Life Project Blog

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.

2 Corinthians 6:14-16a

I have heard sermons in the past that used this text to teach that Christians should not marry unbelievers, but wouldn’t that be a funny thing for Paul to get into in a defense of his apostolic ministry? More to the point, wouldn’t there be a potential conflict with his instruction in 1 Corinthians 7:10-14 in which he told the people not to abandon their unbelieving spouses?

Hmm… What is old Paul up to here?

Paul’s wording is interesting: “yoked together”. There are similar references in two other places, Leviticus 19:19 and Deuteronomy 22:10. In Leviticus, different kinds of animals aren’t to be mated together; in Deuteronomy, two different kinds of animals are not to be yoked together to plow a field. To me, particularly since Paul has not given any of his usual hints that he’s changing the subject, the Deuteronomy reference makes a lot more sense than understanding this as a new unit about marriage. Remember, this section began in chapter 3 with outsiders coming into the church to convince people of a host of accusations against Paul…

Oh yes, he is referring to two kinds of animals plowing a field…

So, Paul is going back to the situation that led to the whole problem that broke out in Corinth and nearly destroyed the whole church there, when non-Christians used lies and slanders to attack him, and by extension, Christianity, while in their midst. With this understanding, the rest of this chapter is easy to follow. In our verses above, he uses a series of contrasts to illustrate his point. I should mention that Belial is a name that appears nowhere else in Scripture but was used numerous times in Jewish non-Scriptural literature of the times as a direct reference to Satan.

To support his position, Paul cites three Old Testament passages, and then concludes:

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.

2 Corinthians 7:1

To be holy means to be “set apart”. For the church be holy, it must be set apart for God; that is what it means to live in holiness. Being set apart is not to be better than everyone or to be self-righteous and speaking harshly about other people. Rather, we are supposed to love our neighbor as ourselves. However, it does mean that the church should not allow itself to be led astray or heavily influenced by non-believers. I have no doubt that the Corinthians who received this letter would happily testify to the disaster that this error caused in their midst.

As we continue, Paul will express his great joy that the Corinthians have repented of the mistake, the mistake he has just been talking about.

2 Corinthians 6:3-13

As Paul continues his defense of his apostolic ministry, he moves from the discussion of the ministry of reconciliation, to which we have all been called, into a discussion of faithfulness through hardships. He begins with a double negative, depending on your point of view, it could even be taken as a triple negative:

We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.

Strictly speaking, a double negative isn’t the clearest way to communicate one’s thoughts; they lead to confusion. It would have been clearer if Paul had simply said, “We have done nothing to discredit our ministry”. In any case, that is precisely the point he is making in this passage. At first glance we might get the impression that Paul is complaining a bit; there’s a note of unfairness on display here. Yet I don’t think that was his intention; I certainly hope not, for that would surely undo his point. Instead, I see a little shaming here− take a close look at this:

He begins with … Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses then in verse 5 he cites 6 hardships: in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger. He follows these 6 hardships with his responses to them in 6-7: in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;” notice the contrast between his hardship and his attitude through the experiences.

Then he continues by citing his experiences in contrast with his condition:

through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. (6:8-10)

Finally, in 6:11-13 he brings the discussion home to the Corinthians:

We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also.

Looking at this passage in its entirety, it’s fair to conclude that Paul is lodging a complaint. He has served the Corinthians faithfully and lovingly, yet they haven’t always been fair with him in return. They have listened to those who would lie about him, they have been eager to find fault with him and though he has been faithful in his service to them, they have not been faithful in return. Yet there isn’t an accusatory tone in what Paul has presented here, for you see, Paul has given us an example of resolving personal disputes in love.

Yes, he has mentioned the facts of the situation, but in doing so, his tone has been one of conciliation, not condemnation. I think we can learn from this, don’t you?

2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2

Paul moves into this topic by referring to his critics who apparently have claimed that he was out of his mind for believing that Christ died for our sins and then rose again from the dead. Come to think of it, nothing much has changed; people today say that we are “deluded” in our beliefs along these lines. Yet for Paul, and hopefully for us as well, it was a great deal more than just a belief in Christ, for that belief brings with it far reaching implications:

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (5:14-15)

We don’t simply believe the historical fact that Jesus died for our sins on the cross, was buried, and then rose again from the dead; now, what’s for lunch? Instead, when we accept this set of facts, we are compelled by His great demonstration of love for us, to make changes in our lives, not because He forces us to, but because we want to. When this transformation takes hold, people say we’re crazy. Paul sums up the changes this way:

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (5:16-17)

In verses 18-19 Paul restates his message of Christ’s ministry on the cross and its result, and then says…

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (5:20-21)

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are His ambassadors in this world, which is no longer our home; everything has changed. God is making His great appeal to all humanity to be reconciled to Him through Christ, and His great appeal is being made through us. Just think for a moment, God’s eternal plan to redeem humanity, the plan that was hidden for ages is now underway. We have been reconciled to Him, and now we have a part to play in achieving God’s ultimate purpose, which is that we would not keep His grace only for ourselves, but that we would share it with everyone we come into contact with, and by putting His grace into practice, we would become His righteousness in a world where true righteousness is in short supply. Notice that this righteousness is not about keeping rules, but instead, is all about sharing God’s love.

With a message like this, we are faced with a question: What will I do today to bring His message of reconciliation to someone who needs it?

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

These verses serve a twofold purpose. First, they amplify the point Paul has been making in this chapter, and second, they transition into his next subsection in his larger discussion defending his apostolic ministry. The new subsection will deal with preaching the ministry of reconciliation, as we will shortly see.

To accomplish this expansion and transition, Paul will use two metaphors, the first of which is seen in 5:1…

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

The “earthly tent we live in” represents our mortal bodies, this earthly existence. Paul uses a building “not made by human hands” to represent our eternal future in Christ. Thus, if and when our tent is destroyed, after all, a tent is a temporary shelter, we will have a really cool house to live in. Of course, who would want to live in a tent when there’s a cool house waiting for them?

After this, he mixes metaphors:

Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. (5:2-4)

I suppose we could read these verses and identify the exact number of writing and communication rules Paul has broken here in the way he introduces and mixes his metaphors, but in the final analysis, I think he made it work. The tent and house of verse 1 have become articles of clothing, and now our contrast is between being clothed and being naked. While that would normally be confusing and would make his meaning unclear, it seems to be clear enough that when we die, when that tent is destroyed, we will not be left with nothing, i.e. naked. Instead, we will be “clothed” with that new house not built by human hands, by the fact that we have inherited eternal life in Christ.

I should also point out that in these verses, Paul has shifted the meaning of “we”, for in the last two chapters, “we” meant Paul, as opposed to “you” Corinthians. Now, “we” means Paul and his readers. This reminds me of the time I was at a luncheon and sitting next to an English Professor. I asked her where she thought the line was between questionable grammar and style. Her response was, “Honey, you’ve written for three presidents; when you do it it’s style, when my freshmen do it it’s bad grammar.” Having completely understood her meaning, I’m happy to point out Paul’s unique writing style.

Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (5:5)

Whatever we might say about Paul’s writing style, this is a wonderful verse. God has created us to have an intimate relationship with Him for all eternity. Honestly, this all by itself, is wonderful, incredible, and heartening. Yet the next part is simply amazing, for by giving us His Spirit in this life, God has given us a foretaste of what is still to come and a guarantee that He is serious about our eternal future. Sit back and think about that… We have God present within us 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Yes of course, sometimes we feel overwhelmed by the day-to-day, our problems or challenges; maybe we have health issues or pain or… whatever it may be. We may groan a bit, we may long for our eternal destiny, but even then, God is with us and we can turn right into His loving presence if only we would remember to do so.

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (5:6-10)

Paul is concluding this part of his defense of his ministry in these verses. The first thing we notice here is that in this, his final conclusion, he has dropped all of the metaphors, moving his descriptions to a clearer dichotomy: Either at home in the body or at home with the Lord.

While we live on this earth at home in our bodies, we live by faith, for we are not seeing our Lord directly and instead we have His Spirit within us as a deposit, a guarantee, of what is coming. As we go through this life, we will desire to live in a manner that is pleasing in His sight, and thus we will want to ask His Spirit within us to guide us in all that we do; this is the natural and normal response of any reasonable follower of Christ.

We know that when our Lord returns, He will return to judge all humanity for what we have done, whether good or bad, so of course, we want to do only good. Clearly, Paul is winding up his subsection by implying that the very thing he has been attacked for doing in the church in Corinth, is what is good in God’s sight; preaching faithfully the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Yet if we really think about it, these verses might beg a question: If we fall short, is Paul saying we are doomed?

To be quite honest with you, the answer to such a question depends entirely on how you approach the text. If you only read verse 10, you might get the idea that one little slip-up means you’re toast. The only problem is that verse 10 does not stand all alone, it is found in a larger context, and in that context, it is quite clear that Paul is telling us no such thing. We, along with Paul, would always want to do our best to be pleasing to God in the way we live, but remember that Jesus changed the paradigm on the cross. In fact, sharing that fantastic news is something that is always pleasing in God’s sight, and Paul’s whole point here is that in preaching Christ, while some people may not appreciate it very much, it is the one thing God always appreciates.

With that, Paul moves into the next subsection which is all about preaching the gospel of Christ.

Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

Philippians 3:1-4a

Chapter 3 starts out with Paul urging the people to rejoice in the Lord, and that seems simple enough, but then the subject seems to turn.  What follows is a denunciation of those who would teach the Philippians that they must first become Jews before they can be saved.

The word that jumps out at me in the second verse is the word “dogs”. So, catch this spectacle: Paul the Jew is calling those Jews who insist that a Gentile be circumcised a Jew before they can become a Christian, “dogs”. That is amazing when you consider that “dogs” are what the Jews call Gentiles! Dogs, evil doers and mutilators of the flesh; hey Paul, tell us how you really feel!  As we saw in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he has no patience with this teaching, and there is little wonder why; the old ways are entirely over and done.

In verse 3, he points out who are the “circumcision”, the ones who serve in the Spirit and boast in Christ; and it isn’t the Jews.  Again, the old ways are done, gone, and irrelevant.  We as Christians have “no confidence” in the flesh, not even Paul, who might have a reason to claim some confidence in the flesh. This is an interesting little situation, for Paul has been writing from the end of the first chapter, and all through the second about being “worthy of the gospel” and through all that he described how we should be imitators of Christ, which is the sign of the New Covenant. Circumcision was the sign of a different covenant, and was required of Abraham and his descendants.  All of those old ways were merely illustrations of the reality to come in Christ, and now that the reality has come, those old physical things are over.  Thus, Paul dismisses confidence in the flesh (circumcision).

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

Philippians 3:4b-6

Here, Paul seems to be issuing a challenge of sorts, as if to say that if anyone could claim salvation by being a Jew, it is Paul, but Paul claims salvation in Christ alone.  He gives a brief summary of his resume as a Jew; it is an impressive one.  Thus, of all people, Paul the Jew among Jews, has no confidence in the old ways, for he knows that only Jesus Christ can take away sin and give the gift of eternal life.

If we were to extend his reasoning a little bit, we might ask a question like, “What of this world can possibly save you from destruction? Your fortune, your possessions, your education and accomplishments?”

No, none of these things can take away sin, and without that, there is only destruction.  It is no wonder, then, that Paul began this passage by encouraging the people to rejoice in the Lord always.