Probably this is the most familiar portion of Scripture found in 2 Corinthians. The statement that begins verse 14 may be one of the most oft quoted portions of this marvelous epistle. It says, "Do not be bound together, or unequally yoked with unbelievers." And that is the principle which is so foundational, so much a cornerstone of Christian living that we have to give our attention to it very, very carefully.
Now just at first reading it is clear from this passage that the Apostle Paul identifies two opposing worlds, two opposing realms or spheres or kingdoms or dimensions of life. One is described and characterized by righteousness, light, Christ, believers and the presence of God. The other is characterized, or described as lawless, dark, satanic, occupied by unbelievers and the presence of idols. Two societies, two realms, two spheres utterly different, utterly distinct, completely incongruous and incompatible. And the Apostle says there is no possibility for people in these two kingdoms to be bound together in common work, no partnership, no fellowship, no harmony, no commonality and no agreement does or can really exist.
Years ago there was a ballad titled, "Two Different Worlds," and the first line simply said, "We live in two different worlds." And that is precisely the case here. Two different worlds that have utterly nothing in common. No one really lives in both. Some people try unsuccessfully but they are two distinct. One is old, the other is new. One is earthly, the other is heavenly. One is deadly, the other is life giving. One is material, the other is spiritual. One is filled with lies, the other is all truth. One relates to the unclean and the other to the pure. And Paul's message in this text is intended to make it very clear to all Christians that there is no possibility of living in both or shuttling back and forth.
Now what does that mean? What are the implications of that? Well first of all, the term "bound together" is usually translated "unequally yoked" because it comes from a Greek term that can have that implication. In fact, the Greek term, the Greek verb that is sometimes translated "unequally yoked," heterozugeo, can be used of yoking up in a common effort. Paul draws this analogy, however, not from the usage of the Greek term but from a concept back in Deuteronomy 22:10...is that they were not to plow with an ox and an ass yoked together. And the reasons for that are obvious. Those two animals have two different natures. They don't have the same gait, they don't have the same disposition, they don't have the same strength. They don't have the same kind of instincts, completely different natures. You can't yoke them up and expect a straight furrow. And Paul is borrowing off of that analogy and using a Greek term that was used in that same kind of way, speaking of unequal yokes or equal yokes. In fact, in Paul's time that very verb was used to refer to teachers linked up in a common religion or common philosophy or a common school who did not agree and they were said to be unequally yoked.
Listen, Satan's number one assault on the church is to infiltrate with error. To get in the church and teach lies, error, bad theology, to bring in syncretistic subtleties, to bring in stuff that sounds good on the surface but it is doctrine of demons. That's how he operates. And he had done it in Corinth and Paul says you can't do that, it is disastrous.
What we're talking about here is any linking together with an unbeliever in any religious or spiritual enterprise. That's what we're talking about. We're not talking about mutual funds, you can rest easy. We're not talking about you should quit your job cause you work with non-believers. We're not talking about Christian pulling out of the school because he doesn't have a Christian teacher. We're not talking about leaving your neighborhood. We're not talking about any of that. We're talking about a spiritual enterprise, worship, ministry, evangelism.
Religious cooperation between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light is ridiculous. Why would we want to give Satan access? You say, "Is this...is this a problem?" Is this a problem? This is Satan's number one ploy.
We still have that today. Satan still endeavors to encroach. Recently we had the Promise Keepers event in Los Angeles. And right around the time of the Promise Keepers I picked up the Los Angeles Times and found that the Cardinal--the Catholic Cardinal, had affirmed everything about the Promise Keepers and encouraged all the parish priests to take all their men. That was followed in an article, I think a day later, by the local Mormon bishop who said that he was encouraging all the Mormons to go. What does that say about Promise Keepers? Nothing. What it says about Satan is everything. That's always been his approach. He doesn't want to fight it, he wants to...what?...he wants to join it. When he fights the church it explodes and the blood of the martyrs becomes the seat of the church. When he joins the church it dies. And he always wants to get involved in it. And witless, reckless, undiscerning believers think that's an evangelistic strategy and embrace it.
So there's no place for compromise. Obviously you don't want to marry someone who is not a Christian. First Corinthians 7:39 says, "Marry only in the Lord," but that is not the issue of 2 Corinthians 6. But I'll tell you, for a Christian it has implications in all the relationships that you build because you cannot build lasting strong deep relationships with spiritual purpose with anybody other than a believer. And so, with that commitment to the integrity and the purity of the church, we have some clarity and some power and some purity that can have an impact on the unsaved world. And we keep Satan away. That's what Paul is calling for.
What folly. It's not an evangelistic strategy, it's slow suicide. Unbelievers and believers cannot be yoked in common spiritual enterprise. Truth and error cannot go together. They are opposite in nature, they are pulling in opposite directions, they are headed toward opposite goals, they are motivated by opposite desires, and they're controlled by enemy leaders. We have to separate from non-Christians in every...every activity that has anything to do with the advancement of the gospel...they can have no part...no part at all. They can be on the receiving end, that's it.
The heathen who do not know Christ, who do not have a genuine place in the Kingdom of God cannot join the enterprise of the church. A lot of them are completely pagan on the outside. The ones you have to watch for are the most religious, and watch this one, the most subtly like Christians. Satan is wily, covert, subtle and crafty.
And it's not popular again to take this particular viewpoint but it's fairly safe because it's in the Bible. And I feel real comfortable there. And I hope you do as well. And in the end all of this spiritual ministry, integrity is for the sake of the purity of the church, the power of the church, the clarity of the truth of the church to ultimately reach the lost who are duped by Satan in these false systems. Any embracing of them at all sends the message that the people who belong to them are okay. What kind of damning heresy that is.
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