“ Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 17 Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 18 And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6 v 14-18)
So what was Paul meaning? How is this message about not being yoked together with unbelievers to be viewed? Is it marriage? Is it business partnerships? Friendships? The list can continue. However, I wonder if it is simply easier to understand that we must be careful not to come under the influence of wickedness, of evil and ultimately of Belial (name for Satan). We are people of righteousness and Paul backs this up with Scriptures which we will look at tomorrow.
So what can we do to protect ourselves from sinful influence? This is what we must focus on.
- Not everything you hear can be trusted and believed blindly.
- Not everything that is inspirational is from Him even though it might make you feel good.
- Not everything that is false looks false at first.
- Everything must be filtered through this one test: Jesus is the Christ.
- Every religious experience must come under the submission of the orthodox teaching of and about Jesus Christ.
- Everything the Spirit of God does points to Jesus and if it doesn’t then it is the spirit of the antichrist.
Let us all make sure we are under the influence of what is good!
Missions Paul 