Our God is a covenant God. He loves to enter into committed relationships in which both parties are true to their promises as a way of deepening and protecting that relationship. He wants us to be the same. When he enters into a covenant with us, our status changes. Sometimes even our name changes. By the blood of Christ, we are transferred from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of light…the kingdom of the Son he loves (Col. 11:13). Not only are we suddenly citizens of heaven, but also sons and daughters of the King. Not only does our position change, but our very nature changes. We are new creations. God deposits his Holy Spirit within us as a seal of the covenant through which we have been joined to the Maker of Heaven and Earth. His Spirit then changes our nature and enables us to communicate with God, understand his word, and receive power to extend the kingdom of God on earth. The day we entered into a covenant with God, things changed for us not only on earth but also in heaven.
Covenants made on earth can have implications for us in the spiritual realm. Marriage is one of those. Speaking of the marriage covenant, Jesus said, “What God has joined together, let no man separate.” Notice that God joins the couple together. He is involved in the covenant as a witness and a supporter of the promises made in that covenant. God joins the two in a spiritual bond. There is a record of that marriage on the books in heaven. For believers, marriage is much more than a civil contract. It is a spiritual covenant that goes far beyond what the courts of men might say. I have counseled many, many believers who were going though divorce. Typically, the person I counseled did not desire the divorce. But even when there had been adultery or abuse, the divorce was extremely painful.
We often act as if marriage is simply two people who, like two sheets of paper, were stapled at the corner when they said “I do.” When separated, we expect a little tearing to occur, but why all the pain? When God joins us, he doesn’t staple us, but glues or bonds us together so that we become one. When you separate two sheets of paper glued together, there is an infinite amount of tearing and pain. That is because something happens in the spiritual realm that is far more significant than a courthouse record in the natural realm.
This “covenant effect” goes beyond marriage. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul says, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’ ‘Therefore come out from them and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.’ ‘I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty'” (2 Cor. 6:14-18).
The word translated as “yoked” is better translated “unequally yoked.” It means to tie or yoke two things together that are different, mismatched, or wrongly matched. The idea would be not to yoke a horse and an ox together….two animals with different natures because they would constantly pull against each other rather than with each other. The Old Testament makes it clear that God’s people were not to marry outside of their faith. They were not to enter into treaties with pagan kings and they were definitely not to worship other gods in addition to Yaweh.
In this text, Paul is using the language of the Old Testament for believers living under the New Covenant. We often apply this section only to marriage, but marriage it is not mentioned in the context of being yoked together. That does not mean that this passage does not apply to marriage but that it does not apply only to marriage. It applies to all kinds of covenants, contracts, promises, and other binding or influential agreements. These are relationships that tie us together in some way that obligates us to another person or organization.
Paul’s admonition is not a suggestion or a statement of “best practices.” The verb tenses are in the imperative mode which denotes a command. Here is the reason. We belong to God and his Holy Spirit lives in us. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God and are his children. We are set apart from the world in a covenant with God. Because of his Spirit, we have a different nature, different values, different goals, and a different God from the rest of mankind.
Those who are not in Christ and who do not have the Holy Spirit within them are under the dominion of darkness…whether they know it or not. They may be active members or passive members of that dominion, but they belong to that kingdom all the same. There is no neutral ground in the spiritual realm. They live under Satan’s authority. If you enter into a promise, a contract, or a covenant with those who are in the kingdom of darkness, you create an association with the one they serve. Through them, he can begin to have significant influence in your life. That is why God says to be separate.
Jesus said that we are to be “in the world but not of the world.” We must maintain a separate identity from the world at all times. We must remember who we belong to and who we serve. We must remember that we are holy and the divine presence lives in us. If possible, it would be best to always work for and with believers. There are times when we cannot. Daniel served Nebuchadnezzar but never compromised his faith. In fact, his faith made him stand out as a man of excellence and integrity. Even if we work for a company that is not owned and operated by believers, we must represent the Kingdom of God there. We cannot come into agreement with policies or practices that violate the mandates of our faith.
There are times we must even be physically separate from the world. If individuals or organizations actively and openly oppose the righteous standards of the kingdom, we must not be part of that at any level. When we apply the standards of 2 Corinthians 6 to marriage, we cannot marry an unbeliever. The primary reason for that is who we are, who we represent, and the holiness we are to walk in as hosts of the Holy Spirit. Secondly, it takes an exceptional believer to rub shoulders with unbelievers day after day and not compromise our faith. If you put a good apple in a barrel with rotten apples, it will soon rot. If you put a rotten apple in a barrel with good apples, it does not become good, but will negatively affect the good apples it touches.
The point is that we are to be careful about our associations, our covenants, and our careers. It is not just about money and upward mobility. We are to remember at all times who we are and not find ourselves unequally yoked with the world. So how can we navigate these waters in our world? The key is that we are not to come into agreement with the ways of the world or be legally tied to those who would cause us to compromise our faith by that agreement. First off all, we should always ask God to connect us with other believers for friendships, business matters, jobs, finances, and, without exception, for marriage. We should always seek to know where those with whom we are about to enter an agreement stand spiritually and ethically. They should also know where we stand in terms of “ground rules” for relationships and business practices and they must know that we will not compromise.
In addition, we must stay anchored to our spiritual family so that their influence always exceeds the influence of unbelievers in our lives. Our primary goal when interacting with unbelievers should always be to represent our Father and to be leaven for righteousness in those relationships. If we find ourselves loosing ground spiritually, we may need to find another job, another career, or another group to associate with. Satan will work through those relationship with unbelievers. Even Solomon became an idolater because of his relationships with foreign wives. Remember you are a child of God and the temple of the Holy Spirit set apart from the world by the blood of Christ. That knowledge should govern every relationship and every agreement we enter into.
Blessings
