The Unequal Yoke
Aim: To show how our relationships with the unsaved must be tempered by our understanding of biblical Salvation.
Text: 2 Corinthians 6:14 – 7:1
Introduction: Few matters can be of such vital importance to the welfare of the Christian than the matter of the unequal yoke, and yet few matters are given such little regard by the people of God than the matter of personal separation. We are in the world, the Lord Jesus said, but we are not of the world. We must by necessity rub shoulders with unbelievers and sinners, but we must not become like them. As one famous evangelist put it, "We are not to be isolated but insulated, moving in the midst of evil but untouched by it." Separation is contact with contamination. Jesus was "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners" (Heb. 7:26), yet He was "a friend of tax collectors and sinners"
Right here lies the problem, a problem of relationships, how to be a friend of sinners and yet, at the same time remain separate from sinners. Over the course of the next few weeks I want to draw your attention to the thorny issue of the unequal yoke. For many this is a matter for marriage alone, but actually is wider reaching than that, indeed in the passage before us this morning marriage isn’t the primary issue. No the unequal yoke takes in a whole spectrum of relationships and partnerships and reminds that our first loyalty is to the Lord and that our personal sanctification is essential to walking with Him and knowing Him in a deeper and more intimate way.
So, what do we mean when we speak of the unequal yoke – what is it?
I. It Is Personal – Its Relational – 2Cor 6:14a
A. The principle of the unequal yoke affects our relationships with those all around us.
1. Notice what the Scripture says, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.”
2. This is about interpersonal relationships – it is about the limits of our fellowship.
B. We are told that we are not to be “unequally yoked”, but what does that mean?
1. Although the term appears as two words in our AV, it is actually only one word, albeit a composite term, in the original Greek.
2. The term is ‘heterozugeo” meaning “the joining of different sorts”.
a. “Hetero” means different, and “zugos” indicates a coupling.
b. And the idea of an unequal yoke comes from a farming analogy wherein two animals of differing kinds and strength are coupled together in order to plough a field, a practice which was forbidden to the Jews under the Old Testament law – see Deut 22:10.
c. The yoke is a harness which joins two animals side by side, and obviously if a stronger, more dominant animal is joined with a weaker one both animals are going to suffer, and in particular the weaker animal is going to be chaffed and damaged by the pull of the stronger.
C. In the spiritual life we are speaking about the believer forming a bond with the unbeliever.
1. That is what the text says - “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.”
2. The unbeliever is “apistos” in the Greek, that is one who is faithless, one who is incredulous of the things of God, one who is unbelieving and untrusting of Christ.
3. That is who is in view here, and the idea is that the Christian is not to enter into any formal arrangement any kind of binding partnership, and covenant or contract or tie with those who are in unbelief.
4. Why? Because such a relationship will prove damaging to your spiritual life.
5. You see an unequal yoke is an unbalanced relationship – in fact the term “yoke” here may also refer to the beam of a balance.
6. Now imagine an ox and a donkey being tamed together to plough a field – what is going to happen.
a. Its going to be impossible for the animals to walks a straight line, to cut a straight furrow, because the strength of the one is going to cause the other to turn aside.
b. They are at odds with each other.
c. And that is how it is in the Christian life – when we bond with an unbeliever the pull toward the world, the temptation to turn aside is going to be much stronger than if we limit our primary relationships to those who are in Christ.
II. It Is Problematic – Its Restrictive – 2Cor 6:14b-16a
A. The issue now is one of practicality – of how this actually works itself out in our lives.
1. Illus: The new believer who was instucted by the Exclusive Brethren not to eat at the same table with his unsaved family.
2. Is that what God wants? Well obviously not – Jesus Himself ate with sinners, but we are also told that in Heb 7:26 He was/is separate from sinners.
3. Again we are in the world, but not of the world. Somehow we are expected to travel through this world without becoming contaminated by it.
a. As one preacher put it, “Its OK for a boat to be in the sea, but its not OK if the sae is in the boat!”
B. Now. As you look down this passage you will find three separate groups and five simple reasons why those groupings cannot be coupled.
1. Light & darkness (vs. 14b)
2. Christ & Satan (vs. 15)
3. God & idols (vs. 16)
4. Now obviously these are diametrically opposing forces.
(i). You cannot mix light with darkness – light expels darkness
(ii) You cannot join Christ to Satan – they are implacable enemies.
(iii) You cannot introduce idolatry into the temple of God or else it ceases to be the temple of God.
(iv) Get this: God, the God of the Bible, the God whom we serve is not a tolerant God He is a jealous God, and He will not share his glory with another.
(v) And so he calls us as believers to a place of complete surrender, of absolute loyalty toward him and His Word.
(vi) He will never be satisfied playing second fiddle. He demands first place in our lives, and that means He demands first place in our relationships so that he will not entertain us entangling ourselves in the worldliness of an unequal yoke.
C. There are five good reason why an unequal yoke will prove difficult for the believer and why it will inevitable lead him into moral conflict and temptations that he would not otherwise encounter.
D. These five reasons are set before us in 2 Cor 6 by a series of five rhetorical questions.
1. “What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?”
a. The word "fellowship" here, the Greek word being "metoche," intimates a close partnership, a sharing. The concept is one of sharied purposes.
b. In other words, at its most intimate level, the level of the human spirit, what commonalty is there between a believer and unbeliever?
c. Will an unbeliever want to do right? Will he want to give God first place in his/her life? Will he/she want to pray? Will he/she want to heed the Scriptures? Will he/she want to go to church? Will he/she want to be a witness? Will he/she want to be pure?
d. We may share common interests in other areas – we may both be interested in business or sport or even religion, but at the very core of our being if this person is without Christ then we have no common ground on which to work or proceed.
e. The truth is we cannot fully fellowship
2. “What communion hath light with darkness?”
a. Communion here is about communication.
b. The unequal yoke is unhealthy from the standpoint of interpersonal communication – we cannot fully communicate.
c. You see to communicate with some one we have to be able to see eye to eye on key things – for the Christian those things are governed by Scripture – the unbeliever has a different worldview altogether, for him/her its whatever works, its all relative.
d. There will never be a meeting of the minds as long as the unbeliever remains in unbelief.
3. “What concord hath Christ with Belial?”
a. A concord is about agreement – and try as you like and try as he likes the unbeliever and the believer will never completely agree.
b. Lets think for a moment about an unequal yoke in business. The world of business is riddled with ethical and moral dilemmas for the Christian.
a. There are issues surrounding honesty and taxation.
b. There are issues of equity in employment
c. There are moral issues in handling customers in making profits etc.
d. These are tricky areas for a Christian businessman on his own, but introduce an unbeliever into this mix and we are in a moral minefield.
e. Suddenly lying becomes part of business practice, now the VAT man is being evaded; now the end justifies the means, etc.
f. The Christian man may sit down with his unsaved partner and try to work all this through – but you know what try as he might, he is unlikely to ever get a complete agreement about how to conduct business in the modern world.
c. Does this mean a Christian cannot do business with a non Christian – not at all! But it means he ought not to consider having an unbeliever as a partner in business – it is an unequal yoke!
4. “What part hath he that believeth with an infidel?”
a. “Part” – “participation” That’s what is in view now.
b. How can a Christian always participate in the life an interests of a non Christian?
c. He is not going to be able to do it.
d. There is only a limited amount of involvement to be had with an unbeliever.
(i) Illus: Playing in the Squash League – we play the game – but afterward we do not go to the pub.
(ii) In playing the game am I unequally yoked? No because I have no emotional, spiritual or legal bond to my opponent.
(iii) Illus: wife saved after marriage – sometimes when to dinner dances, clubs with her husband – she did not care to be there, but that was where he wanted to be – it was much harder to say “No” in such a situation.
5. “What agreement hath the temple of God with idols?”
a. The word "agreement" literally means "a putting down or depositing along with one," hence "of voting along the same lines."
b. Its about mutual identity. Can we identify with each other.
c. At election time I go into a polling booth and there I cast my vote by the name of the candidate with whom I most identify.
(i) Politics is the art of compromise – I may not agree with everything a candidate stands for, but if I feel that over all his disposition is close to mine then he gets my vote.
(ii) But the Christian faith is not about compromise at all – it’s about truth, and truth is uncompromising, God is uncompromising, Christ is uncompromising, salvation is uncompromising, the scriptures are uncompromising.
E. All of this places restrictions upon my life – upon its purposes, conduct activities and especially relationships, so that must make a decision either to obey God in the limitations He sets over me or to yield to compromise by ignoring the boundaries He sets.
1. I don’t want to close out on a negative note here – so there is one more truth surrounding tis principle that I want you to get a hold of:
III. It Is Promising – Its Rewarding – 2Cor 6:16b-7:1
A. God’s response toward a life that is sanctified, a life that is lived apart fro the world and worldly companionship is a positive one.
1. Our obedience to His demand brings reward; it brings us into the possession of certain promises – 7:1
2. What are those promises?
B. Firstly God promises to get possession of us.
1. “I will dwell in them.”
2. Really that is about His abiding in us, about His possessing us.
3. When we are saved we possess Him, but when we are separate and sanctified He possesses us.
4. In other words the promise of God is to bring about change in our lives, to bless us and to cause us to grow, to be what He wants us to be.
5. When we are party to an unequal yoke our growth as believers is stunted.
C. Secondly He promises to go with us.
1. “I will walk with them.”
2. In the Bible walking with God always intimates close fellowship.
3. There is an old saying that two’s company and three’s a crowd – when we enter into partnership with the unsaved we have created an unscriptural, and unspiritual bond with a third party, and I’ve got news for you – God doesn’t walk in threes.
a. Amos 3:3, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”
b. God walked with Adam in the cool of the day, he walked with Enoch, Noah walked with God, as did Job, and God walked with all Israel.
4. I wonder was there a time in your life when you sensed God walking with you, but that no longer seems to be the case? Could it be because of an unequal yoke?
D. Thirdly, His promise is to guard and guide us.
1. “I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”
2. Here is a promise of parenting – and good parenting is primarily about two things, guiding & guarding your children.
3. When we think about a yoke, it is really a harness, in ancient times a wooden bar or frame that joins two animals, such as oxen together.
a. But once they are joined, they cannot go in separate directions, but work side by side.
b. My friends when we create an unequal yoke we end up departing from God’s chosen path, but when we walk with Him He directs our path, where He goes we go, where He leads we follow, and you will find this about his yoke – His yoke is easy, and his burden is light!
c. How like the devil to want to weigh us down, but how like the Lord to carry our burden.
d. A wee girl was once asked in Sun School what God’s yoke is like and she said “It is like Him putting His arms around your shoulder!” That’s it exactly.
e. Lovingly, carefully, parentally He guides us as we yield all our lives with all of its purpose, activities, conduct and relationships to Him!
4. But not only that, He guards us. He protects us.
Conclusion: And really that is what this principle concerning the unequal yoke is all about – it is God’s hedge of protection, a means whereby He safeguards us from heartache and years of trouble, conflict of conscience, and confrontation. You know every good parent builds a fence around his property to keep his toddler from trouble, every good parent sets boundaries. When a father tells his daughter he wants her in by a certain time he not setting a restriction upon her to spoil he fun, but to protect her. When he tells his children he cannot go here, or go there it is for their own good. So too with God.
Satan said to God of Job, “Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?” (Job 1:10). That is how it is concerning the unequal yoke. The principle is there for our good, for our well-being. Yet there are always those who will want to stretch the boundary and break the hedge. Of such folks the book of Ecclesiastes says, “whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.” (Eccles 10:8)
How very true that is. Surely one of Satan’s greatest devices for the crippling of believers has been "The Unequal Yoke." Presented in a variety of forms, but his one object has been to drag believers down from their higher road in of Christ to the lowest levels of the world.
Take heed my brethren, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers…” but rather… “come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you”
