Dear Steve,
What does it mean by being unequally yoked (2 Cor 6:14)? When does one's relationship with an unbeliever becomes a situation of being unequally yoked?
2 Corinthian 6:14 - Unequally yoked
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_Benjamin Ho
- Posts: 137
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2 Corinthian 6:14 - Unequally yoked
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
Reason:
Reason:
Grace and peace,
Benjamin Ho
Benjamin Ho
Hi Ben,
It is clear that not all dealings with unbelievers are inappropriate, for then, as Paul told the Corinthians in his First Epistle, "you would need to go out of the world" (5:10).
Yet there is a degree of partnership with unbelievers that becomes inadvisable and even wrong. To be "yoked together" suggests serving alongside another in a compulsory partnership. An ox cannot release itself from the yoke on its neck, and it is therefore trapped in a situation requiring it to work alongside another animal. They are partners. Because of the nature ot the yoke, the stronger animal must compensate for the weakness of the other, and the slower animal will retard the progress of the other.
In the Old Testament law, the Jews were forbidden to plow with an ox and an ass together (Deut.22:10). The ox was a clean animal, and the ass an unclean one. It was not appropriate to yoke together the clean with the unclean. This is no doubt the concept Paul had in mind when giviing instructions about not being unqually yoked with an unbeliever (2 Cor.6:14).
Any situation that binds you long-term in an inescapable partnership might be viewed as a "yoke." Marriage is obviously an example of this kind of thing. So would be a business partnership or a joint management situation where the integrity of the enterprise (and of your testimony) might be compromised by the actions of an unprincipled partner. It would especially be wrong to involve unbelievers in any service that was viewed as service to the Lord, and every activity of a Christian could conceivably fall under that rubric (1 Cor.10:31).
Some short-term business associations might not be viewed as this kind of a yoke, if there is a possibility of the believer disentangling himself when/if objectionable policies begin to be adopted. I don't think it is a violation of Paul's teaching either to be employed by a non-Christian (assuming you can quit when you wish), nor, of course, where the arrangement is involuntarily forced upon him (as with slaves, for example). In any employment, you must be sensitive to the fact that the public perception of the company you work for may impugn the testimony of anyone working for that company.
In the context of 2 Corinthians, I think Paul is warning the believers in the Corinthian church not to compromise with or serve alongside the false teachers who were opposing Paul's apostleship. If this is his primary concern, he may only be intending to apply the principle to church life and church work, but I would feel safer applying it to every field of activity myself.
It is clear that not all dealings with unbelievers are inappropriate, for then, as Paul told the Corinthians in his First Epistle, "you would need to go out of the world" (5:10).
Yet there is a degree of partnership with unbelievers that becomes inadvisable and even wrong. To be "yoked together" suggests serving alongside another in a compulsory partnership. An ox cannot release itself from the yoke on its neck, and it is therefore trapped in a situation requiring it to work alongside another animal. They are partners. Because of the nature ot the yoke, the stronger animal must compensate for the weakness of the other, and the slower animal will retard the progress of the other.
In the Old Testament law, the Jews were forbidden to plow with an ox and an ass together (Deut.22:10). The ox was a clean animal, and the ass an unclean one. It was not appropriate to yoke together the clean with the unclean. This is no doubt the concept Paul had in mind when giviing instructions about not being unqually yoked with an unbeliever (2 Cor.6:14).
Any situation that binds you long-term in an inescapable partnership might be viewed as a "yoke." Marriage is obviously an example of this kind of thing. So would be a business partnership or a joint management situation where the integrity of the enterprise (and of your testimony) might be compromised by the actions of an unprincipled partner. It would especially be wrong to involve unbelievers in any service that was viewed as service to the Lord, and every activity of a Christian could conceivably fall under that rubric (1 Cor.10:31).
Some short-term business associations might not be viewed as this kind of a yoke, if there is a possibility of the believer disentangling himself when/if objectionable policies begin to be adopted. I don't think it is a violation of Paul's teaching either to be employed by a non-Christian (assuming you can quit when you wish), nor, of course, where the arrangement is involuntarily forced upon him (as with slaves, for example). In any employment, you must be sensitive to the fact that the public perception of the company you work for may impugn the testimony of anyone working for that company.
In the context of 2 Corinthians, I think Paul is warning the believers in the Corinthian church not to compromise with or serve alongside the false teachers who were opposing Paul's apostleship. If this is his primary concern, he may only be intending to apply the principle to church life and church work, but I would feel safer applying it to every field of activity myself.
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
Reason:
Reason:
In Jesus,
Steve
Steve