2 Corinthians 6:14-18·~1 min

Do Not Be Unequally Yoked

Paul tells them not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, since righteousness does not share one life with wickedness, nor light with darkness, nor Christ with Belial. The point comes to rest in the church's identity as the temple of the living God rather than a place of compromise with idols.

D¹⁴o not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? ¹⁵What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? ¹⁶What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

Verse 14Paul says they must not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, since righteousness and lawlessness, light and darkness, do not share the same partnership.

It opens the section with the command and its first contrasts.

Verse 15He presses the contrast further by asking what harmony Christ has with Belial, or what a believer shares with an unbeliever.

It intensifies the incompatibility he is naming.

Verse 16And what agreement can the temple of God have with idols, Paul asks, since believers are the temple of the living God.

It brings the contrast to the church's identity as God's dwelling.

Paul then gathers God's call to come out and be separate from what is unclean with God's promise to receive his people and relate to them as a Father. The demand for holiness is therefore held inside the nearness of divine welcome.

¹⁷“Therefore come out from among them ¹⁸And:

Verse 17So the quoted promise calls God's people to come out from among them and be separate from what is unclean.

It turns temple identity into a call for separation.

Verse 18And the promise ends with God receiving his people and naming them as sons and daughters under his fatherly care.

It closes the chapter with holiness held inside divine welcome.

Passage shape

A quiet block diagram: each row is one authored paragraph movement, with verse numbers kept visible for scanning and deeper work.

vv. 14-16
Paul tells them not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, since righteousness does not share one life with wickedness, nor light with darkness, nor Christ with Belial. The point comes to rest in the church's identity as the temple of the living God rather than a place of compromise with idols.
The paragraph argues for separation by means of a series of irreconcilable contrasts.
14 15 16
vv. 17-18
Paul then gathers God's call to come out and be separate from what is unclean with God's promise to receive his people and relate to them as a Father. The demand for holiness is therefore held inside the nearness of divine welcome.
The paragraph grounds separation in God's promised presence and family relation.
17 18

Section summaryPaul warns the Corinthians not to be joined unequally with unbelief, drawing sharp contrasts between righteousness and lawlessness, light and darkness, Christ and Belial, the temple of God and idols. Because believers are the temple of the living God, he gathers scriptural promises that call them out from uncleanness and name them as God's sons and daughters.

Role in the chapterThis closing section sharpens the chapter's call to receive grace in a distinct way of life. It frames holiness not as isolation for its own sake, but as life shaped by God's presence and promises.