Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,067
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 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.
Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.’” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18 ESV)
Biblically defined, who is an unbeliever (in Christ)?
Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God the Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21-23). He also said if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin and to self, and we obey God, we have eternal life in him (Luke 9:23-26).
And Paul (assumed) wrote: “And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:18-19). There he paralleled disobedience with unbelief (cf. Hebrews 4:1-16; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22). He wrote: “You are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness” (Romans 6:16). And those practicing sin will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21).
So, biblically speaking, an unbeliever is one who makes a deliberate practice of sinning against the Lord, and who does not obey the Lord and his New Covenant commandments, in practice. So when this Scripture teaches us that we are not to be unequally yoked (joined to, partnered with) unbelievers, it is not speaking merely of those who make no professions of faith in the Lord Jesus, but of all who make sin their practice and for whom obedience to God and righteous and holy living are not what they practice.
Now, with regard to marriage, as Christians we should not knowingly marry someone who is deliberately and habitually sinning against the Lord and who is not walking in obedience to his commandments, in practice, whether or not the person professes faith in Jesus Christ. But if we are already married, and then we become aware that our spouse is walking in sin and not in obedience to the Lord, the Scriptures do not insist that we should divorce that person. But if the unbeliever wants to remain, we should remain, too.
But we are not to join with an unbelieving spouse in his/her sinful practices. We are not to join in with what is unholy and ungodly and immoral. We are to resist the devil and flee temptation and draw near to God in full assurance of faith, in practice, and keep walking in obedience to the Lord. And we are to love and forgive and act kindly towards those who mistreat us and who do evil against us. And we are to pray for them and do good to them and say to them what will be beneficial for them in light of eternity (bless them).
And in all other circumstances we are not to be partners with (join in with) the ungodly who make sin their practice and for whom obedience to God and holy living is not their practice. We are not to be in fellowship (partnership) with the ungodly for whom sin is what they practice and not obedience to the Lord. And this includes all who profess faith in Jesus Christ but who are deliberately and habitually sinning against God and who are not obeying him in practice. But we should show them love and kindness and not hate.
Now, when we think of this in terms of the body of Christ, the church, this should impact what “church fellowships” we associate ourselves with, too. For so much of what is called “church” today are just businesses of men being marketed to the world just like any other business. And their goal is to attract the world to their gatherings, and so they appeal to the felt needs of the ungodly, and they entertain them, and they dilute and alter the character of God, of his church, and of his gospel to attract the ungodly.
So we should not be partners with them. We should not be in fellowship with these “churches” which are diluting and altering the character of God and of his church (his body) and of his gospel message in order to not offend the people of the world and in order to draw in large crowds of people from the world into their gatherings. We need to be in fellowship with other believers who are walking in obedience to the Lord and for whom sin is not what they practice. And we need to be ministering to and encouraging one another.
We need to come out from among those who are not teaching the truth of the gospel and who are changing the message of the gospel in order to attract the world (the ungodly) to their gatherings. We must not participate in the turning of “God’s house” (his temple, the body of Christ, the church) into businesses to be marketed to the world. And we are not to take the influence of the world on our minds and applied in our actions. But we are to come out of “Babylon” so that we don’t take part in her sins.
[Matthew 21:12-13; John 2:13-17; Acts 5:27-32; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Philippians 3:18-19; Revelation 13:5-8; Revelation 18:1-5]
Then God will be our God and we will be his people, and he will welcome us, and he will be a Father to us, and we shall be his sons and daughters when we live separate (unlike, different) from the world, which is what it means to be holy, and because we are now being conformed the likeness of character of Jesus Christ, by God’s Spirit. For if we partner with the ungodly, and we become like them, instead, we then walk as enemies of the cross of Christ, and our end will be destruction, not everlasting life in heaven with God.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Create in Me a Clean Heart
By Keith Green
Based off Psalms 51
Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Cast me not away from Thy presence, oh Lord
And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation
And renew a right spirit within me
Caution: This link may contain ads
“’I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.’” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18 ESV)
Biblically defined, who is an unbeliever (in Christ)?
Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God the Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21-23). He also said if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin and to self, and we obey God, we have eternal life in him (Luke 9:23-26).
And Paul (assumed) wrote: “And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:18-19). There he paralleled disobedience with unbelief (cf. Hebrews 4:1-16; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22). He wrote: “You are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness” (Romans 6:16). And those practicing sin will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21).
So, biblically speaking, an unbeliever is one who makes a deliberate practice of sinning against the Lord, and who does not obey the Lord and his New Covenant commandments, in practice. So when this Scripture teaches us that we are not to be unequally yoked (joined to, partnered with) unbelievers, it is not speaking merely of those who make no professions of faith in the Lord Jesus, but of all who make sin their practice and for whom obedience to God and righteous and holy living are not what they practice.
Now, with regard to marriage, as Christians we should not knowingly marry someone who is deliberately and habitually sinning against the Lord and who is not walking in obedience to his commandments, in practice, whether or not the person professes faith in Jesus Christ. But if we are already married, and then we become aware that our spouse is walking in sin and not in obedience to the Lord, the Scriptures do not insist that we should divorce that person. But if the unbeliever wants to remain, we should remain, too.
But we are not to join with an unbelieving spouse in his/her sinful practices. We are not to join in with what is unholy and ungodly and immoral. We are to resist the devil and flee temptation and draw near to God in full assurance of faith, in practice, and keep walking in obedience to the Lord. And we are to love and forgive and act kindly towards those who mistreat us and who do evil against us. And we are to pray for them and do good to them and say to them what will be beneficial for them in light of eternity (bless them).
And in all other circumstances we are not to be partners with (join in with) the ungodly who make sin their practice and for whom obedience to God and holy living is not their practice. We are not to be in fellowship (partnership) with the ungodly for whom sin is what they practice and not obedience to the Lord. And this includes all who profess faith in Jesus Christ but who are deliberately and habitually sinning against God and who are not obeying him in practice. But we should show them love and kindness and not hate.
Now, when we think of this in terms of the body of Christ, the church, this should impact what “church fellowships” we associate ourselves with, too. For so much of what is called “church” today are just businesses of men being marketed to the world just like any other business. And their goal is to attract the world to their gatherings, and so they appeal to the felt needs of the ungodly, and they entertain them, and they dilute and alter the character of God, of his church, and of his gospel to attract the ungodly.
So we should not be partners with them. We should not be in fellowship with these “churches” which are diluting and altering the character of God and of his church (his body) and of his gospel message in order to not offend the people of the world and in order to draw in large crowds of people from the world into their gatherings. We need to be in fellowship with other believers who are walking in obedience to the Lord and for whom sin is not what they practice. And we need to be ministering to and encouraging one another.
We need to come out from among those who are not teaching the truth of the gospel and who are changing the message of the gospel in order to attract the world (the ungodly) to their gatherings. We must not participate in the turning of “God’s house” (his temple, the body of Christ, the church) into businesses to be marketed to the world. And we are not to take the influence of the world on our minds and applied in our actions. But we are to come out of “Babylon” so that we don’t take part in her sins.
[Matthew 21:12-13; John 2:13-17; Acts 5:27-32; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Philippians 3:18-19; Revelation 13:5-8; Revelation 18:1-5]
Then God will be our God and we will be his people, and he will welcome us, and he will be a Father to us, and we shall be his sons and daughters when we live separate (unlike, different) from the world, which is what it means to be holy, and because we are now being conformed the likeness of character of Jesus Christ, by God’s Spirit. For if we partner with the ungodly, and we become like them, instead, we then walk as enemies of the cross of Christ, and our end will be destruction, not everlasting life in heaven with God.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Create in Me a Clean Heart
By Keith Green
Based off Psalms 51
Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Cast me not away from Thy presence, oh Lord
And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation
And renew a right spirit within me
Caution: This link may contain ads
