Commentary - 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

Bird's-eye view

In this potent section of his letter, Paul is not, as is commonly supposed, giving general advice about Christian marriage or business partnerships. The context is far more specific and urgent. He is addressing the Corinthian church's toleration of false teachers, these "sons of Belial," within their own ranks. Having just laid out the glories of the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-21), he now pivots to the stark implications of that ministry. If we are new creations, the righteousness of God in Christ, then there can be no mixture, no compromise, with that which stands in opposition to God. The passage is a series of sharp, rhetorical questions designed to show the absolute incongruity of any such partnership. It culminates in a glorious string of Old Testament citations that define the church as the holy temple of God, called to a radical separation from impurity, and welcomed into an intimate, familial relationship with God the Father Almighty.

This is a call to ecclesiastical separation, driven by the pursuit of holiness. It is a command to come out from among those who corrupt the faith from within. The logic is simple and severe: light and darkness cannot coexist. Christ and Belial are at war. The temple of God cannot house idols. Therefore, the people of God must be a separate and distinct people, marked not by pharisaical aloofness, but by a joyful consecration to the living God who has promised to dwell with them, walk with them, and be their Father.

Outline

Context In 2 Corinthians

This passage does not come out of nowhere. Paul has been defending the authenticity of his ministry against challengers who were troubling the Corinthian church. He has spoken of himself as an ambassador for Christ, pleading with men to be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:20). He has just made one of the most profound statements in all of Scripture: "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21). The call to separation in our text is the necessary ethical implication of this glorious theological reality. Because we are the righteousness of God in Christ, we must live like it. This means refusing to be yoked with those who represent the very lawlessness and darkness from which we were rescued. The "unbelievers" here are not primarily pagans outside the church, but the false teachers and their sympathizers inside the church, those who preach another gospel and another Jesus.

Key Issues

Verse-by-Verse Commentary

v. 14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?

The prohibition is stark: "Do not be unequally yoked." The imagery comes from the Mosaic law, which forbade plowing with an ox and a donkey together (Deut. 22:10). Such a pairing is unnatural and inefficient; the animals have different natures, gaits, and strengths. They would work against each other, not with each other. Paul applies this to the Corinthians' situation. To be "yoked" with unbelievers, and in this context, he means the Judaizing false apostles who were corrupting the church from within, is to attempt a partnership that is fundamentally impossible. These are not just people with different opinions; they represent a different kingdom.

Paul then fires off a series of rapid-fire rhetorical questions to drive the point home. First, "what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness?" We who are in Christ are the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). The false teachers represent lawlessness, a rejection of God's true standard. There is no common ground, no shared project. To attempt a partnership is to deny our very identity. Second, "what fellowship has light with darkness?" We were once darkness, but now we are light in the Lord (Eph. 5:8). The gospel has brought us into the light (2 Cor. 4:6). The false gospel of the intruders is darkness. They cannot be mixed. To bring them together is to try to create a spiritual twilight, a gray murkiness where nothing can be seen clearly. God deals in absolutes here.

v. 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?

The questions continue, escalating in their intensity. "What harmony has Christ with Belial?" Belial is a Hebrew term, often translated as "worthlessness." In later Jewish writings, it became a proper name for Satan. Paul is setting up the ultimate antithesis: Christ, the anointed King, versus the Prince of Worthlessness. There is no concord, no symphony, no harmony between them. They are at war, and their respective followers are at war. To tolerate the "sons of Belial" in the church is to attempt to host a peace negotiation between two warring kings in the very throne room of one of them. It is an act of treason.

Then he brings it down to the personal level: "what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?" The word for "in common" is meris, meaning a part or a share. What portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? In the ultimate sense, nothing. One is a new creation, the other is not. One is indwelt by the Spirit, the other is not. One is headed for eternal glory, the other for eternal wrath. While we are called to do good to all men (Gal. 6:10), this passage is about formative, binding partnerships. In the central commitments of life and worship, the believer and the unbeliever have no shared inheritance, no common lot.

v. 16 Or what agreement has a sanctuary of God with idols? For we are a sanctuary of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.”

The final question is the climax. "What agreement has a sanctuary of God with idols?" The word for sanctuary is naos, referring to the inner sanctum, the Holy of Holies. An idol is a representation of a false god, a nothing, a lie. How can you bring a lie into the place dedicated to ultimate truth? You cannot. It is a categorical contradiction.

And then Paul makes the breathtaking application: "For we are a sanctuary of the living God." The Corinthian church, this messy, troubled, yet beloved group of saints, is the dwelling place of God on earth. The glory that once filled the tabernacle and the temple now resides in the corporate body of believers through the Holy Spirit. This is not a metaphor to make us feel good; it is a profound theological reality that must shape our every decision. And to prove his point, he begins to weave together a tapestry of Old Testament promises (from Lev. 26:12 and Ezek. 37:27). God's eternal purpose has always been to live with His people. He will dwell in them and walk among them. This is the essence of the covenant: "I will be their God, and they shall be my people." This is a relationship of exclusive loyalty and intimate fellowship. To bring an idol, or an idolatrous teaching, into the church is to violate the very heart of this covenant.

v. 17 Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN, And I will welcome you.

The "therefore" is crucial. Because you are the temple of the living God, because He dwells in you, therefore this command follows. Quoting from Isaiah 52:11 (a passage about leaving the defilement of Babylon), Paul issues the divine command: "COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE." This is not a suggestion for the spiritually elite. It is a command from the Lord for the entire church. Separation from doctrinal and moral impurity is not optional. It is the necessary boundary that protects the holiness of God's dwelling place. You cannot have God dwelling among you and the representatives of Belial at the same time. One must go.

The command is twofold: come out, and be separate. It is both a definitive action and an ongoing state. And it includes this injunction: "DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN." This is ceremonial language from the Old Testament applied to the moral and spiritual filth of the false teachers and their doctrines. Contact defiles. Following this command is the condition for the promise: "And I will welcome you." The word for welcome is the same one used for a father receiving his child. God's reception of us is conditioned on our rejection of the world's defilement.

v. 18 AND I WILL BE A FATHER TO YOU, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” SAYS THE LORD ALMIGHTY.

Paul concludes this section with the pinnacle of all promises, drawn from 2 Samuel 7:14 (part of the Davidic covenant) and Isaiah 43:6. The result of our separation from impurity is not isolation, but adoption. God says, "I WILL BE A FATHER TO YOU." We leave the worthless company of Belial to enter the very family of God. We are received as "sons and daughters." This is the heart of the gospel. We are not just pardoned criminals or cleansed temples; we are beloved children. And the one making this promise is the "LORD ALMIGHTY," the Pantokrator, the all-ruling one. His promise is backed by infinite power and authority. He is able to make good on His word. The choice, then, is laid before the Corinthians: will you maintain your compromising yokes with the sons of Belial, or will you embrace your identity as sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty?