2 Corinthians 6:14-18 meaning

In 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, Paul will describe God’s calling on believers in how we ought to live.

Paul has just exhorted the Corinthians to have the same affection toward him that he has for them. Paul seeks and desires to lead the Corinthian believers into a path of righteousness—following God’s ways and seeking to live in His design for our lives.

His next command would infer that an obstacle to them opening their hearts to Paul is because they have instead opened their hearts to unbelievers. Paul exhorts: Do not be bound together with unbelievers (v. 14a). 

Another translation of the word bound could be “unequally yoked.” The idea of being “yoked” refers to a team of animals pulling a cart. The team needs to be equally matched in speed and strength or they will tend to pull the cart in a circle. An “unequally yoked” team of oxen is counterproductive.

In a similar manner, partnering with a person that does not share your values or objectives is likely to lead to things just spinning in a circle. This could apply to any sort of partnership, including marriage.

Paul explained a similar concept in his first letter to the Corinthians, saying that “I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people” (1 Corinthians 5:9). This did not mean to avoid association with people in the world. One would expect worldly behavior from people in the world. As Paul said:

“I did not at all mean [not to associate’ with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.”
(1 Corinthians 5:10-11)

Paul went on to admonish them to “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves” (1 Corinthians 5:13). The phrase “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves” echoes passages from the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 17:17, 21:21). Paul admonished the Thessalonians similarly (2 Thessalonians 3:6). These passages refer to maintaining purity among the fellowship of the church.

The passage in verse 14 differs in that Paul specifically says not to be bound together with unbelievers. This appears to specifically apply to those who have not believed in Jesus. Those who believe in Jesus gain eternal life by God’s grace (John 3:14-15, Ephesians 2:8-9).

In light of 1 Corinthians 7:12-15, it is unlikely Paul is talking about being bound or unequally yoked in marriage to an unbeliever. There, Paul admonished those with unbelieving spouses to remain with them in hope of sanctifying them. Nor is Paul admonishing the Corinthians to stop engaging constructively in the world. He desires believers to be faithful witnesses in and to the world.

The next phrase explains Paul’s emphasis: For what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness (v. 14b). 

Righteousness has been characterized by Paul as living as a reflection of Christ and following in the essence of the kingdom of God. It is “rightness” with God and with man. Righteousness in the sight of God comes by grace, through faith (Romans 3:21-24, 4:3). Then to live out righteousness requires walking by faith (Romans 1:16-17). The power to walk by faith, living in God’s design to love and serve others, comes by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16). An unbeliever does not have this power.

Since righteousness (living according to God’s design) is not fully possible for those without the power of the Spirit, it is impossible to have a partnership with an unbeliever where each partner is fully aligned. One is empowered by the Spirit to follow God’s path (righteousness) and the other is empowered by the flesh to follow the world’s ways (lawlessness).

Living with righteousness is the opposite of living in lawlessness. The Apostle John writes, “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). In this case the lawlessness refers to God’s design for the world. In the Old Testament covenant between God and Israel, God spelled out how to live in harmony with God’s design. Jesus explained that God’s law could be summarized by two commandments: Love and serve God and love others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).

God’s design is for the world and humanity to flourish when people steward the earth in fellowship and harmony with God, creation, and one another. God told Israel that to walk in harmony with His ways is to walk in life, and to walk apart from His ways death (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). Death is separation, and walking apart from God’s design separates us from the blessings He intended. The pagan ways of self-indulgence and exploitation create a culture of abuse and poverty. God’s ways of mutual care and collaboration with one another create harmony and mutual benefit.

Since Paul is speaking to the Corinthian church, the partnership is referring to the church and admonishing the church not to allow a lawless, sinful person to have a partnership role with the church or influence the church away from its mission. We know from 1 Corinthians 14:23 that the Corinthians welcomed unbelievers into their fellowship to learn and observe. Paul endorsed this. But they were to influence the unbeliever, not be influenced by them.

Since Paul is talking to each Corinthian believer, this could also apply to each believer individually. The church is made up of individual believers. So just as God’s covenant with Israel applied to all the people and to each person, so are Paul’s instructions to the church. Paul likens believers as being in light and unbelievers in darkness: Or what fellowship has light with darkness? (v. 14). 

The Greek word translated fellowship is “koinonia” and speaks of mutual sharing. In fact in 1 Corinthians 10:16, “koinonia” is translated as “sharing.” Light cannot share with dark. When the light turns on, the darkness dispels. Paul uses this analogy to assert that walking in Christ by faith is completely incompatible with walking in the ways of the world. If we walk in the light, we cannot also walk in the darkness (1 John 1:5-6). We cannot live with “a little of each.” It is one or the other (Galatians 5:16-17).

Paul wrote much about the realm of light and the realm of darkness (2 Corinthians 4:4-6; Romans 13:12; Ephesians 5:7-14; 1 Thessalonians 5:5). We are, as followers of Christ and being in Christ, to not only receive the light of the gospel of Christ, but to “walk as children of Light” (Ephesians 5:8). Our fellowship, or close partnership, is to be in the light. 

As the Apostle John asserts, Jesus came to earth as the light of the world (John 1:9). Light allows us to see, learn, and understand. Jesus allows us to see God in the flesh, learn of His ways, and understand how to walk in a manner that is consistent with our design. God’s ways run counter to the ways of the world, which are the ways of darkness (John 1:5, 1 John 1:5). The ways of the world lead to death, and the ways of God lead to life. Jesus is the life, and that life is the light of men (John 1:4).

Paul now uses another illustration showing that the ways of God are wholly incompatible with the ways of the world: Or what harmony has Christ with Belial (v. 15a)? 

From context we can infer that Belial refers to Satan. Jesus called Satan “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31). Paul expounds the “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18) while adamantly insisting that there is no reconciling the ways of the world and its ruler Satan with the ways of God and His kingdom.

The “reconciliation” in this ministry is to lift humans out of death and darkness and place them into the light through Christ. The reconciliation frees believers from being slaves to the world and its ways (sin). It is like a hostage rescue. The indwelling Holy Spirit gives us the power to walk in righteousness (God’s design) (Romans 6:17-18).

When Jesus was obedient unto death and died on the cross, He was given all authority (Matthew 28:18). Satan was “cast out” as being the ruler of the earth (John 12:31). Eventually Jesus will return to earth and physically occupy His rightful place to reign on the earth (Revelation 21:21-22).

This reference in verse 15 is the only time the name or word Belial appears in the New Testament. It is a Hebrew word that is used relatively often (27 times) in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 13:13 says that “some worthless men have gone out among you” and the Hebrew word translated as “worthless” is also the Hebrew word that is the Greek transliteration Belial. 

In later Jewish literature, the word Belial is often used as a personal name for the devil or Satan or the Antichrist. Paul usually used the word or name Satan (adversary) when he was referring to the supreme power of the kingdom of darkness, so we are given no context for why he used Belial in this instance. But it is clear enough in context that he is referring to Satan.

The word translated harmony in the phrase or what harmony has Christ with Belial can also be translated as “agreement” or “consent.” The idea is that there is nothing of Christ that agrees with Belial and nothing of Belial that agrees with Christ. They do not mix. Satan is a murderer and liar, and has been from the beginning (John 8:44) while Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Christ and Belial are opposites.

We can see a similar contrast in the Old Testament. God directs Israel to have nothing to do with the Satanically inspired practices of paganism. Cultures like Egypt and Canaan were exploitative (see Leviticus 18 for a list of practices common to these areas). God set up His covenant with Israel and commanded them to love one another and care for, rather than exploit, those who were vulnerable (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Leviticus 19:18). We cannot exploit and serve someone at the same time—these modes are incompatible and irreconcilable.

Paul continues his list of contrasts as he says, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 

The believer is the one who is “in Christ” and is a citizen of the kingdom of Christ (Philippians 3:20). The unbeliever is a part of the dominion of Satan/Belial. Although believers are in Christ and part of His kingdom, they still have their old sinful nature, and physically dwell in the world. Therefore, each believer has a basic choice of whether to walk in the ways of the world (the “flesh”) or the ways of Christ (the “Spirit”).

As Paul tells believers in his letter to the Galatians, they were called to “freedom” which means the ability/power to choose. The Spirit of Christ gives believers the capacity to choose to walk in His ways. However, Paul acknowledges that believers can choose to walk in the flesh, and the ways of the world:

“only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another”
(Galatians 5:13b).

Paul argues that choosing to walk in the flesh leads us to “bite and devour” one another—to seek to exploit one another. This is Satan’s way. Therefore, he encourages each believer to instead choose to walk in love for one another. Biting and devouring have no part with loving and serving (Galatians 5:13-14).

Since believers are in the light and born of Christ, then believers ought to walk in the ways of Christ and be free from the sin and death that is the consequence of walking in the ways of the world. To walk in the ways of the world/flesh is to walk completely counter to what Christ has made believers to be: new creations in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Paul’s argument continues. He is driving home the point that for believers to walk in the ways of the world is wholly counterproductive to their true identity, which is in Christ. There should be no mixing or mingling of these two incompatible worlds.

His final contrast is Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God (v. 16a). 

The temple of God refers to Israel’s history. For much of the history of the Israelites, God’s presence dwelt in the tabernacle and then in the temple (Exodus 40:34, 2 Chronicles 7:1). Jesus, through His death, made a way for believers to spiritually enter the holy place, the true temple in heaven (Luke 23:45, Hebrews 10:19-22).

Since the tabernacle or temple represents the place of the dwelling of God’s presence, and each believer is indwelt with the Holy Spirit, therefore each believer is now a mini-tabernacle of God. Paul stated this in his previous letter “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

Now, he reasserts that we are the temple of the living God (v 16b). The “you” in 1 Corinthians 3:16 and the we here in verse 16 are both plural. Each person has the Holy Spirit dwelling within them, so each person is a temple of God. But here it would seem Paul is referring to the collective body of Christ. Believers are, together, the temple of the living God. 

In 1 Corinthians 3:16, Paul says “If any man [singular] destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him [singular].” This would infer that there will be severe judgment for anyone who divides or misleads His people. Scripture teaches that leaders and teachers have a higher accountabilty (James 3:1). Paul emphasized in the previous chapter that each believer will have their deeds judged by Him to determine rewards, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).

God is protective of His church, and His people. Now Paul makes a parallel between the New Testament church (the collection of believers in Christ) and Israel (His chosen people), by quoting the Old Testament:

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 (v 16c).

The phrase just as God said (v. 16b) clues us in that Paul is quoting from the Old Testament. It is worth noting that Paul considers the Old Testament to still be authoritative and relevant for teaching and training (2 Timothy 3:16).

Paul was a trained expert in the Old Testament, which was the primary scripture in existence during the time of his ministry (Acts 22:3, 5:34). He was a “Hebrew of Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5). Paul frequently refers to the scriptures as the authoritative word of God; Jesus did not come to displace the Law and the prophets but to fulfill (Matthew 5:17; Luke 24:44). In vv 16-18, he mingles quotes from several passages to make the point that God abides with His people.

God chose Israel to be His people. Now all who believe in Jesus are also His people:

• All who believe are in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
• All who have believed in Jesus are children of God, having been spiritually born again (John 3:3).
• They have the inner testimony of the Father (Romans 8:15).
• God is their unconditional inheritance (Romans 8:17a).
• All Gentiles who believe become spiritual children of Abraham. Just as Abraham was the physical father of Israel, he is the spiritual father of all who believe (Romans 4:11, 16, Galatians 3:7).
• Just as God chose Israel by grace, so He saves all who believe by grace (Deuteronomy 7:6-8, Ephesians 2:8-9).

In this quote in verse 16c, Paul draws from the prophets, and might refer to passages from Moses, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah. I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people (v. 16c).

We can find the first part of the quote in the writings of Moses, first in Exodus 29:45, “I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God” and Leviticus 26:12, “I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be my people.” As those who are “in Christ” and are followers of Christ, we are now the people of God and we have the assurance that God Himself walks with us, as we are now the temple of God and His living presence is within us (Matthew 28:20).

Jesus speaks of a New Testament era fulfillment of the prophetic word of verse 16c as He says in John 14:23, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”

God is always near. He abides in us when we abide in Him (John 15:4, 7). Paul consistently admonishes believers to walk in the Spirit and thus fulfill the Law (Romans 8:4).

The people of God are called to love God as well as their neighbors. This is in contrast to the world’s pagan way where the strong exploit the weak. The way of the world is self-seeking and extractive. The way of Christ is to invest in others, to make disciples and teach them to be self-governing (Matthew 28:12-20, 2 Timothy 2:2).

Paul continues, likely quoting from Isaiah: Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord. And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you (v. 17). 

Paul now draws on God speaking to the people of Israel through His prophet Isaiah, “Depart, depart, go out from there, Touch nothing unclean” (Isaiah 52:11). This phrase and be separate refers to the behavior believers choose, not the way believers treat unbelievers. Jesus prays for believers in John 17:14-18 to be in the world, intermingling with and engaging with unbelievers, while keeping them separate and apart from evil and the evil one (Satan).

One of the reasons Jesus was rejected by Jewish religious leaders is because they had misapplied this verse to refuse interaction with Gentiles. They even looked down on Gentiles. So when Jesus mingled with Gentiles and sinners the leaders were greatly offended (Matthew 9:10-13). Jesus did not affirm the behavior of the sinners. He sought to turn them to a better way. But He accepted and loved them as image-bearers, having been made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26).

The tension of being in the world but not of the world is always with believers in this life. Our direction is to “walk in the light as Christ is in the light” (1 John 1:7) and to “walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). The human tendency is to play God and judge others as a means of self-justifying, just as the Pharisees and Sadducees did. Our challenge is to instead rest in the fact that we are fully justified through Christ (Romans 3:24) and live as His instrument of truth and grace (John 1:14).

Being justified in Christ frees us from the need to self-justify. Because we are fully accepted through Christ, we can now engage with all people as agents of Christ. Jesus meets all people where they are, and offers them the path to life which is only through Him (John 14:6). Believers are appointed to be His agents, to also meet people where they are and offer them the way to life (Matthew 28:18-20).

Here we have the promise that God Himself will dwell in them and walk among them. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit, telling His disciples “He abides with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17). The ancient prophecy was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). Now, those who believe are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and sealed into God’s family (2 Corinthians 1:22).

The call to be separate is explained by the phrase And do not touch what is unclean. In the Old Testament certain things were designated as unclean and were not to be touched. The New Testament application of this principle is to stay completely away from sin. The way we are admonished to avoid falling into temptation is to stay far from it. Paul asserted previously that God will not allow His people to be confronted with any temptation in which He does not provide a “way of escape” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

We might think of a fire exit as a “way of escape.” But the exit is only useful if it is taken before fire and smoke consume the room. In like manner, we need to take the “way of escape” as soon as possible. If we flirt with temptation we might miss our opportunity to take the “way of escape.” An example of this is Proverbs 5:8, which advises young men to “keep your way far from” a seductress and “do not go near the door of her house.”

The promised reward for living apart from sin is And I will welcome you. The word translated welcome carries the idea of being received with favor. This likely refers back to a few verses earlier when Paul admonished believers to walk in righteousness because Christ will judge our deeds and reward us accordingly (2 Corinthians 5:10). If we walk in His ways and remain apart from the world God promises to reward us greatly (1 Corinthians 2:9, 3:14, 9:24).

It is God’s will for our life that we walk in a sanctified manner, remaining unstained by the world (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Escaping the lust of the world allows us to partake in God’s divine nature in our life experience (1 Peter 1:4). Walking in His ways allows us to live in fellowship with Him.

Paul goes on:

And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty (v. 18).

This quote is similar to Jeremiah 31:1. The application to New Testament believers is twofold. First, God is the Father of all who believe unconditionally. All who believe are born into God’s family as His child. We can see this in Romans:

“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God”
(Romans 8:16-17a).

This is an unconditional statement asserting that as believers we are “in Christ” and therefore in God’s family. We “are children of God” and nothing can undo that, not even our own sin. We are also “heirs of God” because we are in His family as new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The second way the idea of being sons and daughters to God is applied in the New Testament can be seen in the continuation of the passage from Romans 8:

“and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him”
(Romans 8:17b).

The term “son” is sometimes used in scripture to denote the firstborn, the one who inherits leadership and authority. Jesus was rewarded the designation of “Son” as a reward for His obedience as a human (Philippians 2:8-10, Hebrews 1:5, 13). Accordingly, Jesus restored the “glory and honor” for humans to have authority over creation (Hebrews 2:9, Matthew 28:18).

Romans 8:17b is a conditional statement; to be “fellow heirs with Christ,” to reign over creation with Him. To gain this reward requires suffering as He suffered. All believers are heirs of God simply by virtue of being born into His family through Christ. But only those who “suffer with Him,” meaning Christ, will be “glorified with Him” to share His authority. We can see this also in Revelation 3:21, where Jesus admonishes believers to overcome as He overcame, and offers the reward of sharing His throne even as His Father shared His throne with Jesus as a reward for being a faithful witness.

Through His obedience, Christ recovered the “glory and honor” to reign over the earth (Psalm 8:4-6, Hebrews 2:5-8). Humans fell into sin and no longer reign in harmony with God (Hebrews 2:9). But Jesus has recovered the right to reign and desires to bring “many sons to glory.” This will be another fulfillment of believers becoming sons and daughters to Me.

From Genesis to Revelation, God, the Lord Almighty talks of His covenant with the people of His creation who love Him and serve Him. He made a covenant with Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:16-17). He set forth the path to life, which was to follow His ways, and the path to death which was to follow their own way.

Adam and Eve broke the covenant and received the consequences included in the covenant, which was death. Death is separation, and the separations they incurred were many, including separation from Eden, broken fellowship with God, and eventually physical death (separation from their body). Humanity fell from its design to reign over the earth in harmony with God, nature, and one another.

God later made a covenant with Israel that showed them the path to fulfilled living which was to follow God’s way and love others as they loved themselves. Israel agreed to comply with the covenant (Exodus 19:8). God made the choice clear, that to follow His ways would result in life and to follow their own ways and the pagan ways of exploitation and indulgence would result in death (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). Israel fell and experienced separation from living in the Promised Land; they were exiled, as was prescribed in the covenant (Deuteronomy 28:41, 49).

God promised that He would create a new kind of covenant that would be more effective, a covenant written on the hearts of His people (Jeremiah 31:31-33, Hebrews 10:16). Jesus inaugurated this new covenant in His blood (Matthew 26:28). Because of His sacrifice, our “sins” and “lawless deeds” God will “remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17). Jesus paid for all the sins of the world (Colossians 2:14). Now the Holy Spirit dwells within each believer and speaks of God’s ways, leading us into the paths of righteousness if we will heed and follow.

Paul desires that the Corinthians walk in faithful obedience so they can experience the positive fruit of God’s abiding presence. God does dwell in them and walk among them. The question is whether we will abide in Him. As Jesus said, apart from abiding in Christ we can do nothing worthwhile (John 15:4). When we abide in Christ we bear positive fruit, the fruit of righteousness. Thereby God is glorified, because people see the character of God flowing through us (John 15:8).

Though Paul has been talking of some unpleasant and difficult things in this letter, he takes us back to the incredible love and care of the Father. He created us in His image and designed us to walk in fellowship with Him, overseeing His creation. Though we fell, through Christ He has offered us to be fully restored, and to lead and help others gain that restoration as well.