Do Not Yoke Yourself With

Unbelievers?????

DEBBIE KIM
NT LIT
DR. PEELER
2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 (NIV)

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.

7 Therefore, 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.
Question

How do Christians properly live according to this text,

when we are called to love unbelievers? And how do
we wrestle with this passage when looking at Jesus
life?
Historical Context: Jews & Gentiles

Segregation started from Genesis:

Covenant relationship between Abraham + God = Israelites

are the chosen people, everyone else is a Gentile

Israelites are superior

Gentiles were considered unclean
Israelites take precedence in all business transactions
Historical Context: Apostle Paul

Letter written in 55-57 AD, appx 20 years after Jesus

Prior Pharisee understands the separation between
Jews & Gentiles
After conversion, Paul understands that God and
salvation arent limited to just Jews
Corinth is actually a Gentile church. So what does
Paul mean by this text?
Unbeliever
Yoke
Textual Context

Immediate context
Passage before: Pauls Hardships
Suffering for the gospel
Passage after: Pauls Joys
Titus spirit being refreshed
Joy from his previous letter
Strange that Paul placed this passage in between the hardships &
joys
Book context
Themes both in the 2 Corinthians as a whole & in this passage
Church discipline
Future hope
Interpretations

Jerome ancient Christian commentator

Dont get caught up with the word yoked
Emphasizing contrast b/w good & evil. If you love Jesus, youll
love doing good.

Frank J. Matera Western contemporary

commentator
Sanctification: avoid immorality to achieve perfection in
heaven
Yoke: association
Pursuing holiness to completion
Interpretations (contd)

Issiaka Coulibaly African scholar

Dont enter into marriages with nonbelievers
Yoke: marriage & association
Exercise great care before entering into a business partnership
with nonbelievers
Conclusion

What does Paul mean by yoke?

Open for interpretation general discipline
Can mean marriage but also used to mean association
Beneficial either way, depending on the believer

What does Paul mean by unbeliever?

Not just gentiles or non-Jews, but anyone not of the faith
Conclusion

Jesus?
Jesus lived among sinners
HOWEVER he didnt accept their lifestyle
Jesus home is in heaven foreigner on this earth
In the same way
We need to live kingdom-mindedly
Expectantly wait for heaven (new hope)
Pursue goodness via not yoking with unbelievers, whatever
that may look like to you personally