longer! Don’t put it off! It will be too late! Now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of salvation.
Now, let’s read today’s passage, 2 Corinthians 6:3-7:1. Remember that we are reading the word of God.
The Character of Paul’s Ministry
3We give no opportunity for stumbling to anyone, so that the ministry will not be blamed. 4But in everything, as God’s ministers, we commend ourselves:
by great endurance, by afflictions, by hardship, by pressures,
5 by beatings, by imprisonments, by riots, by labors, by sleepless nights, by times of hunger,
6 by purity, by knowledge, by patience, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,
7 by the message of truth, by the power of God; through weapons of righteousness on the right hand and the left,
8 through glory and dishonor, through slander and good report; as deceivers yet true;
9 as unknown yet recognized; as dying and look—we live; as being chastened yet not killed;
10 as grieving yet always rejoicing; as poor yet enriching many; as having nothing yet possessing everything.
11We have spoken openly to you, Corinthians; our heart has been opened wide. 12You are not limited by us, but you are limited by your own affections. 13Now in like response—I speak as to children—you also should be open to us.
Separation to God
14Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16And what agreement does God’s sanctuary have with idols? 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.
17 Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you.
18 I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty.
7:1Therefore dear friends, since we have such promises, we should wash ourselves clean from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, making our sanctification complete in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians~6:3-7:1)
In verse 1 Paul says, “We give no opportunity for stumbling to anyone...” That means that Paul and the other apostles were not doing anything to cause anyone to stumble—that they were doing their best not to do anything that would make them look self-serving or hypocritical and everything possible to make it clear that their motives were a sincere desire for the salvation of those who heard their message. They were doing everything to make their message of salvation appear true and believable. We must do the same. Our lives must show that we believe the message we are proclaiming. (Yes, we still sin. We don’t expect to be perfect immediately when we accept Christ. But we must never try to cover up our sin, but freely confess it before God and before people and ask for forgiveness from God and from any people whom we may have sinned against and offended, otherwise, our message of salvation will lose credibility.) Let’s look at how the apostle Paul and the other apostles (or at least Timothy with Whom Paul wrote this letter, according to chapter 1, verse 1) gave credibility to their message—how they commended themselves, to use Paul’s words, to those they were preaching to.
The apostle Paul says that they commended themselves “by great endurance, by afflictions, by hardship, by pressures by beatings, by imprisonments, by riots, by labors, by sleepless nights, by times of hunger...” In other words, they showed that they were willing to suffer physically and not give up in order to get God’s message of salvation to those who were perishing. How much are we willing to suffer to get God’s message of salvation to those who are perishing? How much are we willing to suffer to help and encourage and hold our brothers and sisters in Christ up? How much are we willing to suffer to keep them from falling? How much are we willing to suffer for Jesus who was tortured to death for us? (I have to say that I seem to be less willing than I might have been in the past. We absolutely need to pray for each other and to encourage each other and build each other up in Christ!)
How many of you have been following the Rifqa Bary story? - - - We usually point out that persecutions are relatively mild here in the United States even though people may be in danger of imprisonment and torture and death in other parts of the world. But Rifqa Bary is from right here in Columbus. She’s just 17. She accepted Christ four years ago and hid her faith from her Muslim family for fear for her life. She would go into the bathroom in the middle of the night (yes, lose sleep) so that she could pray and study her Bible. When her family found out that she had rejected Islam and accepted Christ, her father threatened to kill her. She fled to Florida. By God’s grace, the courts have allowed her to stay in Florida. (Children’s protective services would normally have sent her back to Ohio.) There were some videos of her on the TV. She didn’t speak like someone who was cowering in fear, but was full of passion. She explained that honor killing is real and it’s not just done in foreign Muslim countries, but here in the United States, too. Many young people who have accepted Christ are in danger and some have been murdered—right here in the United States. They showed an interview with—I believe it was her lawyer. He said that he told her, “This is all about you.” She answered, “No! This is not about me! It’s about thousands of others who are in the same situation as I am!” (I imagine she said more about her faith, too. But they probably didn’t show that on TV. How much are we willing to suffer for Christ?
Let’s go on. Paul and the apostles suffered many serious hardships—things most of us would definitely try to avoid. But people are willing to suffer for their own personal gain rather than because of love for others. Let’s look at verses 6 and 7:
6 ...by purity, by knowledge, by patience, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,
7 by the message of truth, by the power of God; through weapons of righteousness on the right hand and the left... (2 Corinthians 6:6, 7)
Have any of you seen the movie Fireproof? It’s about a fireman (I don’t remember the names of the characters any more)—a fireman whose marriage is about to break up. He’s the fire chief, in fact, and trains and directs the other firemen. But he fights with his wife constantly and she is going to divorce him and leave him. He has saved many people from death, but doesn’t know how to save his own marriage. One of the other firemen is a Christian. This fire chief says to the other firemen about this man, “We all know that he’s the real deal.” They all knew it. There was no question about his sincerity in Christ. The apostle Paul and the other apostles commended themselves by purity, truth, by God’s power, by righteousness and by sincere love. People could know that they were the real deal. (And, by the way sincere is literally unhypocritical. People can see through hypocrisy.) Can people know that we are the real deal? Can they see God’s power and love in our lives?
Now let’s look at verses 8 through 10:
8 through glory and dishonor, through slander and good report; as deceivers yet true;
9 as unknown yet recognized; as dying and look—we live; as being chastened yet not killed;
10 as grieving yet always rejoicing; as poor yet enriching many; as having nothing yet possessing everything.
(2 Corinthians 6:8-10)
The power of God was clearly strengthening Paul and the others in there ministry. How many of us can rejoice when there is trouble. I think I’ve done it on occasion. Kim seems to do it much of the time. It’s the knowledge of God’s grace and power that enables you to do it. It’s the knowledge that God is trustworthy and that we can and are obeying him freely—that we are doing his work of reconciling others to him. And it’s the power of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s look at verses 11 through 13:
11We have spoken openly to you, Corinthians; our heart has been opened wide. 12You are not limited by us, but you are limited by your own affections. 13Now in like response—I speak as to children—you also should be open to us. (2 Corinthians 6:11-13)
“You are not limited by us, but you are limited by your own affections.” The word tramslated “affections” literally means “insides”, “guts”. It’s what spilled out when Judas Iscariot hung himself and fell down in the field. But everywhere else in the New Testament the word is used to refer to our compassion. You know, I’ve said a number of time that when the Bible says “heart”, it really means “mind”. In this case, when it literally says “insides”, it actually means “heart”. In the King James, the word is translated as “bowels”. But in most of the translations it’s translated as “heart”. Paul is telling the Corinthians that they are limited by their own hearts. Are we limited by our own hearts? We need to not be limited by our own hearts. We need to open our hearts to each other and to others.
Now let’s go on to the next section. Let’s look at verses 14 through 18:
14Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16And what agreement does God’s sanctuary have with idols? 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.
17 Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you.
18 I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty. (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)
“Do not be mismatched with unbelievers.” Literally it says, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” When animals are yoked together, they have to be matched or one will be doing all of the work. And certainly they have to be going the same direction!
“For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness?” The implied answer is obviously “None.”
“Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?” What Paul is saying is that the difference between a believer and an unbeliever is like the difference between night and day. Belief and unbelief are opposites. They are poles apart. There is absolutely no compatibility. How does the way we conduct our live compare with the way those that belong to the world conduct their lives? Can people tell the difference? It should be like night and day.
“What agreement does Christ have with Belial?” If you look at the footnote in your HCSB Bible, it says that Belial or Beliar is a name used in extra-biblical Jewish writing for the devil. What agreement is there between Jesus and the devil? The devil came to rob, kill and destroy. He is a liar and a murderer and was from the beginning. It’s his very nature to lie and to murder. But Jesus came to give us life and to give it to us in abundance. He came to save us from our sin and to destroy the devil’s work. The devil hates us. He hates God’s creation. Jesus loves us and gave his life to save us. To whom do you belong? Do you belong to Jesus or do you belong to the devil? There’s no third choice. You can’t say that you don’t belong to either. You either belong to Jesus or you belong to the devil. (For those of you who have read C. S. Lewis’s The Last Battle, you may remember that the Dwarves said that they were for neither Tash (the devil, in the story) nor were they for Aslan (who represents Christ in the story). The Dwarves were for the Dwarves. But they were wrong. They were, in fact, for Tash (the devil). That’s because there’s no third choice. You are either for Christ or for the devil!) (And by the way, remember that, “Now is the acceptable time; now is the time of salvation.” So if you are not for Christ, don’t delay any longer.)
So, what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? Obviously, nothing. A believer has nothing in common with an unbeliever. (Of course we have some physical things in common with unbelievers. But when it come to the question of how we will live our lives, how we relate to Jesus and what will happen to us in death, we have nothing in common.
Verse 16 says, “And what agreement does God’s sanctuary have with idols? 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.” We—the church—are the God’s sanctuary. We are the sanctuary, the temple, of the Holy Spirit. God lives in us, his church, by his Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22:
19So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God's household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. 21The whole building is being fitted together in Him and is growing into a holy sanctuary in the Lord, 22in whom you also are being built together for God's dwelling in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22)
We are God’s sanctuary, his temple. What do we have to do with worshipping idols? We worship the one true and living God and not anything that belongs to this world. (And I might add that to whatever extent this isn’t the case for us, we must repent. What things that belong to this world are we making more important than God?)
Verse 17 says, “Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you.” “Come out from them and be separate” does not mean to isolate yourself from the world. Even people who live in monasteries don’t do that. They go into the world to help those in need and to spread the love of Jesus. “Come out from them and be separate” means don’t participate in the things the world does to serve itself (or, really, to serve the devil). It means don’t participate in the world’s sins. We can’t practically isolate ourselves from the world and even if we could, we would be disobeying God. His purpose for us is to show the love of Christ to the world—to rescue those who are perishing. His purpose for us is to reconcile as many as possible to him.
So how should we relate to those in the world? How should we relate to unbelievers? This passage is frequently used in reference to marriage—to discourage or forbid people from marrying unbelievers. But it’s obviously much broader than that. One example would be business partnerships. The world engages in business in a way that’s different from the way believers engage in business.
But what about friendship? Can we be friends with unbelievers? What about unbelieving family member or people we work with every day. How do we relate to them? This is something I always have some trouble with. It doesn’t seem that we can possibly be friends in the sense that we normally think of as close friendship—the sharing of our lives with each other—with unbelievers.
But think about someone that you love and want to be close to. How can you not think, “This person is going to hell. How can I think of anything else but that?” You can and, in fact, need to be a friend to that person. You need to love that person. But how can you enjoy friendship with that person knowing that he or she is perishing. If you think about it at all, your first concern has to be for him or her to be reconciled to God. Then you can enjoy friendship. So, think about your motives for fellowship or friendship with unbelievers. What are they?
Let’s look at verse 18: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty.” God gave that verse to Paul. Many places in the Old Testament there are references to being children of God. Fathers normally love their sons and daughters. Paul could use this analogy because fathers did love their sons and daughters. What bothers me today is how frequently fathers don’t love their sons and daughters. Jesus said that there would come a time that, because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most would grow cold. (Matt. 24:12) I think we must be coming close to that time. Jesus says that he who endures to the end will be saved. May our love never grow cold! We must endure to the end. Anyway, for those of us who trust God and listen to him, for those of us who are believers, God is our Father and we are his sons and daughters.
Now let’s look at chapter 7 verse 1:
7:1Therefore dear friends, since we have such promises, we should wash ourselves clean from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, making our sanctification complete in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians~7:1)
What are the impurities of the flesh? Here are some examples: sexual immorality, promiscuity, drunkenness and drugs, gluttony, living for pleasure, etc. (With these things, you are never satisfied—you always want more.) What are the impurities of the spirit? There are hatred, greed, envy, pride, bitterness, unforgiveness, strife and similar things. These things are all listed in the Bible. Do you harbor any of these things? We must wash ourselves clean from every impurity of the flesh and spirit. How do we wash ourselves and cleanse ourselves? Let me read from 1 John 1:5-9:
5Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. 6If we say, “We have fellowship with Him,” and walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. 7But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:5-9)
The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. We go and sin no more. If we sin again, we confess our sin again and go and sin no more. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. If you don’t know what “the blood of Jesus” means, it means that Jesus died for our sins. God says that the life is in the blood. Jesus shed his blood for our sin. He died in our place so that we can live. He rose from the dead, too, by the way, and so will we. So, if you have sinned (and all of have sinned), confess your sin. He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Amen!
[Prayer]