Unequally Yoked

Jonathan Ledbetter

Question & Answer • Sermon • Submitted a year ago

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We’ve Been Asking People to Submit Questions/Topics for Henry and Me to Teach on

We’re Going to Start Looking at Those Questions/Topics this Morning

We All have Questions About the Bible…

But When Someone Puts You on the Spot it’s Hard to Think of Any

So I’m Going to Share Some of the Questions that have Been Submitted with You…

So that Maybe it’s Bring Some of Your Own Questions to Mind

What Does the Bible Say About the “Age of Accountability”?

What Does the Bible Say About Demons?

What Does the Bible Say About the Laying on of Hands?

And Everyone’s Favorite: What Happens When We Die?

Maybe Those will Help You Think of Some of Your Own Questions

I Also Love Questions Like:

What Does this Word/Verse/Passage Mean?

So if You Run Across Something in Your Bible and would Like for Us to Study it…

Let Us Know and We’d Love to Study it

You can Tell Your Question/Suggestion to Henry or Myself

You can Write it Down, or Text Us, or Call Us

Or if You’d Like to Remain Anonymous…

You can Write it Down and Put it in the Question Box

The Reason We are Doing Class this Way is Because…

We Want to Study What You Want to Study

Take Advantage of That

What Does Paul Mean By “Unequally Yoked”?

We Find this Phrase in 2 Corinthians 6:14

2 Corinthians 6:14 (ESV)

14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

This Phrase has Been Used to Teach:

Christians Shouldn’t Marry Non-Christians

Christians Shouldn’t Go into Business with Non-Christians

There May Be Other Teachings Along Those Lines as Well

But That’s Not at All What Paul is Talking About in this Verse

In Order to Understand What Paul is Actually Teaching…

We First Need a Basic Understanding the Context

It’s Best to Start Broad and Work Our Way in

Broad Context

Why Did Paul Write 2 Corinthians?

His Primary Purpose was to Defend His Apostleship

There Were Some False Teachers in Corinth Who Were…

Trying to Discredit Paul and Lead the Church Away From Him

Notice How He Describes These False Teachers:

2 Corinthians 11:13–15 (NASB95)

13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.

They Were Making Themselves Out to Be True Apostles of Jesus…

And Claiming that Paul Wasn’t

Therefore, Their Teachings should Be Trusted and Paul’s shouldn’t

But Paul Said They Don’t Belong to Jesus

They Belong to Satan

Immediate Context

Text Surrounding the Text

In Chapter 5, Paul was Talking About the Ministry of Reconciliation that He was Involved in

2 Corinthians 5:17–21 (NASB95)

17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Then Chapter 6 Starts with

2 Corinthians 6:1 (NASB95)

1 And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—

Paul Doesn’t Want These Corinthians to Receive God’s Grace in Vain

What Does it Mean to Do Something in Vain?

To Not Achieve the Intended Results

How can Someone Receive the Grace of God in Vain?

To Not Achieve the Intended Results of that Grace

To Be Reconciled to God…

Only to Be Separated From Him Again

Paul is Urging Them Not to Do that

He Wants Them to Stay Within God’s Grace and Salvation

Then in Verses 4-10, He Commends His Ministry to Them…

Giving Them a Number of Reasons to Believe His Ministry is From God

That Leads Right Up to Our Text

2 Corinthians 6:11–13 (NASB95)

11 Our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians, our heart is opened wide. 12 You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affections. 13 Now in a like exchange—I speak as to children—open wide to us also.

Paul has Opened His Heart Wide to the Corinthians…

But They haven’t Returned the Favor

They are Restrained From Doing So By Their Own Affections

The False Apostles have Turned Them Against Paul

It Isn’t Paul Who is Ruining His Relationship with the Corinthian Christians…

It is Their Willingness to Listen to the False Apostles’ Slander of Paul

That’s When We Read

2 Corinthians 6:14–15 (ESV)

14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?

Paul is Referring to the False Apostles…

And the Corinthians’ Relationship with Them

What Does it Mean to Be Unequally Yoked?

Deuteronomy 22:10 (NASB95)

10 “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.

Unequally Yoked Refers to Yoking Together 2 Different Species of Animal to Plow

Trying to Plow with a Donkey and Ox Yoked Together…

Isn’t Going to Work Very Well

(Put 2 Corinthians 6:14-15 Back Up)

“Unbelievers” is Referring to the False Apostles

These Corinthians Being in Partnership/Fellowship with the False Apostles…

Was Like Yoking Together 2 Different Kinds of Animals

No Good will Come of it, Only Harm

They Shouldn’t Fellowship These False Apostles

To Do So is Like Righteousness and Lawlessness in Partnership

Or Light and Darkness Existing Together

It’s Impossible to Be in Fellowship/Partnership…

With People Who Don’t Believe the Same Gospel

“Accord” (“Harmony” in NASB) = “symphōnēsis”

“symphōnēsis” = Agreement…

Like Different Instruments or Voices…

Working Together to Create Beautiful Symphony

“Belial” was a Way of Referring to the Devil

Paul is Asking:

“How Do Jesus and the Devil Work Together to Make Beautiful Harmony?”

The Answer is, “They Don’t!”

Just as Jesus and Satan aren’t in Partnership/Fellowship with Each Other…

The Corinthian Christians Shouldn’t Be in Partnership/Fellowship…

With These False Apostles

“Don’t Be Yoked Together with Them”

“Don’t Be Partners with Them in the Work of the Church”

Brief Outline of Israel’s History

I’m Going to Be More Brief than I Think the Questioner Intended

But We can Always Revisit this Question and Go a Little Deeper

Chosen

Abraham was Chosen

And Through His Lineage the Rest of the World Would Be Blessed

The World will Come to Know God Through Them

Liberated

Israel is Delivered By God From Slavery in Egypt

Wandering

Israel Wandered in the Wilderness for 40 Years…

Because They Didn’t Trust God to Continue Delivering Them

Victorious

Joshua Led Israel into the Promised Land

They Began to Take Possession of the Land…

But They Didn’t Remain Faithful

So the Land of Milk and Honey Wasn’t Exactly That

Lawless

There was No King and Everyone Did What was Right in Their Own Eyes

They Rejected God as Their King…

And Lawlessness Ruled the Day

This was a Dark Period in Israel’s History

Ruled

Israel Wanted a King Like All the Other Nations

God Gave Them Saul as King

But He wasn’t Faithful

So He was Replaced By David

United

The Kingdom of Israel was United Under King David

Divided

After David’s Son Solomon, the Kingdom was Divided

Northern Israel and Southern Judah

Exiled

Because of Their Unfaithfulness…

Both Kingdoms would Be Taken into Exile

Israel was Dispersed By the Assyrians

Judah was Taken Captive into Babylon

Returned

After 70 Years of Exile in Babylon…

The Jews (People of Judah) are Allowed to Return Home

But Things Still Aren’t Going Great

Waiting

The Next Voice of Inspiration We See is the Coming of the Messiah

Any Other Questions?

Any Other Topics?

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