2 Corinthians 6

18 verses

The opening command 'working together with God, do not receive the grace of God in vain'—do not nullify or reject through inappropriate conduct—establishes that receiving grace entails responsible stewardship and perseverance. Paul's self-commendation as 'a servant of God' (diakonos) emphasizes the servant character of apostolic ministry, then catalogs the markers of authenticity: afflictions, hardships, calamities, imprisonments, beatings, labors, sleeplessness, hunger, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and paradoxes of living ('as dying, and behold we live; as poor, yet making many rich'). This hardship catalog demonstrates how apostolic suffering and privation testify to the Spirit's authenticity and power, inverting worldly standards of success. The warning against being 'unequally yoked with unbelievers' (heterozygein)—whether understood as mixed marriages, business partnerships, or religious associations—rests on irreconcilable differences: 'What fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what communion has light with darkness?' The Belial contrast (Belial as name for Satan/the adversary) suggests spiritual warfare and the impossibility of neutral territory. The chain of rhetorical questions develops the theological incompatibility: what agreement between the temple of God and idols? The Corinthians are 'the temple of the living God,' incorporating the promise from Leviticus 26:12 ('I will live in them and walk among them'), Ezekiel 37 (divine restoration), Isaiah 52 (post-exilic restoration), and Jeremiah 31 (new covenant). The call to 'come out from among them and be separate' (citing Isa 52:11) summons the community to boundary maintenance and holiness. The promise—'I will welcome you and will be your father, and you shall be my sons and daughters'—echoes the new covenant and filial adoption, establishing the incentive for separation as inclusion in God's intimate family.

VERSES IN THIS CHAPTER

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS