Do Not Be Unequally Yoked

“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

“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.” How many Christians have broken this very commandment? Notice this is not a suggestion, but a commandment. When God said, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” we take that as a commandment. So why do we treat this as a suggestion? God does not give us suggestions; He gives us commandments.

He gave us this commandment to keep us pure and to make life easier for us. I have seen the torture and struggle that comes from being unequally yoked. God doesn’t want us to have to go through that. He also wants us to be pure. In the Old Testament times, He did not want his people to marry the unbelievers, and at times even sent plagues when they disobeyed this law. (Numbers 25:1-13) The Lord did not want anyone to take His children away from Him. He knew if the Israelites married unbelievers, they would soon be worshipping other gods. And that is exactly what happened. Why do we think it would be any different for us? Do we think we are that much smarter and wiser than the Israelites, that we can intimately associate with unbelievers and not be pulled away after other gods? Are we that more righteous than they were? The answer, dear friend, is no.

As a side note, I believe this Scripture also applies to friendships. If we constantly intimately associate ourselves with unbelieving friends, we soon find ourselves being pulled in the wrong direction (1 Corinthians 15:33-34). Yes, we need to have some unbelieving friends so that we may reach out to them and show them the Good News of Christ. But they do not need to be our most intimate friends. We should seek out intimate friendships with fellow believers, that we may be edified (Proverbs 27:17).

So dear friends, let us all save ourselves the trouble, let us learn from the Israelites’ mistakes, let us follow God’s commandment to be not unequally yoked. It is His will for us.

~Brooke