Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship do righteousness and iniquity have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14 WEB
A yoke is a wooden crossbeam used between a pair of animals that enables them to effectively work together. The most common example of this is a wooden bar used to harness two oxen together for pulling a heavy load. Two animals yoked together share the same burden, assisting one another in accomplishing a shared task. As members of the same team, these animals must work together. Using the metaphor of a yoke, Paul warns the church in Corinth against teaming up with the unrighteous.
The Old Testament teaches in Deuteronomy 22:10, “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. WEB” Teaming two dissimilar animals together for the same task leads to inefficiency, friction, and failure. When the righteous pair up with the unrighteous, the two are unequally yoked like the donkey and the ox. Unequally yoked, believers and unbelievers pull with different strength, at different times, in different directions, hindering one another.
Two Masters
Christians are fundamentally different from our secular counterparts. God calls us out of the world to live by the Spirit. Worldly people, like Christians before repentance, live by the flesh and to satisfy the flesh. Serving polar opposites, Paul teaches that believers should therefore avoid entering into binding relationships with unbelievers. Our end goals and motivations are vastly different.
The Lord teaches in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon. WEB” Worldly people serve Mammon or material. Godly people serve the Lord, seeking things of the Spirit and valuing God over all other things. These differences make us unequally yoked when paired together.
Forever Separated
To illustrate this point, Paul asks a couple of interesting questions. First, “What fellowship do righteousness and iniquity have?” In the same line of reasoning, he rhetorically poses the question, “What fellowship does light have with darkness?” These opposites do not share any commonality. And so, as light and darkness are forever separated and incompatible, so too are believers and unbelievers. Any pairing of the two leaves them unequally yoked.
However, it is important to note, Paul is not forbidding association with unbelievers. Interaction with the world is inevitable and necessary for spreading the truth of the gospel. Rather, he is discouraging the formation of partnership agreements with unbelievers. This includes the partnership of marriage. Unequally yoked, partners experience less cooperation and more conflict. As water does not bind with oil, spirit is forever separate from material.
Prayer: “Father God, thank you for the wisdom found in your Holy Word. Thank you for the clarity it brings to life. Guide me into partnerships that are pleasing to you. Help me to live according to your will. In Jesus’ name – Amen”
Yesterday’s Devotional: Diligently Seek Him
