Christians Walk With God and Not The Godless

2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
Therefore go out from their midst
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.’
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”

This is a popular passage of Scripture. No doubt someone has quoted verse 14 to you: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” It is often applied to marriage, warning against marrying unbelievers. But it is more than that. It includes not associating with unbelievers in committed relationships and abandoning sinful practices. The basic point is to instruct believers not to associate with evil and unbelieving practices, with particular restraint on relationships with unbelievers.

This would include not entering marriages or close friendships with unbelievers. The real point Paul is making is that Christians walk with God and not with the godless. They walk with God. They do not walk with the godless or associate with godless activities. Righteousness has no partnership with lawlessness.

There are three important things that illustrate this point: the problem with hanging out with the godless, the promise of hanging out with God, and the purpose of hanging out with God.

1. The Problem with Hanging Out with the Godless

Paul lays down a list of rhetorical questions with obvious answers to support his command: “Do not be unequally yoked.” A yoke is a wooden beam placed across the necks of oxen to control them. Powerful beasts of burden are directed by it. To be unequally yoked means being tied together, headed in the same direction, doing the same things in a committed relationship that is difficult to sever. You are stuck with them.

Modernize it: Don’t get stuck with unbelievers. As long as you have the choice, avoid it. Christians shouldn’t get stuck with sinful activities or sinful people either.

When you commit to a local church, you yoke yourself with those people toward the same goal: to be like Christ and a means of grace to each other and the world.

For youth, the main areas are dating, lifelong friendships, and marriage. Business partnerships may apply for some, but dating, friendships, and marriage are key issues. You may be attracted to someone of the opposite sex who shares interests like Star Wars, but remember to court according to biblical principles and your parents’ desires, aiming for marriage.

Dating and marriage are hard because of attraction or loneliness. When someone pays special attention, attraction grows, and it’s easy to forget this passage. But breakups are hard, and marriage to an unbeliever binds you as long as they live or consent. If an unbeliever consents to stay married after conversion, stay (1 Corinthians 7), but choose wisely now.

1 Corinthians 15:33
“Bad company ruins good morals.”

Friendships with unbelievers seem harmless, but bad company corrupts good morals. It’s not an advantage for evangelism; God decreed the opposite. God wants His people for Himself, walking with Him, not like the sinful world around them.

Talk to women in our church married to unbelievers; they face astronomical difficulties. Being yoked means the unbeliever controls you, leading into sin—big or small. Unbelievers don’t compromise unless converted; you will have to cave, sacrificing beliefs and incorporating idols into the temple of God, which you are.

Paul’s questions reveal the harm:

What partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Doing right has no relationship with doing wrong. They are opposites.

This exposes contradictions: How can you claim to be a Christian yet commit to sin? Christianity saves from sin; you can’t live in both.

What fellowship has light with darkness? Light chases darkness away; it doesn’t fellowship with it. Dim your light to nothing, and you can “fellowship,” but don’t yoke with unbelievers.

What accord has Christ with Belial? Belial means “worthless” in Hebrew, a name for Satan. What agreement does the most valuable—Christ—with the worthless? None. Yoking with unbelievers is as abhorrent as Jesus with Satan.

What portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? Believers and unbelievers don’t share the same inheritance.

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? We are the temple of the living God. Bringing unbelievers or sin into your life is like Israelites putting idols in God’s temple—God judged it harshly.

2. The Promise of Hanging Out with God

It’s not just avoiding unbelievers to be a killjoy. God promises relationship with you. He wants nothing hindering it, diminishing His glory or your good.

Ezekiel 37:27–28
“My dwelling place shall be with them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forever.”

Replace committed relationships with unbelievers with brothers and sisters in Christ and God Himself. To have God in your midst, lose unbelieving relationships. “Go out from their midst and be separate… touch no unclean thing.” Discourage continual, committed contact. If unbelieving friends complain when you stop, you were yoked.

“Touch” means keeping a fire going—like fueling an ongoing relationship. God promises to be a Father; you are sons and daughters. This committed relationship with God is infinitely greater.

3. The Purpose of Hanging Out with God

Ezekiel 43:7, 10
“Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name… Describe the house [temple] to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities, and they shall measure the plan.”

Having these promises, “cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” The purpose is God-honoring attitudes against sin, getting rid of defilements like unequally yoked relationships.

Ezekiel 40–48 pictures the bliss of temple living with God—pure, ecstatic joy. Seeing the temple’s purity motivates separation from defilements, focusing on God’s beauty over sin.

We are created to long for God. Instruct yourself in temple living, or distractions like unbelieving relationships appeal. The temple was significant to Israel, motivating distinctiveness—that’s holiness.

Ask yourself:

Who am I hanging out with that causes me not to live as a Christian? Compare interactions with Christians vs. unbelievers. With unbelievers, there’s no accountability.

What things am I bringing into my life that cause me not to live as a Christian? Examine music, TV, movies—they stir up sin within, defiling you. What comes from the heart defiles, but inputs fuel it.

Waiting for a godly person, reading Scripture, pursuing holiness brings greater joy. Holiness—God’s holiness—is most satisfying. Marry someone concerned for your and your children’s holiness. Physical romance is instinctive; holiness is what you need help with. Yoking with another sinner doubles the struggle.

Believing friends stick closer than a brother, especially in dark times. This is an advantage: New Testament temple living with God’s people and God, unscathed, with Christ’s joy, to God’s glory.

May Christians walk with God and not with the godless.