WHOM DO YOU LOVE MOST?

March 28, 2014

WHOM DO YOU LOVE MOST?

2 Corinthians 6

David Lord

Central Truth

Our choices show what we actually believe and whom we really love.

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? (2 Corinthians 6:14-15)

1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says,

“In a favorable time I listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 3 We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

11 We have spoken freely to you,^{1

6:11
Greek Our mouth is open to you} Corinthians; our heart is wide open. 12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. 13 In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.

The Temple of the Living God

14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial?^{2

6:15
Greek Beliar} Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
    and I will be their God,
    and they shall be my people.
17 Therefore go out from their midst,
    and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
    then I will welcome you,
18 and I will be a father to you,
    and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”

Footnotes

[1] 6:11 Greek Our mouth is open to you
[2] 6:15 Greek Beliar

"But I love him," she said with tears in her eyes. The young woman sat across the table from my wife and me. She was engaged to a man she had dated for several years. They were best friends. She could talk with him about anything. With him she could relax, be herself, and he would accept her. They had fallen in love, and now they were to be married. But there was one problem: she was a believer, and he was an unbeliever.

The Apostle Paul warns the Corinthians against forming intimate bonds with unbelievers. Deuteronomy 7:3-4 reads, "You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods." Paul expresses the same outlook in 1 Corinthians 7:39. "A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord."

Paul gives us further explanation in 2 Corinthians 6:16a: "What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God." Each believer in Jesus is a temple of God. How then can we join the temple of holy God with anything unholy? That's like uniting righteousness with lawlessness, light with darkness, Christ with Belial, believer with unbeliever.

"But I love him," she said.

Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. . . . He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me . . . . If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word . . . . He who does not love Me does not keep My words . . . ." (John 14:15, 21, 23, 24, NASB)

Sometimes, we're called to obey God in ways that are contrary to our desires. Our feelings say one thing, but God's Word says another. Our choices will show what we actually believe and whom we really love.

1. What are the consequences of a believer being bound to an unbeliever in a marriage relationship? In a business relationship? In a contractual relationship?

2. What is the role of community in the area of a believer being bound to an unbeliever?

3. Do you tend to go with your desires/feelings if they contradict God's instructions? Regarding anger, lust, jealousy, envy, gossip, cursing, over-indulgence, thoughtlessness, or rude behavior?