Paul's Appeal to the Corinthians: 2 Corinthians 6:11-7:5

2 Corinthians 6:11‑18; 2 Corinthians 7:1‑5  •  8 min. read  •  grade level: 9
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(Chap. 6:11–7:5)
Based on his credentials as a true minister of Jesus Christ in the foregoing chapters, Paul now appeals to the Corinthians to “receive” him. The grounds of his appeal are: his deep and genuine affection for them (chap. 6:11-13), and the irreproachable character of his life (chap. 7:2-4).
1) His Genuine Affection for Them
Chap. 6:11-13—Paul says, “O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged [expanded]. Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels [affections]. Now for a recompense of the same, (I speak as unto children), let your heart also enlarge itself.” His mouth being opened to the Corinthians refers to the fact that he had frankly disclosed to them the secret springs of his actions in serving the Lord. He held back nothing in laying bare his desires and his motives before them. His heart was truly “expanded” toward the Corinthians; he genuinely loved them, and this led to his mouth being opened in sincerity to them (Matt. 12:34). He earnestly entreats them to respond in a reciprocal way, and let their affections go out to him. He said, “Let your heart also expand itself.” Any restriction of affection between the Corinthians and Paul was not on his part; he was not withholding his affection from them. The hindrance was obviously on their part.
Chap. 6:14-16—Since there was an obvious hindrance in the outflow of their affections, Paul turns to address it. He traces their restricted affections to the unequal yokes they had formed with the world. They had been careless in their associations and it had the effect of dampening their affections towards the Lord and His people. Herein lies the danger of the unequal yoke.
An unequal yoke is anything that links the believer with an unbeliever in a common purpose—whether it is social, commercial, religious, marital, or political. Such false links undermine Christian fellowship and have a way of restricting our affections toward the Lord and our brethren. We are not “of the world” because we are heavenly men through the call of the gospel. However, we have to live “in the world” (John 17:11-15), but even in this, we don’t have to be unequally yoked together with the world. We have to do our business in the world, and thus we come in contact with it, but we don’t have to become personally involved with it. Negative influences of the world do not result from contact with it, but from complicity with it. It was complicity that was the problem with the Corinthians. Therefore, Paul’s remedy for their restricted affections was, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.”
In these verses (14-16), Paul asks five rhetorical questions designed to show how unnatural, incongruous, and unsafe alliances with the world are. Each touches on a different realm of incompatibility in regard to believers and unbelievers:
“Righteousness with unrighteousness”—the sphere of moral behaviour.
“Light with darkness”—the sphere of spiritual knowledge.
“Christ with Belial”—the sphere of spiritual authority.
“He that believeth with an infidel”—the sphere of faith.
“The temple of God with idols”—the sphere of worship.
The five words Paul uses—“fellowship,” “communion,” “concord,” “part,” and “agreement”—should be carefully noted. Such words imply complicity with the world. Some would like to dismiss Paul’s exhortation by relegating it to the marriage bond and making it nothing more than that, but his remarks concerning the unequal yoke go far beyond marriages with unbelievers. An unequal yoke could be a social link with unbelievers in games, clubs, associations, fraternities, etc. (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15). Or, it could be a business partnership with unbelievers (Deut. 22:10; 2 Chron. 20:35-37; Prov. 6:1-5). Or, it could be an ecclesiastical link with a sect in Christianity where unbelievers are allowed to partake in the communion services (1 Cor. 11:19). Or, it could be a marital tie (Deut. 7:3-4; Josh. 23:12; 1 Cor. 7:39). A Christian should not marry an unbeliever, but if a believer is married to one, this passage does not justify divorce (1 Cor. 7:12-16). Or, the unequal yoke could be a political link with unbelievers by joining with their political endeavours (2 Chron. 18:1-34; 25:5-10; Isa. 45:9). The point here is that there are two great opposing spheres of moral and spiritual action that cannot go on together in a Christian’s life without serious practical ramifications.
Chap. 6:17-18—To encourage the Corinthians to separate from ungodly links with the world, Paul quotes the Lord Himself, saying, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.” This statement is in the aorist tense in the Greek, meaning that it should be a once-for-all thing in a believer’s life.
Therefore, the Corinthians needed to not only change their attitude toward Paul (vss. 11-13), but also toward the world (vss. 14-16). They needed to open their hearts to Paul and close their hearts to the world. We all need to treat the world as it truly is—an enemy of our souls. The soul of the Christian is ever being lured back into the world, just as Israel was constantly tempted to turn to idolatry. There are some very important reasons why separation is necessary in a Christian’s life. Without it:
Our personal holiness will be compromised by the defilements of the world (2 Cor. 6:17).
Our communion with the Lord will be seriously threatened, if not lost altogether (John 14:21-23).
Our hearts will be drawn away from the Lord (Deut. 7:2-4).
Our moral standards will become corrupted (1 Cor. 15:33).
Our spiritual growth will be hindered (Hos. 7:8).
Our spiritual energy and discernment will be dulled (Hos. 7:9).
Our personal testimony will lack power with others (Gen. 19:14).
Separation from worldly people and things does not mean that the believer ends up walking alone. The Lord makes a three-fold promise to compensate us with His personal companionship; we are given a special sense of His presence. He says:
“I will receive you.”
“I will be a Father unto you.”
“Ye shall be My sons and daughters.”
This is an incredible reward held out to those who walk in separation—the Lord promises to be our nearest and dearest Friend! It reminds us of Abram when he declined the offers of the king of Sodom as a reward for his help in the slaughter of the confederated armies under Chedorlaomer. The Lord immediately appeared to him and said, “I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Gen. 15:1). Could there be a greater Person in the whole universe with whom we can walk? Conversely, if a believer chooses to go on with worldly alliances and friendships, he cannot expect to have this special sense of the Lord’s fellowship in his life. It doesn’t mean that the Lord abandons him (Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5), but that he is not given that special sense of His presence (Luke 24:15-16). This privilege is conditioned on obedience (John 14:21-23). There will also be other Christians with whom we can walk in the path, but that is not mentioned here (2 Timothy 2:22).
Chap. 7:1—This verse belongs with the exhortation in chapter 6. With the encouragement of the promises of the Lord in hand, Paul says, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” This exhortation goes beyond not being unequally yoked together with unbelievers. A person could do that and still live in unholiness. Separating from unholy outward connections with the world should be coupled with cleansing ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit within us. It shows that it’s possible to separate from things outwardly, but go on with all sorts of uncleanness inwardly in our personal lives. Hence, the exhortation would not be complete without this side of things being addressed.
Note: Paul says, “Let us cleanse ourselves ... ” The cleansing that occurs when we are saved by believing the gospel is done for us by the Lord (1 Cor. 6:11; 1 John 1:7; Rev.1:5), but this cleansing is something that we are responsible to do.
2) the Irreproachable Character of His Life
Chap. 7:2-5—The second reason why he entreats the Corinthians to “receive” him is that he passed the grade on all accounts as a true minister of Jesus Christ. There is always a danger of there being some reservation toward a person who corrects us. Paul knew that this could be the case with the Corinthians and he entreats them to receive him. At the same time he confirms his love toward them by telling them that they were in his heart, and that neither death nor life was going to separate them from his love for them (vss. 3-4).
It also shows us that we can wrong someone, and though we are repentant about it, we can leave a mark on ourselves whereby people still will hold some reservation toward us. But this was not the case with Paul; he and those who ministered with him had “wronged,” “corrupted,” and “defrauded” no man.