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2 Corinthians 6:14  (King James Version)
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<< 2 Corinthians 6:13   2 Corinthians 6:15 >>


2 Corinthians 6:14-17

What is the attraction of Halloween? Are people really into ghouls, spirits, devilry, and monsters? Are Americans really that attracted to the otherworldly theme of the holiday? No, probably not. Polls to the contrary, most Americans do not believe in demonic or even angelic spirits enough to think of Halloween as some kind of celebration of them. The answer lies in the donning of costumes and the consumption of alcohol: Halloween is the year's biggest escape from reality!

The ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain (November 1), from which All Saints' Day and All Hallows Eve derive, was a kind of New Years holiday. Along with the days immediately before and after, it was special because the Celts believed that the boundary between this world and the spirit world relaxed or lifted, allowing spirits to cross between them more easily. As this idea terrified superstitious people, they mollified the spirits by leaving out food and treats so that they would not curse them. Some practiced various forms of divination to contact departed loved ones. Druids thought this to be the best time to seek guidance from the dead, and the bards sought otherworldly inspiration for their poetry and song.

Another interesting aspect of Samhain's celebration is that the Celts considered it to take place in "no-time," that is, neither in the old year nor the new. Since this "no-time" was a time to itself, normal laws, order, strictures, and customs were held in abeyance for these three days of merriment. People thus did whatever they pleased.

So, the fool held court as the wise man. The baseborn acted as the noble. The servant became the master. Women dressed as men and vice versa. Farmers turned out their cattle, pigs, and sheep from their pens and pastures, allowing them to roam free. Some entered houses through windows rather than doors. No work was done because it was a time of total abandon: of revelry, feasting, drinking, taking dares, disguising oneself, and pretending to be something one was not. Those three strange days were "chaos time."

Our modern version, Halloween, is a "tame" descendant of this Celtic celebration, and its popularity is rising steadily. Revelers use the holiday as an excuse to escape their mundane, banal, yet stressful lives and "take a walk on the wild side." Laws, customs, mores, and order cease for a short time, as participants indulge themselves in whatever they desire.

Probably most consider it "blowing off steam" or "having a good time," but self-indulgence is sin. Instead of releasing the pressure by coming out of a world conducting its affairs apart from God (Revelation 18:4), celebrants compound their troubles by adding on sin and its destructive consequences.

We have been called to a different life, one in which we "put off" our former corrupt, lustful conduct and "put on" new habits and behaviors that reflect the righteous and holy life of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:22-24). Paul concludes in Ephesians 5:8-12, 15-16:

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), proving what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. . . . See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Halloween Rising



2 Corinthians 6:14-18

Idolatry has an impact on later generations, and so it matters a great deal if we associate closely with idolaters. Children learn by example, and if their parents set the example that physical objects have excessive importance, then their children will pass down the same values. When we socialize with idolaters, we share in their ways. If we are not careful, we may also begin to share their idols.

Martin G. Collins
The Second Commandment



2 Corinthians 6:14

This verse means, drawing on Deuteronomy 22:10, do not get doubly harnessed with unbelievers. A farmer is in trouble if he yokes an ox and an ass together. These animals pull differently; they do not work well together. Here, the illustration is a believer with an unbeliever, and they also will not pull together because their minds do not work in the same way.

The advice is do not rush into just any relationship because one's faith is weak or self-esteem is low - maybe so low that one would be willing to marry just about anybody. If one does, he will very likely do what the Israelites did in Numbers 25: make a compromise that lowers his Christian standards.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Passover and I Corinthians 10



2 Corinthians 6:14-17

This series of verses is not an appeal for us to break all of our worldly associations. Recall that Paul urges the Christian partner in a divided marriage to strive to maintain the relationship as long as possible. This, instead, is an appeal to avoid too close associations. He says not to go into the world, but come out of it (see Revelation 18:4). We should not deliberately make close associations with the peoples of the world. It is all right to do business with them and to work with them, but avoid becoming harnessed together with them.

The statement, "I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters," seems to hinge on whether or not we are allowing ourselves to become yoked into these associations. God does not want us in these close associations with the world because it almost inevitably leads to compromise with His standards. It jeopardizes the consistency of the Christian's witness for God because there is a spiritual force in the world that undermines the Christian because the unbeliever does not share the Christian's standards, sympathies, or goals in life.

Is it unfair that God should ask this of us? Remember, He has bought us with a price (I Corinthians 6:20). The price was the life of His Son, which obligates us to a life of purity and holiness. Once we accept that sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin, we belong to Him. He is our Master, and He says, "Come out of the world and be separate." That is a demand that He puts on us.

Does God ever ask us for something that is not for our good? Of course not! And how is this for our good? Because He knows that it is likely that His people, though they have the Spirit of God, will have an extremely difficult time resisting the spiritual force that wants to lead them to compromise on the standards of His Kingdom. He thus obligates us to purity of life, to holiness, to separation from evil. We owe our allegiance to Him alone, and we cannot allow ourselves not to be a fit vessel for Him to live in.

There is no surer way to go backward in our spirituality, to blunt our feelings about sin, to dull our spiritual discernment until we can scarcely tell evil from good, and to dry up the source of our spiritual strength than by needless mingling with the world. We should stress the word "needless" because Paul writes in I Corinthians 5:9-10 that to avoid all contact with the immoral, one would have to go out of the world. There is nothing in the New Testament to indicate separating oneself by moving into a commune of believers or living alone like a hermit.

John W. Ritenbaugh
New Covenant Priesthood (Part Two)



2 Corinthians 6:14-18

Spiritually, this passage is every bit as stringent as Deuteronomy 7:1-5, and the reasons are the same: We are holy. Our holiness must be protected from contamination, perfected through the relationship with God (not with this world), and growing in living God's way of life. Paul's words are a stern warning not to get close to the world.

Paul asks five rhetorical questions in these verses to show that God's way has nothing in common with the world. Nothing! In verse 17, Paul quotes Isaiah 52:11, showing that our acceptance by God depends upon obedience, which is loyalty to Him. His statement about cleansing ourselves shows a continuous action. It is not written in Greek as it appears here in English. If it would have been translated as Paul wrote it, the verse would show that cleansing ourselves is a responsibility that must be carried out every day!

Two of God's festivals are devoted to reminding us of this responsibility, one in the spring and one in the fall. At Passover, in the spring, we partake of footwashing; we are to have our feet washed once a year because we become symbolically dirty as we walk through life. We do not always walk as we should, so we must be cleansed. How long do you think it would take for us to begin forgetting such things if we no longer kept Passover and its ritual of washing one another's feet?

Every fall, before we keep the Feast of Tabernacles, we experience another cleansing on the Day of Atonement, the internal cleansing of a fast, which is what a fast does to a body physically. It begins to dump its garbage through the bowels and the urinary tract. Every cell in the body begins to work in reverse and cast off the garbage within them.

It is interesting that at Passover, the symbol is external, but on Atonement the symbol is internal. Keeping ourselves clean is important to God; He gives us reminders to do so twice a year! He wants us clean on the outside and on the inside. He wants us clean in what we believe, and He wants us clean in our external conduct. Our hearts must be cleansed as does our behavior.

Thus, II Corinthians 7:1 indicates a daily cleansing, a daily repentance. Paul writes in I Corinthians 15:31, "I die daily." This daily dying to sin—cleaning up his act, as we say—is what he meant.

John W. Ritenbaugh
New Covenant Priesthood (Part Two)




Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing 2 Corinthians 6:14:

Proverbs 8:13

 

<< 2 Corinthians 6:13   2 Corinthians 6:15 >>



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