Tuesday, May 7, 2013

2 Corinthians 6:14-17

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you."
2 Corinthians 6:14-17


I think these verses are hard to understand at first.  God says to love our neighbors, and then says stay away from them?  So, let's look at these verses and see what might be a better interpretation than God contradicting himself. :)
To be yoked together probably means more than just a neighbor relationship... probably means a partnership or a closer relationship.  Not necessarily only marriage, although that is where this scripture is often used, but in anything similarly binding... that requires a lot of time and close contact over long periods of time.  Might apply to business partnerships or dating or "best friend" status as well.
Unbeliever... does this mean someone who isn't sure whether God exists, or who believes but is of a different religion, or only people that are specifically non-believers and don't think God exists?  As the verses continue, it doesn't sound like it is talking about people who believe in God, even if they aren't the same religion, but people who actively work against God.
So, one interpretation of this scripture could be, don't be spouses/best friends/business partners with an atheist or antichrist.  Which makes sense, at least to me.  I have friends that are atheists (and in this context I am talking about people who actively mock believers, not people who just don't believe), but I think that a marriage to one or a closer relationship would be tough.  And it *would* be unequal... trying to raise a family or support each other in a partnership or in life with such different world views.
I like the "ye are the temple of the living God" part as well... and this is part of *why* we shouldn't have those close relationships with people whose beliefs are antithetical to our own.  Because we're trying to stay pure and clean, and just like we don't want to listen to profanity all the time or have nudity parading before our eyes all day, we don't want to invite the mockery of God to stay a while in our temple, and profane it.
Today, let's work on keeping our temples clean, and making sure that we're able to respect God and look to him in our close relationships.

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