2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”
Pastor Kyle continues: This passage of Holy Scripture flushes out what the holiness of God temple in us looks like. Going from lawlessness to righteousness. From darkness of sin and unbelief to the light of godliness and a steadfast belief. From worshipping idols to being indwelled by the living Creator God. It culminates in Born again Believers being the temple in which the Lord dwells among His people and us being His people. We carry God’s image, so our temples must reflect our heavenly Father.
The church building is not the dwelling place of the living God today. When the temple bearing people of God gather together in corporate worship as the body of Believers in the name of Jesus Christ, in the study of the Word or in Fellowship, we supernaturally become the corporate temple of the living God and He is there among His people. Jesus said in Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” The called to holiness is challenging because even at our very best on this side of eternity, we are always in the fallen flesh and we never measure up to the high calling of God. That is exactly why Jesus came. The Lord tells us in Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
The third godly identity-forming spiritual truth is (1) that God makes it possible for us to live under Jesus’ yoke. Thanks to Jesus and the indwelling Holy Spirit, Christians can live like sons and daughters of God and be the temples that He has called us to be. We cannot do this in our own strength, but yoked to Jesus we can, because we walk in the weight of His righteousness every single day. If we were unequally yoked, then we could not pull in unison and in synchronization. The illustration of the yoke is to help us understand God’s design for our relationship with Him, then to our most important partnership that we have in life. Unequally yoked in life are mismatched alliances and partnerships that are inconsistent with your faith. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you.
Sin separates. The Gospel is how God saves people, then brings them back into relationship with Himself. The Great Commission of Jesus is to go spread the Gospel and make disciples of all nations, communities and peoples using the tools of obedient Christian living, the Word of God and a biblical worldview to advance the kingdom of God through relationships, loving your neighbor. Jesus said in John 10:10 “The thief [the devil] comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.” At this time, Satan is using the sinful secular humanistic worldview to distort God’s moral compass and redefine terms away from the holy biblical worldview of His sacred Word, Will and Way to unyoke people from the Lord. Ephesians 6:10-14a instructs us, “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore.” In God We Trust.
In Christ we follow. Brian
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