Touch No Unclean Thing

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

“Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1)

The passage is sometimes considered a digression, but it can fit well within the context of the letter. There are those who undermine Paul among the Corinthians with their criticisms of the apostle’s doctrines, methods, and personal traits. These constitute an open rebellion against the apostle’s authority and authenticity, which in turn amount to rebellion against Christ and the Christian faith. Thus those who stir up trouble as well as those who commit themselves to their cause are regarded as unbelievers.

Later in the letter, Paul writes, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve” (11:13-15). He compares the false apostles to Satan, and refers to them as the devil’s servants. He notes that they will meet an appropriate end and thus implies that they belong to hell, even though these men claim to be Christians, even the apostles of Christ.

So it is not strange for Paul to mention unbelievers in our context, since for believers to align with the false teachers and their supporters would be to yoke themselves to unbelievers. As Paul later adds, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you – unless, of course, you fail the test?” (13:5).

Thus one cause for confusion is that interpreters do not expect Paul to call “Christian” false teachers outright unbelievers. Another cause for misunderstanding is that some interpreters restrict the group to idol worshipers. Why does the apostle suddenly talk about idolatry? So this seems to be a digression. However, of the five contrasts that Paul makes, only one refers to idols, and it is not clear that he has in mind idols as such, since he may refer to them only as a natural contrast to the temple of God. Then, Belial represents Satan, and does not refer to idols as such.

Perhaps the error can be explained by careless exegesis. It is expected that scholars constantly make mistakes. But I have not seen a commentary that says this passage refers only to wickedness or to darkness, but everyone who limits its application restricts it to idol worshipers. I suspect that this tendency stems from a reluctance to accept its teaching. To the interpreters, at least those in much of the western world, restricting the passage to overt idol worshipers would doom it to irrelevance. This is so that they can keep their non-Christian friends.

Paul says, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers,” not just idol worshipers. What? Do you think he means, “Do not be yoked together with idol worshipers, but feel free to be yoked together with atheists and blasphemers”? The contrasts that follow make his meaning clear. The Christian is identified with righteousness, the non-Christian with wickedness. The Christian is identified with light, the non-Christian with darkness. The Christian is identified with Christ, the non-Christian with Belial, or Satan. The Christian is called a believer, the non-Christian an unbeliever. The Christian is identified with the temple of God, the non-Christian with idols. Paul is not referring to idol-worshiping unbelievers, but he is likening the unbelievers themselves to idols – in this context, just as believers are the temple of God, unbelievers are idols. His point is that there is no agreement between believers and unbelievers just as there is no agreement between God’s temple and the idols. Thus the passage applies to all non-Christians, all unbelievers. And Paul says do not be yoked together with them.

The contrasts themselves are interesting. The Christian is said to be righteousness, light, Christ, a believer, and the temple of God. This is the tremendous privilege we possess in Jesus Christ. He has given us an altogether superior existence. As God has said, “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” On the other hand, the non-Christian is referred to as wickedness, darkness, Satan, an unbeliever, and idols. A non-Christian is evil and dark, even like Satan. The Bible permits no middle place. There are no semi-believers or semi-unbelievers. You are either a believer or an unbeliever. If you are a believer, you are righteousness. If you are an unbeliever, you are wickedness.

A faith that is not extreme in this sense, therefore, is not the Christian faith. God allows us to see the world only in this way. Here he condemns religious diversity in the clearest terms. It has been said that all religions are essentially the same, and that although there are many expressions, they all lead to truth and goodness. But Paul shows that even if all non-Christian religions agree, the Christian faith stands against all of them. He says that between one who believes in Christ and one who does not believe in Christ, there is nothing in common (v. 14), there is no harmony (v. 15), and there is no agreement (v. 16).

Since believers are God’s temple, so that God says, “I will live with them,” and since unbelievers are not God’s temple, but are like the idols, this means that there is no God in non-Christian religions. In fact, anyone who says that all religions are the same, or that the religion of Christians is essentially the same with the religion of the non-Christians, also says that Christ is the same with Belial, or with Satan. Of course, anyone who says this must not be a Christian. Let him be publicly condemned and humiliated, and ejected from the church along with his religious diversity.

One application immediately follows from the text, since it accords with the original context. It should make many Christians uncomfortable, and so I am delighted to talk about it.

There are those who continue to resist the authority and authenticity of the apostles as well as the message that they preached. These people must be unbelievers, because the Christian faith is defined by the prophets and the apostles, or in other words, the Bible. If a person resists the Christian faith, he is not a Christian. This is true by definition, and it is easy to understand.

Like Paul’s opponents, who claimed to be Christians, even apostles of Christ, but who tried to undermine the foundational messengers and teachings of the faith, today there are those who claim to be Christians but who reject or distort basic doctrines such as the inspiration of the Bible, the nature of God, the deity, incarnation, and atoning work of Christ, and justification by faith. What are we to make of them? Paul would tell us that these people are unbelievers, and he would command us, “Do not be yoked together” with them.

However, Christians have learned to compartmentalize heresies and blasphemies. They would reject what the false teachers say about some aspects of the faith, but then invite them to speak at their churches and conferences provided the focus stays on some other topic. After providing a disclaimer on how they disagree with the false teachers on their heresies, they would burst into unrestrained praise about their contributions, perhaps in some other area of theology in which they remained orthodox, or in apologetics, or in some area of historical research. They would continue to promote their writings and cite their works with approval. Or, although a false teacher misleads the people on justification by faith or preaches a heretical eschatology, he seems to be a skilled debater against atheism, and so they throw their support behind him.

Suppose someone raped and murdered your wife, would you say to him, “Although I disagree with how you raped and murdered my wife, you are still a good babysitter. Are you free Friday night?” But now we are talking about someone who blasphemes your God and who undermines the very foundation of your religion, and you say, “Teach me apologetics as long as you shut up about justification by faith”? Are you mad? What is wrong with you? Does Jesus Christ mean anything to you? Take heed lest, as you become yoked together with unbelievers, you are exposed as an unbeliever yourself. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough” (11:4). How about you? Huh? Answer me! How about you? Is Christ so impoverished that he needs Satan to preach for him?

But a different Jesus and a different gospel cannot save (Galatians 1:6-9). If you become yoked together with someone who preaches a different Jesus and a different gospel, he might just drag you to hell with him. So what if he is good at debating the existence of God? So what if he is able to engage culture with style and insight? So what if he is an expert on biblical covenants, or the resurrection of Christ, or if he has some other quality that you admire? If he rejects the inerrancy of Scripture, or the deity of Christ, or justification by faith, or some other essential doctrine, he is an unbeliever. There is no half-unbeliever. He is totally an unbeliever. Would you tell Satan to speak at your church as long as he behaves? What should Christians do? God says that the unbelievers are spiritually, intellectually, and ethically dirty. “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord,” and “Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

Then, the application is not limited to false teachers or to unbelievers in the church. Paul refers to unbelievers without distinction. It is not as if he forbids Christians to be yoked together with unbelievers within the church, but permits them to be yoked together with unbelievers outside the church. An unbeliever is an unbeliever, and he is unclean. He is wickedness, darkness, and Belial. Christ has nothing in common with Satan, whether inside or outside the church. Thus the passage must apply to all our dealings with unbelievers.

This requires some thought in application, and we can be glad that the Bible provides a number of principles to help us. Elsewhere Paul says that Christians must not associate with someone who claims to be a Christian but who is “sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler” (1 Corinthians 5:9-13). Combined with our present text, this means that we are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a Christian, but who resists apostolic authority in some overt manner, whether in the doctrinal or ethical sense.

But we cannot refuse all contacts with unbelievers outside the church, not that this is undesirable in itself, since it is what heaven will be like, but it is impossible in this life. Paul acknowledges that if we are to stay away from all unbelievers outside the church, “you would have to leave this world” (1 Corinthians 5:10). This is because there are so many non-Christians, so many unbelieving and immoral people, and they are everywhere. Of course, other than the impossibility of total separation, we are to preach the gospel to them as well, and in the name of Jesus Christ command them to repent.

What we must point out, so as to eliminate any excuse, is that to not disassociate with unbelievers due to the sheer impossibility as well as our responsibility to evangelize does not suddenly become a mandate to become best friends with them. Again, God says that the unbelievers are spiritually, intellectually, and ethically dirty. “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord,” and “Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” A person who is converted after he has married will find that he is now joined with an unbeliever. Paul says that the Christian is not to seek a divorce. This is not an indication of acceptance, but rather the binding force of the marriage covenant. Even then, the apostle says that if the unbeliever wishes to leave, the Christian should let it happen (1 Corinthians 7:12). This reinforces how difficult it is to be yoked together with unbelievers.

The conclusion is that no association is permitted with unbelievers who claim to be believers, and only loose association is permitted with unbelievers who admit that they are unbelievers. It seems that business transactions and casual friendships are usually acceptable. Just do not be close friends with them. This is not a common teaching because, I suspect, many Christians covet more intimate relations with unbelievers than is permitted. However, even if it is permitted, how is it possible for Christians and non-Christians to dialogue constructively, in a manner that entails a mutual exchange and without antagonism, about their deepest beliefs and desires? If you find that this is possible, either they are already Christians, or you are still a non-Christian.

Jesus said that he did not come to bring peace, but a sword, so that even the closest family members would turn against one another (Matthew 10:35). A believer’s relationship with an unbeliever is like that of a man and a dog. It barks, you laugh. You feed it, it licks you. It relieves itself on the street, and you have to clean up the mess. You can play hide and seek with it, or fetch, and have a good time. But the relationship can never be more serious or meaningful than this. Like a dog, there is an entire ocean of thoughts and feelings in your heart that the non-Christian cannot perceive or grasp. On the other hand, Christians share a common understanding of reality, a common object of worship, a common mission, and a common destiny.

Jesus Christ transforms our relationships. Some would say that he ruins them. But I say that when you become a Christian, although you might lose a family, you will gain a better one in him, and although you might lose all your friends, much better friends will welcome you into their arms – smarter ones, kinder ones. You might wish to keep your old family and friends, but if they reject your faith, then where you go, they cannot follow. And if you are not prepared to let Christ become an obstacle in your relationships with unbelievers, so that you might even need to cut off some of them, then you are not prepared to be a Christian at all. God says, “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

What is it then? Paul concludes, “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” That is, since we have these promises, that God will receive us and be a Father to us, let us come out from the filth, separate from the unbelief, and join ourselves to Jesus Christ.