Don’t Team Up With Those Who Are Unbelievers.

2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 (NLT)
The Temple of the Living God
¹⁴ Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? ¹⁵ What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said:
“I will live in them
and walk among them.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
¹⁷ Therefore, come out from among unbelievers,
and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord.
Don’t touch their filthy things,
and I will welcome you.
¹⁸ And I will be your Father,
and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.”
7  ¹Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.

Examine the scriptures:

2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 (NLT)
The Temple of the Living God
¹⁴ Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. (This is a summary of this entire lesson) 

• Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. 

Interesting verses from the Old Testament:

Deuteronomy 22:9-11 NLT
⁹ “You must not plant any other crop between the rows of your vineyard. If you do, you are forbidden to use either the grapes from the vineyard or the other crop.
¹⁰ “You must not plow with an ox (clean) and a donkey (unclean) harnessed together. *
¹¹ “You must not wear clothing made of wool and linen woven together.

*You will end up with crooked rows.

Leviticus 19:19 NLT
¹⁹ “You must obey all my decrees.
“Do not mate two different kinds of animals. Do not plant your field with two different kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven from two different kinds of thread. 

• Some partnerships, between believers and unbelievers, just do not work.

God knows what He is talking about!

Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
⁶ Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take. 

This is not saying that we should end all associations with unbelievers.

We interact, we do not become yoked together.

We should not be:

yoked together, coupled, connected, hooked, interconnected, interlinked, joined, linked, partnered

This relates to:

Mixed marriages (Spiritually)

Improper business associates

False apostles

How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness?

How can light live with darkness? 

¹⁵ What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil?

How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? 

¹⁶ And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? 

• It is impossible under certain partnerships for things to be done to God’s glory. 

For we (the church) are the temple of the living God. As God said:
“I will live in them
and walk among them.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people. 

Leviticus 26:12 NLT
¹² I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people.

Ezekiel 37:27 NLT
²⁷ I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

1 Corinthians 3:16 NLT
¹⁶ Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?

John 14:16-17 NLT
¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. ¹⁷ He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

• Believers are the temple of the living God.

• The temple of the living God cannot team up with those who are unbelievers.

• “You must not plow with an ox (clean) and a donkey (unclean) harnessed together.

It just won’t work! 

¹⁷ Therefore, come out from among unbelievers,
and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord.
Don’t touch their filthy things,
and I will welcome you. 

This applied to the Israelites.

Isaiah 52:11 NLT
¹¹ Get out! Get out and leave your captivity,
where everything you touch is unclean.
Get out of there and purify yourselves,
you who carry home the sacred objects of the Lord. 

This applied to the church in Corinth.

2 Corinthians 11:3-4 NLT
³ But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. ⁴ You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed. 

But I (Paul) fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted.

This applies to us, today. 

• Believers must separate themselves from unbelievers.

1 Corinthians 15:33 NLT
³³ … “bad company corrupts good character.” 

• “Bad company corrupts good character.”

¹⁸ And I will be your Father,
and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.” 

Ephesians 1:3-6 NLT
Spiritual Blessings
³ All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. ⁴ Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. ⁵ God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. ⁶ So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 

Galatians 4:5-6 NLT
⁵ God sent him (Jesus) to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. ⁶ And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 

• Believers are God’s children, adopted into his family. 

7  ¹Because we have these promises, 

1. 1. 1. 6:16 & v. 6:18 

dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit.

1 John 1:9 NLT
⁹ But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 

And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.

2 Timothy 2:19-22 NLT
¹⁹ But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.”
²⁰ In a wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use. ²¹ If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.
²² Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. 

Romans 12:1-2 NLT
A Living Sacrifice to God
¹ And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. ² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

2 Peter 1:3 NLT
Growing in Faith
³ By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 

Progressive sanctification:
2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT
¹⁸ So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. 

• “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.”