Come Out From Among Them (Part One)
He leads me …
“Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 6:17 NKJV)
These verses are probably familiar, because they have been used quite often to justify people leaving a church because they are not happy there anymore.
However, Paul did not use these words in terms of leaving a church when he wrote to the Corinthians. Corinth during the time of Paul was an affluent city, but it also had a reputation for being immoral. Even the Corinthian church was having to deal with sexual immorality which was being tolerated by the believers. Paul told them that they needed to carry out some church discipline (1 Corinthians 5—6) in order to bring the congregation back to accepted Christian standards.
At that time it was not known whether the meat that was available in the marketplace had been sacrificed to an idol before it was sold. The Corinthian believers wanted to know whether they were allowed to eat that kind of meat or not. Paul told them that believers were free to eat anything, as long as they were not involved with any idol worship. However, there was an exception. If one Christian believed they could eat anything they liked while another believer’s conscience caused spiritual hurt or harm to have to eat it, the believer who had no concerns should stop eating meat for the sake of the affected believer (1 Corinthians 8-10; Romans 14:1-23).[1]
These two issues of sexual immorality (which Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 5) and idolatry (which Paul addresses in 2 Corinthians 6) appeared to be causing the main concerns for the church. They were both part of everyday life in Corinth, and Paul made it clear that the Corinthian church must be separate from not just these two sins which were serious enough, but to actually be free of all sin.
In 2 Corinthians 6:17, Paul tells them not to be drawn back into the sinful ways which were normal for those outside the church, Corinthian Christians were to, ‘not be yoked together with unbelievers’ (verse 14). It was too much of a risk for the believers to weaken to the pressure of the unbelievers and return to their old sins.
Christians today generally use the verse ‘not be yoked together with unbelievers’ when advising a believer not to marry an unbeliever, or get into business with one either, but its application went well beyond this when Paul wrote it. The Corinthian church, was required as part of their faith, and as an example to others, to live a righteous life like Jesus. Paul was making it clear that they could not incorporate any of the sin that was normal to the rest of Corinth into their lives and be followers of Jesus Christ.
To underline the point about being yoked to unbelievers in 2 Corinthians 6:14, Paul then asks a number of rhetorical questions in the following verses (14-16). As we read them we can quickly see that the answer to all of the questions is - NOTHING!
Paul’s questions read –
· ‘What do righteousness and wickedness have in common?’ (2 Corinthians 6:14).
· ‘What fellowship can light have with darkness?’ (verse 14).
· ‘What harmony is there between Christ and Belial [the devil]?’ (verse 15).
· ‘What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?’ (verse 15).
· ‘What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?’ (verse 16).
These questions highlight that there is no agreement between the Christian way of life and the sinful customs of the rest of the community. We should remember too that idol worship is not just worshipping a Greek or Roman god or some kind of statue in the place of the one true God. Nothing should come between us and God, making it more important than Him. It may be the car that is being lovingly rebuilt in our garage, or it could be that we are spending too much time on our phone and/or our computer. Either way, if these things are a higher priority than praying to the Lord, or reading His Word they should be reprioritised.[2]
Let us also consider what we mean by separation. Some of us may remember that a few decades ago many Christians were taught that they should separate from anything that looked like it was part of ‘the world’. This included things like going to the movies, drinking alcohol, playing cards, and dancing.
There is likely to be a reaction from readers to this along the lines of, ‘But how do we witness to unbelievers?’ We just need to think, ‘What would Jesus do when He mixed with sinners?’ He was in the world, but He did not sin. Apparently the disciples did not sin either as we see in Jesus’ prayer to the Father in John 17:14-16 (NLT) -
I have given them [the disciples] your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do.
Paul makes it clear in Romans 12:2 too -
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect (NLT).
A typical response to this is, ‘Then how are we supposed to witness to the unsaved?’ The answer is, we witness to them by our example. We do not compromise what the Bible teaches, so that others can see our light shining, both through our words and our actions.
For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” (Acts 13:47 NIV)
So in summary we see that as Christians we live in the world, but we do not sin or do anything that would draw us away from the Lord. We have examples of what can happen throughout the Bible, but a couple of examples to consider would be Samson who was enticed by Delilah, and the effect of all Solomon’s wives on his relationship with God. Consider too the rich farmer who built bigger barns in Luke 12:15-21.
Christians are the ones that set the example of how to live a decent life, so that unbelievers see us and want what we have. As Paul said to Timothy, ‘Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity’ (1 Timothy 4:11 NLT). Quite a challenge isn’t it?
Dear Reader – If you have found some value in this blog, please feel free to send a copy on to your family and friends. Kind regards, John
[1] What is the history and significance of the church in Corinth? GotQuestions.org;
https://www.gotquestions.org/church-in-Corinth.html
[2] What does it mean to come out from among them? GotQuestions.org;
