¹¹ We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. ¹² You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. ¹³ In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also. 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? ¹⁶ What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ¹⁷ Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, ¹⁸ and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” ¹ Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. ² Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. ³ I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.

“Proximity will make her better.” That’s what my daughter’s coach told me last Wednesday. Once a week, Abbi climbs at a bouldering gym called The Blök. She loves it. Coaches help the climbers learn and apply new techniques. But Abbi’s coach wants her to climb twice a week: “If you could get her here twice a week—on the walls more, around the coaches more, next to other climbers—her skills would improve significantly. Proximity will make her better.”

We could say that Paul makes a similar point about our holiness. Proximity makes us better. But the proximity in view is God’s proximity to us. How close is he? Well, you heard what God said: “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them.” That proximity has everything to do with your holiness. God’s nearness demands and motivates our holiness. We’ll spend most of our time on that big idea.

A Plea for Their Hearts

But let’s first consider Paul’s plea for their hearts. Our passage begins and ends on the same note—Paul opens his heart to the Corinthians wanting the Corinthians to open theirs to him. Verse 11, “We’ve spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.” Some of you know what it’s like to pour your entire self into another person only to have that person not reciprocate the same affection. It’s agonizing, wearying to the soul. Parents of wayward children know something of what Paul is experiencing.

In fact, notice how Paul says, “I speak as to children.” He’s expressing fatherly care. When he brought them the gospel, Paul became a spiritual father to these Corinthians.[i] And as a good father, he has removed every obstacle to keep the lines of communication open. His heart is filled with deep affection. When it comes to love, he’s built no walls, no restrictions. “But,” he says, “you are restricted in your own affections.”

What does he want them to do? “In return [in exchange, it’s only right that you] widen your hearts also.” He says something similar in 7:2, “Make room in your hearts for us.” If Paul had done something wrong, you could understand the hesitation they might have. We all know how dishonesty or betrayal can ruin the closeness we once felt in a relationship. But Paul is innocent: “We have wronged no one,” he says. “We have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I don’t say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.”

Some of you kids enjoy reading The Green Ember series by S. D. Smith. What’s the line the good rabbits declare to show their solidarity in heart? “My place beside you, my blood for yours. Till the Green Ember rises or the end of the world!” The Roman world of Paul’s day had lines like that, and one of them was “to die together and to live together.” Paul’s loyalty is the sort that goes all the way. In life, in death, he’s with them to the end. Now his plea is for these Christians to share the same affection to him.

A Plea for Their Holiness

Of course, this raises a question. If they’ve heard Paul’s sincere words, if they’ve felt his fatherly affection, if they’ve witnessed his loyal devotion, if they’ve known his relentless integrity, if they’ve seen in his sufferings a reflection of Christ—why are they hesitating? What’s restricting their affection for Paul and his message?

A partnership with paganism. The allure of idolatry. Remember that Paul wrote this letter around AD 56. The city of Corinth was like a modern-day San Francisco. It was “the wealthiest city in Greece,” “a pluralistic melting pot of subcultures…and religions;” it was “filled with materialism, pride, and self-confidence,” to quote Scott Hafemann.[ii] Religious sites and national symbols proudly decorated the city. Wealth marked your status. Entertainment and sports became points of boasting. People in Corinth wanted flash, economic clout, rhetorical skill, physical might.

That’s the air these people breathed. And with the help of some false teachers, the values of that surrounding culture started influencing the church and drawing people away from the apostles’ teaching, or, in some cases, trying to blend their cultural idols with Christianity. That’s why Paul—between his two pleas for their hearts—he inserts another plea for their holiness. To open their hearts to Paul would mean severing their hearts from paganism. Verse 14, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.”

Some have applied this command in a very limited fashion to marriage. Paul does teach in 1 Corinthians 7:39 that if a Christian marries, they ought to marry “only in the Lord.” But he also teaches in 1 Corinthians 7:12-14 that if you become a Christian and happen to be married already to an unbeliever, your marriage is still a holy union. In other words, “being unequally yoked” isn’t about marriage, though it will very much inform how you think about marriage and conduct yourself in a marriage.

Here’s another bad way to understand this command: “shut off all interactions with unbelievers;” “isolate yourself into Christian ghettos.” That’s not what he’s saying. In 1 Corinthians 5:9-10, Paul makes the hilarious point that we’d “need to go out of this world” for there to be no association with unbelievers. On top of that, in 1 Corinthians 10:27 Paul assumes that we’re going to be invited to eat with unbelievers and this was a good thing as it provided opportunity for gospel witness.

What does he mean, then, by “Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers”? The backdrop for the picture is that of a wooden beam placed over the necks of two animals, like a pair of oxen; and these animals would together pull your farm implements. An unequal yoke would be when you’ve got two mismatched animals, such that they’re pulling in different directions. Paul draws from that analogy to say that we should avoid any close alliance with unbelievers that compromises loyalty to Christ, that pulls us away from the truth, that jeopardizes your Christian identity and witness.

It’s one thing to befriend unbelievers, do them good, eat with them (as Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners). But it’s another thing when their idolatrous belief systems, their moral compromises, become your own. Do the former, not the latter.

Why? For starters, we don’t share the same moral vision. Notice his first rhetorical question: “for what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?” Morality and immorality can’t mix. Once, we participated in lawlessness. We hated God’s law. But in his grace, God made us righteous in Christ; that righteousness has an external embodiment. We now practice righteousness before God and toward others.

Also, we operate in a different spiritual sphere. He asks, “Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” In Scripture, darkness often illustrates the entire system of evil that opposes God. At one time, we were part of that darkness. But in Christ, we’ve been rescued from darkness. We are children of light.

Even more, we have a new Master. “What accord has Christ with Belial?” Belial means “treacherous one.” In Paul’s day, Satan was known by this name. I can’t think of anyone more opposed to Jesus. In 4:4, Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers. But for the believer, God has opened our eyes to see the light of his glory in Christ.

The object of our trust is also different: “What share has a believer with an unbeliever?” Sure, when it concerns life’s necessities, common hobbies, peaceful neighborhoods—there are things we share with unbelievers. But when it comes to ultimate things, we are bound to Christ by faith. That union transforms everything about us—our outlook on the world, our motives for doing things, our aims and hopes.

It also changes our identity. Notice his last question in verse 16: “What agreement has the temple of God with idols?” In the Old Testament, the temple signified God’s presence. But here’s the thing: no one could access God’s presence except on the terms he specified. There were sections—the outer courts, the inner courts, the holy place reserved only for special mediators called priests. And then the Most Holy place—only once a year could the high priest enter and not without taking blood. God’s holy presence wasn’t to be taken lightly. Unholy things weren’t welcome.

People tried; and it didn’t go well for them. King Manasseh was the worst. 2 Kings 21—he sets up altars in the temple to worship foreign gods. And the Lord tells him, “I’m bringing on Jerusalem such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears will tingle.” To bring an idol into God’s presence was an abomination.

But here’s what Paul’s saying: because of the priestly work of Christ, because of the blood he spilled for our sins, because of the extensive cleansing we’ve received, the old temple (with all its sections and sacrifices) is no more. It’s no longer needed; and the new temple is Christ with his people. Verse 16: “For we are the temple of the living God.” Does that cause you to tremble? The God before whom the seraphs cry, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts!” The God who is majestically other and morally other—who’s in a category by himself—he now dwells in you, the church.

You are God’s temple. God dwells in you—you as an individual and you as a church. That’s your new identity in Christ. We don’t go to a temple to meet with God; we are God’s temple. The Scriptures themselves anticipated this moment.

In verse 16, for example, Paul quotes Leviticus 26:11-12 but combines it with Ezekiel 37:27: “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Where do we first read of God dwelling with people and walking among them? The Garden. Genesis 2. But then sin enters the world and separates us from God. If God was to dwell with man, he must act to save.

Leviticus 26 is one instance where God saves a people for himself. He delivers them from Egypt. He even uses the language of “shattering the bond of your yoke [the yoke of slavery].” He brings them to himself and then promises to dwell with them. Israel, however, doesn’t keep their end of the covenant. They practice idolatry. So, exile it is. Separation again, another picture of what happens to all of us in our sin.

Nevertheless, God wasn’t done. In mercy, he sends the prophet Ezekiel; and Ezekiel promises an even greater deliverance. God will make a new nation and this time cleanse them from all their idols. His work would be so thorough that God would set his sanctuary in their midst forever. Paul is saying that you are an outpost of God fulfilling that promise. God’s sanctuary is in your midst—you are his dwelling place.

Isaiah anticipated something similar. Israel had committed great idolatry; and God’s judgment destroyed Jerusalem. Many people were exiled to Babylon, living there for years. Many of them just getting used to life in Babylon. But then Isaiah 52 promises good news. God would restore a new and greater Jerusalem. God promised to return to his people. His presence would no longer be a judging threat but a redeeming comfort. So, to those in exile, Isaiah 52:11 says, “Therefore go out from their midst [referring to Babylon], and be separate from them, says the Lord…touch no unclean thing.”

Basically, break any ties with Babylon’s moral compromises. Break any ties with Babylon’s idolatry and corrupt politics. Why? What makes all the difference? God’s nearness. The promised presence of God among his new people. And Paul quotes it here for the church. You’re an outpost of God fulfilling that promise. You belong to the new Jerusalem; and that means separating yourself from “Babylon”—Babylon being the whole system of evil that opposes the Lord.

Then two more. At the end of verse 17, he quotes Ezekiel 20:41, “Then I will welcome you.” It comes from another promise of restoration. God will manifest his holiness among his people; and for that reason, they must put away their idols. They must be distinct from the nations and do nothing to profane God’s holy name.

In verse 18, 2 Samuel 7:14 is the last quote: “I will be a father to you…” That’s from God’s covenant with David. A royal offspring from David’s line would build God’s house. But when Paul cites the promise, he broadens the application (perhaps using some texts from Isaiah): “you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” In other words, by severing our ties with evil and idolatry, we represent the culmination God’s promise to build David a royal house. Jesus, the true Son of David, is building that royal house in the church. As sons and daughters, you are the royal heirs.

I’ve barely scratched the surface of the connections in these promises. But the main idea is that God’s nearness gives us a new identity and ethic. We are God’s temple, God’s house; and part of our witness to the world is being distinct from the world—distinct in our moral resolve to obey Jesus, distinct in our love and generosity, distinct in our marriages reflecting Christ and the church, distinct in our unity with other Christians, distinct in our suffering to win others, distinct in our ultimate hopes for humanity.

Listen to Paul’s conclusion in 7:1, “Therefore [only implied in the ESV, but it’s there in the Greek] since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” Hear those words carefully: “therefore,” “since we have,” and “beloved [i.e., loved by God].” The plea for holiness rests on the promises and prior work of God. Remember 1:20, “all of God’s promises find their Yes in Jesus.” The promises about God’s presence drive the pursuit of holiness. We don’t pursue holiness to get near to God; we pursue holiness because he’s already drawn near to us—you are God’s temple!

To use an image from Jerry Bridges, holiness is not about “bunned hair, long skirts, and black stockings.”[iii] It’s not a limited set of Do’s and Don’ts that your circle of friends prioritizes. Nor is it meant to burden you with thoughts of “unattainable perfection.” Holiness is about God setting us apart for himself. Holiness is about God walking with us. It’s about God forming his character in us.

Our Pursuit of Holiness

Do you think much about holiness? God’s nearness both demands and motivates our holiness. His proximity is why we grow in holiness. Through Christ, he dwells among us. So, how might a passage like this help our pursuit of holiness? I want to leave you with six ways to apply this.

One, keep your heart open to the apostles’ teaching. The problems Paul faced in Corinth exist today as well—like when professing Christians accommodate worldly ideas on sexuality or gender, arguing that Paul just got some things wrong. They become “unequally yoked” with unbelievers in their stance on sexuality; and over time that closes their hearts to Paul’s teaching (i.e., “he was just a man of his time”) or it causes them to twist Paul’s teachings to accommodate things like homosexuality.

Closing our hearts to Paul’s writings (or any portion of God’s word) is a hindrance to holiness. It cuts people off from the truth and it leaves them in their sins. It repeats the subtle lie of the Serpent: “Did God really say?” The only way to grow in holiness is to open your heart to God’s truth as it’s revealed in the apostles’ teachings.

Two, remember your identity in Christ. Holiness does not begin with a list of Do’s and Don’ts. It begins in a relationship with Christ, in whom you become God’s temple. If you are not a Christian, please know that your sins have separated you from God. But God sent his Son into the world to reconcile you to himself. Jesus died to forgive your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. He died to make you holy. That brothel of a heart you have—he can turn into his sanctuary. That’s what he does for all who are in Christ—you become his temple.

If you trust in Christ, you are God’s temple. That’s who you are. You’re not just a non-profit agency that helps people. You are the dwelling place of God on earth. He manifests his presence among you. How does knowing this play out on Monday?

It gives you a new mindset. If God is already present, life isn’t about trying to get him near; he’s already near! Enjoy him! Walk with him. He’s walking with you. Or let’s say a temptation presents itself—a desire to snap back in anger, a craving for people to notice you, a desire to view something sexually explicit—the fight in that moment starts with remembering who you are: “I am God’s temple. I’m not going to defile God’s temple. Lord, help me keep unholy things out of here.”

But also corporately as a church—we together are God’s temple and we must be sure that we don’t allow unholy things to defile our teaching, our gathered worship, our relationships with each other (bitterness, backbiting, gossip, lying, and so on). Nor do we want anything to defile our witness to the world. When unbelievers gather with us, when they’re around us, when they interact with us, would they declare, “God is really among you!” In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul hopes they would.

Three, meditate on God’s promises. Paul’s plea for holiness is grounded on God’s promises: “since we have these promises.” The Scottish minister Thomas Chalmers once observed that our hearts are not constituted in such a way that we can change by sheer willpower and resolve. “The only way to dispossess [the heart] of an old affection, is by the expulsive power of a new one.”[iv]

Meditate on God’s promises to cultivate new affections for God, new affections for heaven and righteousness and glory, such that the old, sinful desires of your flesh are driven away. Here’s an example. We’ve been talking about not being unequally yoked with unbelievers. Hebrews 11—why does Moses refuse to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter? Why does he choose to be mistreated with the people of God rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin? Couldn’t he have just yoked himself to Pharaoh’s house and have all the comforts of royalty? Why didn’t he do it? “He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” God’s promised reward compelled his pursuit of holiness.

Four, keep yourself from idols. Verse 16, “What agreement has the temple of God with idols.” If you can’t discern idolatry, you’re more prone to being unequally yoked with unbelievers. In his book The Mission of God, Christopher Wright surveys the Old Testament and finds several ways people manufacture idols. We make idols from things that entice us (Deut 4:19). We can make idols from things we fear (Ps 96:4). Trace your fears to find what you worship. And we can make idols from things we trust (Ps 115:8)—things we trust for deliverance and satisfaction and meaning in life.[v]

People also make idols from a nation’s strength—Habakkuk 1:11. Political leaders can become idols—Isaiah 36:6. Here’s a recent example of professing Christians being “unequally yoked” in the realm of politics. Just watch the videos of Pastor Robert Jeffress applauding the false teacher Paula White after she compares President Trump to Jesus. In moments like this, there’s a mixture of Christianity and national pride that smacks of the very things Paul is warning against. Here’s a diagnostic: when someone exposes the sins of your political party do you make excuses for their sin? Are you easily agitated? If so, you need to evaluate where your allegiance lies.

In Paul’s day, there was also Aphrodite, goddess of sex. Our culture says the whole of your self-worth is found in fulfilling your sexual desires; and some Christians are falling in line with that—such as the Revoice movement. Plutus was the god of wealth. Think of the great control money has on people; and how the prosperity gospel spreads so rapidly by those who profess to know Jesus. Heracles, god of strength and sport. People gawk over wash-board abs and ripped physiques; and sometimes even Christians are caught up in the boasting of that culture.

If you want to grow in holiness, learn to discern the idols of your heart and the idols of the culture around you; and keep yourself from them. The more you train yourself to discerning idols, the more you’ll keep yourself from being unequally yoked.

Five, cleanse yourself from every defilement. That’s what he says in 7:1. Holiness doesn’t come automatically—as if we sit back and are magically transformed; or as if we just happened to stumble into holiness. Holiness requires effort, vigilance. God works in and through your working. You play an active role in discerning sin and repenting of that sin—not just feeling bad but putting it to death—and then cultivating new heart attitudes and godly habits.

Pursuing holiness is also comprehensive. He says, “every defilement.” Not just the worst kinds of sin (murder, adultery, lying, blasphemy), but every kind of sin—even the ones we tend to find more acceptable (discontentment, ingratitude, impatience, grumbling, judgmentalism, gossip, gluttony, resentment, holding grudges).

It’s also “every defilement of body and spirit.” External behaviors and internal dispositions. Not just resisting murder but cleansing your spirit from all forms of sinful anger. Not just saying no to porn but cleansing your heart from lust. Not just sticking to a budget but growing a spirit of generosity. Not just avoiding gossip but cultivating a kind and loving disposition toward all people.

When we cleanse ourselves this way, Paul says that we “bring holiness to completion.” Not meaning that we become perfect on this side of heaven, but that we become the sort of community he saved us to be—a people set apart for God. Bring that to completion, so that others will know what God is like.

Then, finally, on how this passage helps us pursue holiness: cultivate a heart that fears the Lord. Last part of verse 1: “bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” This is not a slavish fear, an anxiety that God is out to get us. Rather, it’s a filial fear (filial, meaning sonship). You take God seriously, much like you’d take a loving father seriously. You’re mindful of God’s presence and majesty. It’s an awe-struck, trembling appreciation of God. How do we grow in this fear of the Lord?

We first need God to humble us and give us a new heart. Jeremiah 32:40, “I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn away from me.” Cry to the Lord for a new heart. Also, meditate on the Lord’s greatness revealed in nature—hike the highest mountain, view the widest canyons, study the largest galaxies, feel the thunder shake your walls—and consider the God behind it all. Also meditate on the Lord’s greatness in Scripture—“[His] majesty is above the heavens;” “The nations are but a drop in the bucket before him;” “The earth sees and trembles; the mountains melt like wax before the Lord.” Turn these things over in your mind.

And most of all, consider the cross. It was so good when I read it the other day, I want to read it again. John Brown once wrote this about the cross:

Nothing is so well fitted to put the fear of God…into the heart as an enlightened view of the cross of Christ. There shine spotless holiness, inflexible justice, incomprehensible wisdom, omnipotent power, holy love. None of these excellencies darken or eclipse the other, but every one of them rather gives a luster to the rest. They mingle their beams and shine with united eternal splendor: the just Judge, the merciful Father, the wise Governor. Nowhere does justice appear so awful, mercy so amiable, or wisdom so profound.[vi]

Brothers and sisters, this same cross is what enables us to draw near to God. By this cross, God makes his dwelling with us. Because we are clean, he walks among us; and his proximity changes everything. His proximity will one day change the world into a cosmic sanctuary. But for now, God is pleased for his presence to dwell in you, the church. His nearness motivates our holiness. Let us bring that holiness to completion.

________

[i] 1 Cor 4:15.

[ii] Scott Hafemann, 2 Corinthians, NIVAC (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 23, 24.

[iii] Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1978), 15.

[iv] Thomas Chalmers, “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection,” Monergism, accessed at https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/Chalmers,%20Thomas%20-%20The%20Exlpulsive%20Power%20of%20a%20New%20Af.pdf.

[v] Christopher Wright, The Mission of God (Downers Grove: IVP, 2006), 166-71.

[vi] As cited in Michael Reeves, Rejoice and Tremble (Wheaton: Crossway, 2021), 117.