Q - Bawal po ba talaga mag-asawa ng unbeliever?
Ano po ba talaga ang application ng "Don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers?"
Ano po ba talaga ang application ng "Don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers?"
A - The verse comes from 2 Corintians 6:14, and it is usually misread, taken out of context and applied narrowly and oppresively.
The background is Paul's teaching on reconcialition with Christ. He contends that spiritually, Christians are new creations so they should change their lifestyles in accordance with that new identity.
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2 Cor 5. 17 (NIV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 20 .... We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. -----
But the Corinthians, by Paul's standards, were pagans and idolaters. As this was the background from which Corinthian Christians come, many of them were still attached to their original/former religious practices though they have become Christian converts. Paul thus urges them to detach from and leave their old, idolatrous lifestyles and get fully attached to Christ instead.
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6.1 As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain..
14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial[d]? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 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.”[e]
17 Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate,says the Lord.Touch no unclean thing,and I will receive you.”
7 Therefore, 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.
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The background is Paul's teaching on reconcialition with Christ. He contends that spiritually, Christians are new creations so they should change their lifestyles in accordance with that new identity.
-----
2 Cor 5. 17 (NIV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 20 .... We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. -----
But the Corinthians, by Paul's standards, were pagans and idolaters. As this was the background from which Corinthian Christians come, many of them were still attached to their original/former religious practices though they have become Christian converts. Paul thus urges them to detach from and leave their old, idolatrous lifestyles and get fully attached to Christ instead.
-----
6.1 As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain..
14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial[d]? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 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.”[e]
17 Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate,says the Lord.Touch no unclean thing,and I will receive you.”
7 Therefore, 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.
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Paul urges the Corinthian Christians to detach from "unbelievers" whose religious practices like worship of Belial, idolatry, cultic temple sex, and whose lifestyles are characterized by "unrighteousness, darkness and wickedness" so their attachment to Christ would not be endangered or impeded.
Applying these verses to the issue of marriage today is a big leap in interpretation and far removed from the context of the original intention of the writer and understanding of the Corinthian recipients.
"To be yoked" in the original verses does not have a limited meaning to being married. It did not even specifically referred to marriage!
It's larger, contextual meaning was to be partner with pagans in their idolatrous worship of Belial, including ritual orgies and in their darkness and wickedness. (And not even all pagans were/are wicked!)
Another issue that needs serious review today is WHO is an unbeliever? In the original context of the verses, the "unbelievers" were the ones who worshiped Belial, involving themselves in lifestyles of idoltary, wickedness and darkness. They were the ones from whom new Christians were urged to separate.
WOULD someone today who believes in God the Father and/or in Jesus Christ be considered an unbeliever and be lumped with those Belial worshipers simply on the basis of sectarian/denominational/religious affiliation?
It's larger, contextual meaning was to be partner with pagans in their idolatrous worship of Belial, including ritual orgies and in their darkness and wickedness. (And not even all pagans were/are wicked!)
Another issue that needs serious review today is WHO is an unbeliever? In the original context of the verses, the "unbelievers" were the ones who worshiped Belial, involving themselves in lifestyles of idoltary, wickedness and darkness. They were the ones from whom new Christians were urged to separate.
WOULD someone today who believes in God the Father and/or in Jesus Christ be considered an unbeliever and be lumped with those Belial worshipers simply on the basis of sectarian/denominational/religious affiliation?
Should believers today deny themselves of choice and possibly very good
candidates for partnership in marriage or business on the basis of the overstretched interpretation of 2 Corintians 6.14?
candidates for partnership in marriage or business on the basis of the overstretched interpretation of 2 Corintians 6.14?
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