Believe
Believe
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?”
2 Corinthians 6:14
A couple of weeks ago my wife and I went to the mountains to refresh, renew and refocus. It was a good time to get away from the distractions of life, even though it really is just a relocation when you travel. It doesn’t really change anything permanently. It was however, really nice to get away, especially with her.
I’ve read the above verse several times and it strikes me how it can be interpreted or represented to mean something it doesn’t mean.
I’ve actually heard a preacher use it before to say that believers shouldn’t fellowship with unbelievers. I’m not quite sure this is what God meant as He inspired Paul to write it. And I’ve also heard it repeated by members of a congregation.
First and foremost, I’m not pretending to know what God meant or what Paul thought as he wrote this. I’m just saying what my opinion is based on what is written in the Bible and after reading several chapters before and after and studying it out.
Being unequally yoked refers to a term where two animals wouldn’t be bound together in a plow to farm together. This is for obvious reasons. You wouldn’t have a horse pulling with an oxen. You wouldn’t expect a donkey to pull with a gazelle.
In simple terms, if you’re training for a marathon with a sprinter, you’ll learn to sprint. If you’re training to sprint with a marathoner, you’ll learn to run long distances. I don’t like to run, so you’ll never see me doing either.
In this verse a believer is a Christian, a follower of Christ, someone who has placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
In today’s terms, this person is a saved person, someone who is born again. This person may even be baptized by submersion and become a member of a church.
Neither baptism or becoming a member of a church secure your salvation. Becoming baptized is an outwardly expression or profession of your faith in Jesus Christ and symbolizes His death, burial and resurrection.
Becoming a member of a church should help lead and grow your walk with God, foster relationships with other believers and act as a place to serve and worship God.
Being in a friendship with someone who doesn’t believe the values, principles and teaching of Jesus Christ will do one of two things. It will either begin to lower your Christian standards and walk with God or it will change or encourage the other persons relationship with God. It will not remove your believer status (salvation). The closer your friendship grows with a non-believer, the further your walk will be, unless you use the strength of Christ to bring that person to God.
You will either bring someone up to your level or you will go down to theirs. This all depends on your walk with God and where Christ is in your life.
And there is one thing for certain, once you are a believer, saved, born again or have secured your eternal salvation - no one can take it away from you. No one. And if you and the other person are both believers, then this verse doesn’t apply to you.
We must remember the spirit of what Paul was saying here. This does not mean to isolate yourself from non-believers. It means not to join them in binding agreements, do business with them or form alliances with them.
Our fellowship and relationships with believers is important and should be strong. These relationships and friendships will only strengthen and encourage our walk with God and create a firm Christian foundation.
This relationship with God, if being pursued correctly and diligently, doesn’t change because we associate with a non-believer, miss a few services or stop attending a specific church altogether.
We shouldn’t put aside our faith and belief for a friendship with someone who doesn’t believe in Jesus Christ. Or act differently around others because we are ashamed of our Christianity. We should never allow anyone to influence our love for God or His love for us. A strong relationship with God will assure this won’t happen.
And it definitely doesn’t mean that we should avoid non-believers. How else would you spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Or share your testimony. Or share your passion for salvation?
Instead of thinking about the darkness covering our light, what about being the light to someone’s darkness?
People should see the life you live for Christ.
If you’re busy pointing out the differences in someone’s life - you’re not pointed in the right direction. If your consumed with the wrong people are doing, you’ll never see the good. And if your too busy trying to convince others that you’re right, you’re probably wrong.
Read your Bible, find the right church, know what your being told, pray and surround yourself with like minded believers.
Put your focus on God!
“Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man. I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you. Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.”
2 Corinthians 7:2-4