The second principle is that separation is to be unto God before it involves separation from either people or things. This is in the text as well because what Paul is talking about here is our being temples of the living God, as he says in verse 16. God declares that He is going to dwell with us and that He will be our God and we will be His people. So before we think of separating, whether that is a separation from other people, who at that point we judge to be unbelievers, or whether it is a separation from things, which we would judge to be antithetical to our Christian profession, there must be a separation unto God.
The second principle is that separation is to be unto God before it involves separation from either people or things. This is in the text as well because what Paul is talking about here is our being temples of the living God, as he says in verse 16. God declares that He is going to dwell with us and that He will be our God and we will be His people. So before we think of separating, whether that is a separation from other people, who at that point we judge to be unbelievers, or whether it is a separation from things, which we would judge to be antithetical to our Christian profession, there must be a separation unto God.
Someone will raise the question of a church’s relationship to a particular denomination. Situations develop where a church comes to see the Scriptures in a certain way and wants to live by that interpretation, and it results in their having to separate from the denomination. This is a very difficult problem, and I know from experience how slowly and carefully one needs to move because of the need to protect the unity of the church. We ask ourselves the question, “When must the congregation that wants to remain faithful to the Scriptures separate from the denomination which in the church’s judgment at that point is not being faithful to the Scriptures?”
We come now to a little portion of 2 Corinthians where Paul, as it were, breaks away from what he has been saying to deal with what was evidently the problem of separation. Then, as now, the issue of separation was a very great problem. In fact, there have been more divisions in the church over this problem than perhaps anything else. Some people have made a career of it. Some whole denominations are based upon the principle of separation. Quoting from the Old Testament, what does Paul mean when he writes in 2 Corinthians 6:17, “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord”?
What really matters are the things that are eternal. Paul is a living testimony to that fact, and as he serves as a living testimony to this he is a testimony to the Gospel. He wants to show that it is possible for a man to lose everything in order that he might have Jesus Christ, and because he has Jesus Christ, he has everything. That is the way you commend the Gospel to the world.
Paul then goes on to add some other characteristics of his character. He notes “truthful speech,” “the power of God,” and “weapons of righteousness.” When he talks about God’s power, he is saying the same sort of thing that he discusses at greater length in the first letter, starting in the second half of 1 Corinthians 1 and continuing into chapter 2. When Paul came to the church the first time, he did not come with the polish and sophistication of the Greek orators. Rather he came in “fear” and “trembling” because he knew that he was preaching to the Corinthians the revelation of divine truth that was marked by the power of God. Paul came as one whose life has been touched by the Lord and given evidence of the presence of God in how he thinks and acts.
There are things that sometimes come because of a negative reaction to the Gospel that is preached, such as beatings or imprisonment. The apostle Paul certainly knew about those things. Later in 2 Corinthians Paul says he had received the thirty-nine lashes five times in his life. People sometimes died from that kind of a beating. He talks about imprisonments, a number of which we read about in Acts. He also talks about riots. We know of at least nine riots that were caused by the apostle Paul’s preaching. Virtually everywhere he went he stirred up that kind of opposition. He mentions the hard work, sleepless nights, and even hunger.
Most of what Paul has to say, however, deals with a positive aspect, namely, how he conducted himself in the situations into which his ministry brought him. There is a long list that follows, including some that are grouped in pairs. I think that it is possible to get a handle on all these by categorizing them, because when you begin to look at them, it is quite obvious that some of them go together.
Canadian Committee of The Bible Study Hour
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