Unity is a beautiful thing. However, sometimes separating isn’t so bad. Sometimes it’s necessary. I’m referencing 2 Corinthians 6:14-18/NIV where the Apostle Paul is preaching regarding God’s will on separation. He first tells us not to be yoked together with unbelievers. The Greek word for yoked is Zugas which means to be burdened or in bondage. When you yoke yourself with someone or a thing, you are attaching, connecting, or closely linking with them.
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Unbelievers are those who have no relationship with Christ and don’t believe as God determines belief. They haven’t repented, submitted their lives to the Lord, nor been baptized. Also, they are often those who have professed faith in Christ by words only while living totally contrary to its definition.
Paul characterized this wrongly yoked relationship with the following contrasts:
Righteousness vs Wickedness
Light vs Darkness
Christ vs Belial
Believer vs Unbeliever
Temple of God vs Idols
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Paul reminds us that we are the temple of God. So, as believers, we can now trust what God has said that He will live with us, walk among us, and be our God and we His people. But the Lord tells us to come out and be separate, not to touch any unclean thing and He’ll receive us. Therefore, we can expect God to be a Father to us and we’ll be His sons and daughters.
Further, in 2 Corinthians 7/NIV, Paul tells us to purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, “perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” Hence, since we love and respect our Father, we honor Him by living holy and separate from the sinful life that grieves Him.
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This doesn’t mean we don’t pray for and show love toward those who don’t believe, but we aren’t to yoke ourselves to them. This can be seen in the Bible’s commands that believers only marry believers. There should only be bonding and connection in this manner to believers. He gives us these commands for a reason. They aren’t to be a means of haughtiness or conceit, but of protection as the bible clearly tells us “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” (Galatians 5:9/NIV)
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There’s no mistaking the awesome privilege of God’s grace and mercy toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. However, there is clearly still work to be done where we recognize what contaminates, defiles, or corrupts our bodies and spirits and cleanse ourselves of those things as shown in 2 Corinthians 7/NIV. We should not be mistaken on this, as some might have us to be, because God expects this of us. If He didn’t, He would not have expressed it in His word.
Revelation 18:4/NIV tells us, “Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “‘Come out of her, my people,’ so that you will not share in her sins so that you will not receive any of her plagues; … .” This is another instance of God requiring separation.
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We are wise to assess ourselves and where we are in Christ, as we’re reminded in Revelation 22:12/NIV, ““Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done…, ” and Revelation 22:14-15/NIV, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” We want to live eternally with Christ and don’t want the consequences of being disobedient to His commands.
Moreover, we should not be surprised about the popularity of ungodly living. God has warned us ahead of time, that according to Matthew 7:13-14, we are to “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
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In any event, we all have been given the right to choose whose way we will follow: our own, another wayward man’s, or God’s. Nevertheless, a sobering thought is Revelation 22:11, “Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.”
While remaining alert to how we yoke ourselves in relationships, whether marriage, career, dating, business, etc., may we choose to remember these words of our Lord, ” I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown.” (Revelation 3:11/NIV)
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