What Ministry is All About, Part 9
In our message, CLEANSING OURSELVES (2 Cor. 6:11-7:11), Paul continues his discussion of the Gospel, but now focuses on the PLEA- not to the lost- but to Christians (1 Cor. 4:1-2; 2 Cor. 5:6-9; 6:1-2, etc.).
The statement, “Oh Corinthians!” is one of only three times where Paul addresses his audience directly and personally in the middle of a letter (2 Cor. 6:11a -see also Gal. 3:1 and Phil. 4:15). It is perhaps the highlight of Second Corinthians as it reflects not only Paul’s deep emotion for them but also God’s emotion for us. The Lord is “holy, holy, holy” and He hates sin (Isa. 6:3; Rev. 4:8, etc.). He wants to form Christ in us- more and more (Gal. 4:16, 19, etc.). This aspect of our salvation is called sanctification, which means to be set apart (John 17:17; Rom. 10:17, etc.). Christians are called to be set apart for God- making Him the number one aim, desire, and passion of our lives (2 Cor. 5:9; Eph. 5:18, etc.).
Paul had shown them open, genuine, fervent love (as did God who wrote through Paul- 2 Cor. 2:4; 6:11), but many in Corinth had not returned that love because they had been “restricted by [their] own affections” (2 Cor. 6:12; 1 Cor. 3:1-3, etc.). This is because they had mixed desires making their love for God cold (1 John 2:15-17; 1 Cor. 10:12, 14, 21, etc.). The Lord asks them here to make Him the number one love of their lives (2 Cor. 6:13; Matt. 6:33, etc.). “Open your hearts to us!” Paul begs/pleads with them as he had done to them (2 Cor. 6:13 NLT; 2 Cor. 6:11; 7:2-3, etc.). This is a plea as one cannot force love. Likewise, God also is gracious and does not force our obedience, but asks for us to respond to His love (e.g. Rom. 12:1-2; Gal. 5:16-18, 25, etc.).
The Lord then shows the compromising Christians in Corinth how they can practically become more like Jesus… “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” (2 Cor. 6:14a; John 17:17, etc.). The Bible shows us here (and elsewhere) we should NOT enter into our closest- most intimate relationships- with people who do not know Jesus personally. This is would certainly include marriage which is the closest relationship we have in this world (apart from our relationship with God). That is, a Christian should NEVER marry a non-Christian under any circumstance.
God then explains why this is the case… A Christian cannot share the most intimate part of their lives with someone who does not know Jesus because they, by grace, possess a divine nature (2 Pet. 1:3-4) while non-Christians do not (2 Cor. 5:17, etc.). “Communion” (Grk. Koinonia) involves close relationship… (2 Cor. 6:14b). A non-Christian, because he or she does not know Jesus personally, will not likely to want to go to church or give to God’s work. Nor will he or she understand the value of Jesus in an authentic way because they do not know Him. They have no “accord” or agreement with “Christ” because they sadly are still in their sins and are not His children (2 Cor. 6:15; John 3:7; 14:6; Acts 4:12, etc.). Because Christians are “the temple of God,” once again, we are called to be set apart for Christ, and that means taking steps to not love things in the world over God by forming deep personal relationships with lost people (2 Cor. 6:16; 1 Cor. 3:16-17; 15:33-34; 1 John 1:9, etc.). There is a spiritual battle set before us and the Lord calls us to trust His Word (Eph. 6:12f; 1 Cor 3:18a; 15:33a, etc.). When we walk with God by faith in a present-day sense, it helps us to become more like Jesus as we abide in Him and the Lord’s presence is experienced in us in a deeper way (2 Cor. 6:16b; 1 Cor. 3:14 vs 1 Cor. 3:15, etc.). “Therefore [we are to] ‘Come out from among them And be separate’” (2 Cor. 6:17a) “‘and touch not the unclean thing’” (2 Cor. 6:17b KJV). This command and plea is to repent of any known sin and live for Christ “NOW” (2 Cor. 6:1-2, 17; 1 John 1:9; 1 Cor. 11:31-32, etc.). The word “thing” in the KJV (or “what” in verse 17 of the NKJV) is ambiguous meaning it can be anything in our lives that the Holy Spirit is leading us to separate from- for the purpose of being pleasing to God (1 Cor. 10:12-14; 2 Cor. 5:9-10; Rom. 13:11-14; Eph. 5:3-14; 1 Pet. 2:9-12; 4:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17, etc.). When we do this, God promises to receive us in a deep intimate way and we will know Him experientially better (2 Cor. 6:17-18; Heb. 11:6, 1 Cor. 3:13-14, etc.). Paul then ends saying, in view of Christ’s many promises, we should “CLEANSE OURSELVES” from “all” known sin both outward and inward (2 Cor. 7:1; Phil. 2:12-13; 2 Tim. 2:20-21, etc.). A Christian does this by walking with God, step-by-step, taking up his or her cross daily so we can be the living sacrifices He has called us to “now”- for His namesake and glory (2 Cor. 5:7, 9; 6:1-2; Rom. 12:1-2; Gal. 2:20, etc.). *For more information on this message, please see SBFC’s March 30, 2025 sermon above.