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2 Corinthians 6

1

We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.

2

(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

3

Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:

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But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,

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In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;

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By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,

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By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,

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By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;

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As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;

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As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

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O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged.

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Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels.

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Now for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged.

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14

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

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And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

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And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

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Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

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And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

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2 Corinthians 6

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.

2 Corinthians 6:12

We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us — Paul denies emotional distance (stenochōrei, narrowed affection). The problem is the Corinthians' coldness, not his. He is open; they must reciprocate.

2 Corinthians 6:13

As a fair exchange — I speak as to my children — open your hearts wide to me — Paul appeals as parent (tekna, children) to children. Fair exchange (antimimisthia) means mutual openness. Parental love seeks reciprocal affection.

2 Corinthians 6:1

As God's co-workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain — synergoi (co-workers) affirms partnership between God and apostle. The warning: receiving grace (charis) without letting it transform behavior is empty reception (ken, vain). Grace that does not produce fruit has been wasted on the recipient.

2 Corinthians 6:2

For he says, 'In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.' I tell you, now is the time of God's favor; now is the day of salvation — Paul cites Isaiah 49:8. The 'now' (nun) is repeated; present is the urgent moment of grace. Delay is presumption. Salvation is accessible in this instant.

2 Corinthians 6:3

We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited — the apostle's task is removing obstacles to faith. Any scandalous behavior would discredit the gospel. Integrity of life is integral to authenticity of proclamation.

2 Corinthians 6:4

Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses — Paul's commendation (synistanō) is paradoxical: not by avoiding difficulty but by enduring it. Hypomone (perseverance) under thlipseis (afflictions) authenticates ministry. The trials become credential.

2 Corinthians 6:5

In beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger — the catalog of suffering expands: physical violence, legal confinement, social chaos, labor exhaustion. 'Sleepless nights' (agrypnia) indicates psychological toll. The accumulation is deliberate: Paul's resume is wounds.

2 Corinthians 6:6

In purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love — the contrasting list comprises virtues: hagneia (purity), gnōsis (understanding), makrothymia (long-suffering), chrēstotēs (kindness), pneuma hagion (Holy Spirit), agapē anupokritos (sincere love). Suffering alone does not authenticate; virtue must accompany hardship.

2 Corinthians 6:7

In truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left — aletheia (truth) characterizes apostolic speech. Weapons (hopla) are paradoxically righteousness; the apostle is armed not with violence but virtue. Right and left hand suggest completeness: righteousness is total armor.

2 Corinthians 6:8

Through glory and dishonor, good report and bad report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors — the pairs of opposites continue: doxa/atimia, phēmē/dysphēmia. Paul experiences contradictory evaluations simultaneously: he is genuine (alēthinos) yet slandered (planoi, deceivers). External judgment is inverted; reality transcends perception.

2 Corinthians 6:9

Known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed — the paradoxes intensify. Paul is known to God yet obscure to the world. Dying (apothnēskō) yet living (zōē): resurrection life operates even amid mortal threat. Struck yet surviving.

2 Corinthians 6:10

Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything — the inversions culminate: lypoumenoi/chairontes (grieving/rejoicing), ptōchoi/ploytizo, eichontes/katechontes. Joy transcends grief; poverty becomes abundance; dispossession reveals fullness. The spiritual outweighs the material.

2 Corinthians 6:11

We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened our hearts wide — parrhēsia (frank speech) recurs. Paul's stoma (mouth) has opened wide; his kardia (heart) is expanded. The vulnerability is total: apostle and community are interconnected affectively.

2 Corinthians 6:14

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do they have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? — het apistois (unbelievers) prohibits yoking (heterozygeo, mixed partnership). The series of rhetorical questions (meris/heterozetis, common interest/partnership; metochē, fellowship; synchoōnēsis, harmony) builds the case for separation.

2 Corinthians 6:15

What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? — Belial (Beelzebul), the name of Satan, marks ultimate incompatibility. Christ and Belial cannot coexist in one household. The believer-unbeliever divide is cosmic.

2 Corinthians 6:16

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' — Paul invokes temple theology: believers collectively form God's naos (temple), the sanctuary where God inhabits. This identity precludes idolatrous partnership. The quotation (Lev 26:12; Exod 29:45) establishes covenantal presence.

2 Corinthians 6:17

'Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you'— the imperative (exerchomai) demands dissociation. The prohibition (mē haptō) against touching unclean things reflects Levitical holiness boundaries, now spiritualized: believers must maintain moral purity. Separation precedes acceptance (dechō).

2 Corinthians 6:18

'I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty'— the final quotation (2Sam 7:14; Isa 43:6) promises familial adoption (huioi/thygateres). Those who separate themselves from idolatry enter divine parenthood. Separation and belonging are two sides of sanctification.