Sermon Series: Keeping it Real Extra Bible Study Notes for 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 The following notes compliment the sermon given at St. Michael s North Carlton on Sunday 30 March, 2014 (available for download at www.stmichaelsnc.org.au). Text 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 (11 We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. 12 We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. 13 As a fair exchange I speak as to my children open wide your hearts also.) 14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. 17 Therefore, Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing,and I will receive you. 18 And, I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Context We have now come to the time in Paul s correspondence in 2 Corinthians when the Christians at Corinth must make a choice: Ø show allegiance to Paul, to his co-workers and more importantly to his Gospel about Jesus OR Ø admit that they have chosen to follow a poor substitute for Christianity presented to them by other, self-styled church leaders in their midst. Self-styled super-apostles had infiltrated the leadership of the Corinthian churches and used persuasive methods, adapting their message to suit the fancy of their listeners (l Corinthians 1:18ff.; 2 Corinthians 2:17; 4:1-2; 1:1-4f.). They painted Paul and his coworkers, who had established the first churches at Corinth, as sub-standard - even pathetic (1 Corinthians 4:6-13). Perhaps Paul even uses the names of Cephas, Apollos and Christ in his discourse about factions (1 Cor. 1-3) as an inference that there are others to be named who party-spirited. We know from 1 Corinthians that many serious moral and spiritual problems had arisen in the Corinthian church in the mid-1 st Century AD: Divisions and factions (1 Corinthians 1-3) Puffed up attitudes (1 Corinthians 4) Immoral relationships (1 Corinthians 5,6) Secular law suits against each other (1 Corinthians 6) Disagreements about the sanctity of marriage (1 Corinthians 7) Participation in pagan idol-worship and rituals (1 Corinthians 10) 1
Bullying of the weak (1 Corinthians 10) Classism and disrespect during the Lord s Supper (1 Corinthians 11) Grandstanding about spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14) Denials about the resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15) It s not hard to imagine that the infiltrating church leaders were at the root of many of these moral and doctrinal problems. In 2 Corinthians 6, Paul calls the time for Corinthian Christians to make their choice. Ø In verses 11-13 Paul makes an appeal for his readers to reciprocate with a heart opened wide as was the case with he and his co-workers. Paul implies that his readers were holding back from a sincere allegiance and keeping their ties to a promiscuous and idolatrous way of life and a distorted gospel. The Corinthian Christians had withdrawn from the former close relationship they enjoyed with the Paul. Ø In verse 14 Paul draws on an Old Testament image and writes, Do not be bound together with unbelievers, implying that an illicit partnership with unbelievers already exists. He is not warning about entering into bad relationships, he is urging them to get out of an existing one. Thus, Paul is not teaching directly about partnerships in general society to a general audience, he s addressing unwise partnerships made within a specific church. The Corinthian Christians had become partners with the wrong people. Structure You can see a basic structure to Paul s argument in 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 set out below: 1. 6.14 The Command 2. 6.14-16 5 rhetorical questions 3. 6.16-18 - Old Testament reasons* for vs. 14 4. 7.1 - A call to living in a godly way *2 Corinthians 6:16 Lev. 26:12; Jer. 32:38; Ezek. 37:27 *2 Corinthians 6:17 Isaiah 52:11; Ezek. 20:34,41 *2 Corinthians 6:18 2 Samuel 7:14; 7:8 Let s look at each of the steps of the structure individually 1. Paul begins with a command in verse 14: 14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. This is an Old Testament, agrarian metaphor that turns our pages back to Deuteronomy chapter 22. There, the Law of Moses forbade the yoking or joining together of different breeds of animals and forbade the breeding of two different species of beasts. 2. Secondly, Paul gives five rhetorical questions in verses 14b 16a for which the assumed answer in the original Greek is a resounding negative. I. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? 2
II. Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? III. 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Satan [a]? IV. What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? V. 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? 3. After this, from vs. 16b follows a number of Old Testament quotations to explain the why of separation, including a text from Isaiah 52 telling the exiles to leave the foreign land and move to the place God has rescued them to live in. 16 For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." [b] 17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." [c] 18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." [d] Footnotes: a. 2 Corinthians 6:15 Greek Beliar, a variant of Belial b. 2 Corinthians 6:16 Lev. 26:12; Jer. 32:38; Ezek. 37:27 c. 2 Corinthians 6:17 Isaiah 52:11; Ezek. 20:34,41 d. 2 Corinthians 6:18 2 Samuel 7:14; 7:8 4. And then finally there is a call to holy living. 7 1 Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. Don t confuse God with gods So, on closer inspection, the language of religious ritual and words such as: Satan (or Belial), temple, idols, unclean things, purify, contaminate, holiness point us to the specific problem for Christians at Corinth. Like Athens, Corinth was a vibrant city with much pagan temple worship and worship and rituals governing daily life under the rules of the Imperial Cult (worship of Caesar). In addition to the temples of Apollo and Aphrodite, there were twenty statues of other gods, six other temples to Greek gods, and five precincts for something called the Lords of the mysteries. In 1 Corinthians 8:5 Paul calls Corinth a city of many gods and many lords. Luke s account of Paul s entry to the city of Athens recorded in Acts 17 demonstrates how seriously Paul considered the matter of idolatry to be as he was greatly distressed to see the marketplace full of idols. Idolatry is a fundamental enemy to fellowship with God. You shall have no other Gods before me, is a foundational commandment (Exodus 20:3-4). At Corinth and Athens and many other cities in Europe and Asia Minor in the 1 st Century AD, day to day life was infused with spiritual idolatry; religious practices of devotion and reliance on dumb idols or demonic spirits that supplanted the role of the one true and living God. For example, Paul addressed an example of this problem at Corinth in relation to the celebration of the Lord s Supper in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Some Christians, it seems, were taking bread and wine at the supper in commemoration of Jesus death and resurrectoin and then going off to join in pagan temple worship down the street later. Paul wrote about such folly in 1 Corinthians 10:19, 3
19 Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's Table and the table of demons. 22 Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he? Paul teaches from the Old Testament in our passage the 1 st principal of the first two great commandments: Christian worshippers who participate in pagan temple ceremonies in Corinth or Athens or Ephesus, are like those trying to breed an ox and an ass from the same beast! He imagined it was like partnering up two different species of spirituality; an act diminishing God s uniqueness and holiness and demoting God to just another spiritual option in the marketplace. Worse still, some were pretending that God and Satan were compatible - a spiritual species who has no place being near God. We, the church (Paul would go on to say) are the temple of the living God. The one true God is with us through Christ, wanting to fulfill that prophecy to live and walk among us; to be a Father to us, his children. How could we then participate with those who actively pursue spiritual darkness and mystery for their spiritual needs (as the Corinthians had done in their former way of living). Come away from the false leaders We know from our reading of 1 Corinthians that many serious moral and spiritual problems had arisen in the Corinthian church: Divisions and factions (1 Cor. 1-3) Puffed up attitudes (1 Cor. 4) Immoral relationships (1 Corinthians 5,6) Secular law suits against each other (1 Corinthians 6) Disagreements about the sanctity of marriage (1 Corinthians 7) Participation in pagan idol-worship and rituals (1 Corinthians 10) Bullying of the weak (1 Corinthians 10) Classism and disrespect during the Lord s Supper (1 Corinthians 11) Grandstanding about spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14). Denials about the resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15) It s not hard to imagine that those church leaders who had infiltrated and led astray the Corinthian Christians during Paul s absence were at the root of many of many moral and doctrinal problems. Therefore, in chapter 6 of 2 Corinthians, Paul is saying to the Corinthian Christians: It s time to make your choice. Ø According to verses 11-13, Paul and his colleagues had opened wide both their hearts and their mouths. Unfortunately, there was no such reciprocation. The Corinthian Christians had withdrawn from the former close relationship they enjoyed with the Paul and his co-workers. Ø When Paul writes in verse 14, Do not be bound together with unbelievers in vs. 14, he is not so much warning them about entering into mismatched relationships; he is urging them to get out of a relationship they are already in. 4
Paul is not teaching generally about our relationships in the world today. Instead, he s addressing unwise partnerships made within a church at a particular time, from which we can glean important lessons. The Corinthian Christians had become partners with the wrong people. It was time to separate themselves from those who were not truly committed to the Gospel of Jesus. Ø Don t Paul s words warn us about following leaders in the church today who practice and encourage a kind of intellectual idolatry that is, those reject longstanding, fundamental biblical doctrines and beliefs based on their own authority? Ø Don t Paul s words say something about avoiding church leaders who are puffed up with pride, seeking celebrity status or material gain or power over the lowly? Ø Don t Paul s words warn us not to bear allegiance to church leaders who turn a blind eye to promiscuous living or material excesses or power over the weak in their own congregations? Ø Doesn t Paul s example of tenaciously contending for truth teach us what is also important in church leadership today? Live as an instrument of God s Holy purposes Finally, in this section, Paul affirms the holy partnership God promises to his people in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In 2 Corinthians 6:16 and 18 he draws together quotes from Leviticus, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and 2 Samuel to give his sermon its punchline: We (Christians).are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.. God says: "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters. No other partnership could surpass what is promised in these verses. No other partnership in our lives can or should supersede or supplant that primary partnership with God as the highest priority of life. Paul concludes his challenge to them with a call to living a life set aside for God s purposes. 7 1 Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. Rev d Steve Webster St Michael s North Carlton 5