2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1

This section of Paul’s epistle is tremendously important to me.  Do not be yoked with unbelievers.  As many of you know, I left the church of my youth for a second time in 2004.  After seven years, I have ventured back on Tuesdays because of my longing for the sacraments and anything resembling true Bible study.  And so this passage where Paul admits that there might be unbelievers within the church in Corinth is particularly timely.

In my world, I have the Episcopal church of my youth with its nominally Christian presiding bishop and the Pentecostal church of my last seven years.  I don’t feel comfortable in either.  The Episcopal Church was described by the Puritans as having reformed articles of faith, Arminian clergy and Roman liturgy.  This confusion was the basis of the Puritan flight to this country.  Now, there is the problem of the liberal leadership, hell bent to lead the church…to hell.  I’d never seen the full blown Pentecostal trappings at my current church until this past weekend.  I had experienced the bad theology taught despite a reasonably well written statement of beliefs.  But the chicanery and sophistry that I witnessed yesterday was a rumor that had remained in the background until now.  I knew that by association with certain less reputable men over the years, that such events were possible at my church, but I hadn’t seen it.  The fastest way to eliminate a “pastor” from consideration for my ears is whether he has a show on Trinity Broadcasting Network; if he has a show on that network, then I'm not going to listen to him any longer.

Getting back to the scripture for discussion, 2 Corinthians is thought to be the fourth letter that Paul sent to Corinth, the first and third being lost to us.  Paul refers to the third letter in this letter in 2:2-3 and again in 7:8-16.  The idea that Paul may not have written the section under consideration here, 6:14-7:1, has no proof, nor does the notion that the portions of the letter had some other order in the past.  What is clear is that this section quotes the Old Testament rather densely.

The quoted section begins with a parenthetical look earlier in the letter to 3:16.  We are the temple of the living God.  This is a huge theological statement, not to be underemphasized.  The temple in Judaism was a place, but this is referring to the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctum of the temple where the Ark of the Covenant resided and God dwelt there over the Ark.  This is same imagery that is referenced in other places by Paul when he talks about atonement.  This is the same root word as we discussed before concerning the Mercy Seat, or covering of the Ark.  The radical idea is that in the New Covenant, God comes down to earth and dwells in and among his people.  When He ascends after the resurrection, He leaves the Holy Spirit to actually dwell within each of his people.  It is important not to take this to mean a sort of Eastern theology idea that we are all gods.  This is a very different notion, that we elect are all visited by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.  What is important is that God no longer is acting aloof, but has come to earth to dwell among and in us.  The temple of the Old Testament no longer has a function; to worship there is idolatry.  This is a huge change to lay at the feet of the Jewish converts.  Paul develops this idea more fully, in a much different tone, in his letter to the Galatians.

The Old testament scripture that is quoted comes from at least six places.  I’ll write the six OT passages together, then write them as they appear here:  Leviticus 26:11-12 (Exodus 29:45), Ezekiel 37:27, Isaiah 52:11, Ezekiel 20:34, 2 Samuel 7:14, Isaiah 43:6.

And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 

My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 

Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord. 

I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out.

I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men,

I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth,

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.”

It is an interesting mix of passages.  Notice how John states this point succinctly in Revelations 21:3. 

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

That’s pretty clear, and it’s also pretty radical for those early Jewish Christians.

There is a second very important thread running through this passage: the notion of separation.  First, don’t be yoked to unbelievers; second, we are not to touch any unclean thing; and third, we will be gathered together.  This is called the doctrine of separation by some and it is truly the focus of my concern.  The summary of this passage hammers home the point in 7:1.

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.

At this point, I’d like to go back to Paul’s introduction to this epistle.  See how he addresses the church in Corinth:  To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia.  That’s an interesting way to address a church in which there are dissenters and possibly unbelievers.  To the church of God.  We clearly understand by this that Paul is using that phrase as a collective noun referring to all of the people in that church.  He includes all of the saints in the wider area around Corinth.  In what manner can we reconcile today's passage with this opening greeting?  Many consider this a charge for church discipline, to straighten out the problems or toss them out.  The potential for abuse in this section is therefore obvious.  The whole idea of excommunication begins here.  This is a very foreign notion to the touchy, feely, God loves everyone theology of today.  And yet, Paul calls these people saints.

How about looking at this issue of separation from the other direction, as I have over the years?  If a believer finds himself in a church in which the Gospel is not being preached, or the Gospel is being distorted, what is his obligation?  Is the imperative here to fix the problem or to leave that church and find another that preaches the true Gospel?

I don’t know these answers.  I hope to learn these answers very soon.  I’ve heard arguments from both sides of that coin.  I will leave you with Frank Turk’s admonishment.  Do not be so particular about the correctness of the doctrine that no church can satisfy your doctrinal orthodoxy.  This can lead to isolation due to a self righteous idolatry.  There is another imperative and that is the call to corporate worship.  In these lean times, go to a church every week, find a crumb of Grace in what is said, and revere the office of preacher even when that office is betrayed.

Maranatha!

--Ogre--