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You may turn in your Bibles to 
2 Corinthians chapter 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 6. This larger context, chapters 
1 to 7 of 2 Corinthians, Paul explains his conduct and his 
apostolic ministry to the church in Corinth, chapters 8 and 9. He exhorts the church or summons 
the church. to complete the collection, to 
take up money to give to the suffering saints in Judea, and 
then chapters 10 to 13 is Paul's defense of his apostolic ministry. That's sort of the flow of the 
book as a whole. We're going to consider this 
evening very specifically chapter 6, verses 14 to chapter 7, verse 
1. unfortunate chapter divisions 
in the Bible. Chapter 7, verse 1 certainly 
goes with what precedes, verses 14 to 16. I'll just begin reading 
in verse 14 of 2 Corinthians 6. Do not be unequally yoked 
together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness 
with lawlessness? And what communion has light 
with darkness? And what accord has Christ with 
Belial? Or what part has a believer with 
an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple 
of God with idols? For you are the temple of the 
living God. As God has said, I will dwell 
in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they 
shall be my people. Therefore, come out from among 
them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, 
and I will receive you. I will be a father to you, and 
you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Therefore, 
having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from 
all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in 
the fear of God. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for this passage. We thank you for the promises 
that you have given to us. God, even as we see in the reading 
of this passage, the promises of God promote responsibility 
on our part. We pray that as those who have 
been saved by grace, and that grace through faith alone, and 
that not of ourselves but the gift of God, may we see that 
you call us nevertheless, to pursue holiness and the sanctification 
without which no one will see the Lord. God, we don't do this 
to earn our salvation. We do it because You have saved 
us freely. We just pray now for the ministry 
of Your Spirit so that we may have the mind of Christ. We pray 
in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, there are promises 
given in this particular passage, as Paul relates, chapter 7, verse 
1. Therefore, having these promises 
beloved, which we'll look at first, the promises we possess. Secondly, there is a duty in 
the text that we are to cleanse ourselves, chapter 7, verse 1. Let us cleanse ourselves from 
all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. and then perfecting holiness, 
and then there is a disposition that we are to possess, and that 
is in the fear of God. So, those three things concern 
us this evening, promises, duties, and disposition. But notice, 
first of all, the promises that we have. There are three indicated 
in verses 16, 17, and 18. And the first is the nearness 
of God. the nearness of God. Notice in 
verse 16, And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the 
living God. There has been a shift in redemptive 
history. No longer do the people of God 
go to a specific temple in order to worship God. But because of 
Jesus Christ and His redemptive work, In Christ, we, the people 
of God, are now the temple of God. And notice what he says 
in verse 16, As God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk 
among them, I will be their God, and they shall be My people." 
That is a choice promise that is ours. The nearness of God. This is something the Old Testament 
spoke of very often. I believe Paul here is specifically 
quoting from Leviticus 26, verses 11 and 12. The blessings for 
faithfulness with reference to covenant keeping. God pronounces 
this upon them. This promise comes up again in 
the prophet Jeremiah. It comes up again in the prophet 
Ezekiel. It is that blessing of having 
God among us, of us being His people. And it's consummated 
according to Revelation 21, verses 1 to 4, in the new heavens and 
in the new earth. But let's just back up to the 
first instance where this is mentioned, in Exodus chapter 
25. Exodus chapter 25. I want us 
to see the flow of the argument here and how it is so wonderful 
that God has made this promise to His people. Notice in Exodus 
25, beginning in verse 1. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, 
saying, Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring me 
an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly 
with his heart, you shall take my offering. And this is the 
offering which you shall take from them. Gold, silver and bronze, 
blue, purple and scarlet thread, fine linen and goat's hair, ram 
skins dyed red, badger skins and acacia wood, oil for the 
light and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense, 
onyx stones and stones to be sat in the ephod and in the breastplate. and let them make me a sanctuary 
that I may dwell among them." If I were to hand you a piece 
of paper tonight and give you a pencil, I don't expect you 
to write in your blood, and ask you the question, what is the 
book of Exodus primarily about? I suspect some would say, Exodus 
is primarily about the Exodus. that grand deliverance of God, 
wherein He brought His people out of Egypt, out of the house 
of bondage, through mighty miracles, and He put them into the wilderness. 
Some might say, well, the book of Exodus is about the law, for 
God, in Exodus 20, gave the Ten Commandments. Do you realize 
that the bulk of the book of Exodus is about worship? Chapters 25 to 40 are all dedicated, 
and to us sometimes it's a bit tedious, you know, reading about 
ephods and reading about, you know, various types of wood and 
various pieces of construction and materials going into the 
tabernacle and how the high priest was to deck himself. All that 
is concerned with worship. The book of Exodus tells us of 
a God who delivers. The book of Exodus tells us of 
a God who demands. He gives us law. But it also 
tells us about a God who dwells. He loves to be with His people. That's what verse 8 is all about. Let them make Me a sanctuary 
that I may dwell with them, that I may be in their midst. This 
was the promise from the outset. God being our God and calling 
us His people. So in the context of 2 Corinthians 
6, what was enjoyed in the Old Testament by believers But what 
was prophesied to be more fully experienced has now been made 
good through our Lord Jesus Christ. For it's through His death and 
His resurrection, it's through the blessedness of Calvary that 
we have God dwelling among us in all of the glory that He has. That is one of our promises. Notice secondly, in 2 Corinthians 
6, the favor of God. These aren't just little things 
here. These are great things which add weight to the imperative 
of 2 Corinthians 7.1. In light of all these benefits, 
therefore, the Apostle says, let us cleanse ourselves. Let us perfect holiness in the 
fear of God. You need to keep these promises 
before your mind's eye. You need to think on them. You 
need to dwell on them. I like what Ralph Davis says. 
He says that amnesia produces apostasy. You know what amnesia 
is? Somebody gets conked on the head 
and they forget everything. Well, Christians can develop 
amnesia, not getting conked on the head necessarily, but forgetting. And that forgetting then goes 
into promoting laziness. And that goes into promoting 
apostasy and defection from the truth. We work out our own salvation 
with fear and trembling. We perfect holiness in the fear 
of God because we are fired up and animated by the promises 
of God. We must dwell on them. We must 
consider them. We must roll them around our 
minds. and our hearts, so that we will 
indeed do what the Lord calls us to do. The second, as I said 
in verse 17, is the favor of God. It is a quotation from Isaiah 
52, 11. And in that quote, or in that 
context, the people are told that when they go into Babylon, 
they are not to partake in Babylonian practices. They are not to engage 
in the wickedness of Babylon, something the people of old found 
out. When you don't dispossess the 
land of Canaanites, when you accept them as friends and you 
entertain them as equals, it won't be long before you're worshipping 
their gods. And so the quote says here in 
verse 17, come out from among them and be separate, says the 
Lord. Do not touch what is unclean. 
Now notice the promise, and I will receive you. I will receive you, 
the favor of God. We need to understand this verse, 
though, with reference to 1 Corinthians. Paul in 1 Corinthians tells us 
that when I wrote to you, I did not tell you not to associate 
with the sexually immoral, the ungodly, the wicked in this world, 
but from those who name the name of Christ. So on the one hand, 
this tells us to be separate from them, but it doesn't mean 
to avoid sinners. Jesus received sinners and He 
ate with them. We need to shock and jive with 
sinners insofar as we can extend the grace of God through our 
Lord Jesus Christ. I think B.B. Warfield hits the 
nail on the head when he says, we see then, The apostles' urgency 
here is against, not association with the world, but compromise 
with the worldly. You can't leave the world. You 
cannot be a monk. There's no Protestant monastery. There is a sense where you work 
with people that are not Christian. What is in view here is a yoking 
together with unbelievers. whether it be in marriage or 
in some other very close and familiar setting where we are 
yoking together with unbelievers. And yet the promise is there, 
and I will receive you. The favor of God is our blessing. And then the third promise is 
in verse 18, the fatherhood of God. Isn't that great? We have 
Him near us, we have Him favoring us, and we have Him fathering 
us. Those are three wonderful promises 
that we currently enjoy. Not because we're good, but because 
God is good. Not because we perform, but because 
Jesus lived, died and rose again and shed his precious blood so 
that these things would be true of us. God is our Father. This is a quote from 2 Samuel 
7.14. The promise in the context there 
is to Samuel that he would have descendants who would follow 
on his heels. There would be one ultimate descendant 
who would sit upon his throne and reign over a new heavens 
and a new earth, which is of course Jesus Christ. But that 
promise made in terms of Christ now includes us, the seed of 
Abraham, by grace, through faith, in our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1, 3-14, Paul develops 
the whole doctrine of our adoption as sons by Jesus Christ into 
the family of God. Those are the promises, His nearness, 
His favor, and the fatherhood of God. Notice, secondly, the 
duties we have. There are two. The first, we 
are to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness. Now Paul is speaking 
in ceremonial language. The whole idea of us being the 
temple of God dictates, or not dictates, but causes him to move 
in that same way, that same language of cleansing ourselves from all 
filthiness. He doesn't mean physically, because 
he says, of the flesh and spirit. He is using metaphorical language. He is telling us to put off sin. And He is telling us to put off 
sin of the flesh and of the spirit. In other words, Christianity 
isn't about only moral reform. It's not just the flesh that's 
in view. Stop this, don't do that, don't 
go there, and you'll be fine. No, Christianity extends to the 
heart. It extends to the spirit. That's 
why Paul says we are to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness 
of the flesh and spirit. The outward activities described 
as lusts of the flesh, Galatians 5, 19-21. Those things which 
are indicative of an ungodly heart. Again, it's not enough 
for us to just not murder someone. We don't cleanse ourselves from 
all filthiness of the flesh and spirit by not taking a gun and 
going out and shooting people. We need to promote love and harmony 
and unity and blessedness to our brethren. We're not to hate 
them. Jesus told us the spirituality of the law. You've heard that 
it was said of old, you shall not murder. But I say to you, 
anyone who says fool or calls his brother an empty-headed knucklehead, 
a rock-up, you've broken the law. You've broken the law. He's not 
saying that, you know, I'm elevating the law. No, that's always been 
the intent of the law. God's law regulates not only 
our external conduct, but our inward disposition. And so Paul 
says, in light of these promises, cleanse ourselves from all filthiness 
of the flesh and spirit. Notice, and get this in your 
head, it's not cleanse yourself in order to receive these promises. The Bible is very clear. The 
command of God always follows after what God has done for us 
in our Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't command in order to 
then bless or satisfy. He commands because He's already 
blessed. He commands because He's already 
made these promises. He commands because He's already 
redeemed us by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are to 
cleanse ourselves from all filthiness, all filthiness. We're not to 
make peace treaties with certain sins. Well, I don't actually 
want to go kill people, but I got some lust. You know, maybe that 
will weigh out in the balance and God will accept me anyway. 
No! It must be a universal application. It must be whole soul. You don't 
pick and choose. Well, I don't actually commit 
the sin of lust, but I'm a gossipy wretch. You can't do that. Holiness is to be pursued universally. The Christian man or woman or 
boy or girl doesn't pick and choose. Well, I'm pretty good 
at this, so that's where I'll be holy. I don't really do too 
well over here, but you know, God will forgive me. You know, 
God does forgive, but we are not to engage in what Owen says 
is the high-handed sin. Engaging in sin, knowing the 
Lord will forgive us. That is to turn grace into disgrace. It is to trounce upon the Word, 
of the living God. We are to cleanse ourselves from 
all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. We are not to be picking 
and choosing what areas we will cleanse ourselves from. Now, 
in God's wisdom, and in God's plan, in sanctification, things 
when you're initially converted, the big things you get rid of. 
Later on, maybe 20, 30 years, oh wow, I didn't even think about 
that. Well, that doesn't mean, okay, 
well, I don't have to deal with it. No, you deal with it then. 
It's not like we come out of the womb of regeneration being 
a Paul. That just doesn't happen. There 
is growth in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. But as students of the Scripture, 
we ought to see God's aversion to all of our sins. We need to 
seek to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and 
spirit. And then notice secondly, he 
says, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Perfecting holiness 
in the fear of God. Paul does not believe we can 
achieve sinless perfection in this world. That is not what 
he is saying. Paul understands his Bible and 
his own heart better than that. He is, however, saying we ought 
to actively pursue it. In Hebrews 12, 14 we read that 
we are to pursue peace with all men and the sanctification without 
which no man will see the Lord. We are to pursue it in such a 
way that it is important to us. It's not just a Sunday activity. Well, today is the Lord's Day. 
I'm going to seek to perfect holiness in the fear of God. The perfection of holiness here 
is not living this life in sinless perfection, but rather so pursuing 
holiness that we are seeking to bring it to a goal, an end, 
specifically Christ-likeness. And this shouldn't surprise us. Hopefully nobody's going, wow-ee. Therefore, beloved, having these 
promises cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and 
spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." This is logical. This makes sense. This is what 
we ought to be about. Knowing that God has done what 
He's done in saving us, in preserving us, in giving us everlasting 
life, His call to our holiness is very, very consistent with 
who He is and with what He's about. Paul says in Philippians 
chapter 3, just to show you that he does not believe in a sinless 
perfectionism. Paul was not a Wesleyan Arminian. 
Paul was not a Phineite. Paul did not believe in sinless 
perfection on this side of glory. In Philippians 3.12 he says, 
not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but 
I press on. This is the essence of his command 
in 2 Corinthians 7.1. Press on. Perfecting holiness 
in the fear of God. Persevere. Don't give up. Don't make peace treaties with 
your sin. Don't meet in Switzerland, exchange 
some chocolates and watches, talk about the weather, and make 
a peace treaty with your sin. That is unacceptable. Notice 
what Paul goes on to say. Verse 12, I press on that I may 
lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. See, he understands fully the 
grace of God. Christ has laid hold of me. Because Christ has laid hold 
of me, I press on to lay hold of that." He goes on in verse 
13, "'Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but 
one thing I do. Forgetting those things which 
are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God 
in Christ Jesus." Whenever I picture this text, I picture Paul running 
like there's no tomorrow, running like an Olympic sprinter, running 
like a Kenyan at the front of the pack, running with every 
vein popping out, with every bit of desire to come across 
that line first, forgetting what's behind. Can't go back. I'm going 
forward. Jesus has taken care of what's 
behind. A lot of Christians, we get in 
that mode, man, if I'd only done things differently 15 years ago. You can't fix that. Jesus has 
forgiven that. You need to press on. You need 
to reach forward. You need to run like there's 
no tomorrow. You need to press toward the 
goal for the prize of the upward call of God. in Christ Jesus, 
perfecting holiness in the fear of God. And then thirdly, there 
is a disposition, as I just said, in the fear of God. Charles Hodge says, this is the 
motive which is to determine our endeavors to purify ourselves. It is not regard to the good 
of others, nor our own happiness, but reverence for God that is 
to move us. Your husband or your wife may 
be on you about cleansing yourselves from all of the filthiness of 
the spirit and the flesh. Your husband or your wife may 
be encouraging you to perfect holiness in the fear of God, 
because they'll benefit. But the primary referent is God. That's why we seek to live holy 
life. That's why we cleanse ourselves 
from all filthiness. It is because we love, value 
and supremely prize God. It is our Father who has called 
us to this. Hodge says, it is not in regard 
to the good of others nor our happiness, but reverence for 
God. We are to be holy because He is holy. That is perceptive. That's what Paul is doing. You've 
got these promises. Here's what you're supposed to 
do in light of these promises, and you're to do it with an eye 
to God. You're to do it working out your 
salvation in fear and trembling toward God, by reverence for 
God, by living in awe of God. Some wonder, it's an instrumental 
here. We are to perfect holiness in 
the fear of God by this instrument, by reverencing our God, by esteeming 
our God, by living in awe of our God. It's in that disposition 
that we are to do what Paul calls us to do in cleansing the flesh 
and in perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Now certainly 
there are a whole host of texts in the Bible that teach us that 
we are to fear God. This is not a concept simply 
restricted to the unbeliever. It wasn't only the Ninevites 
that were to learn, according to Nahum, that God was a glorious 
God and He was a wrathful God and He was going to judge them. 
Nahum wrote for his contemporaries as well, Judah, fear God. Fear Him. Reverence Him. Exodus chapter 20, God appears 
in great pomp and glory, in the giving of the law, and the people 
are afraid and they're trembling. And God says, they are to fear 
me. Proverbs 8.13 says, the fear 
of the Lord is to hate evil. Right? If you don't fear God, 
you're not going to hate evil. You're going to love evil. You're 
going to desire evil. You're going to want the filthiness 
of the flesh if you don't fear God. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 
31 tells us that our God is a consuming fire. Why? To promote holiness, 
to promote righteousness. Fear is a great motivator. Don't 
let anybody kid you. Oh, why do you preach that antiquated 
concept of the fear of God? Because it is thoroughly biblical. It is repeated over and over 
and over again, and we are so wayward, we are so hard-headed, 
we are so obstinate that a good, healthy dose of fear oftentimes 
will soften us unto pliability for God's purposes. Well, with 
reference to this text, we need to see the application of it 
as a church, as a church. These promises are ours, the 
duty is ours, and the disposition must be ours as well. We are corporately, as a body, 
to be consumed with our God, to hold Him in awe, and to seek 
by His grace to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh 
and spirit, and we are to perfect holiness. The church, not only 
here, but the church at large must comply with this text as 
well. I was mentioning to someone at 
lunch today, I hate to be in this position of an us and them. 
Oh, everybody else is jacked up. That's not a positive way 
to promote the cause of Jesus Christ. It's not godly. It's 
not righteous. However, there is a sense, brethren, 
where there is some things amiss in Zion as a whole. Lloyd-Jones 
writing several years ago, 20th century, said this, and things 
had not gotten as bad at the time of Lloyd-Jones as they have 
today. And by bad, I mean things going 
on in the life and context of the church that really are not 
what we're supposed to be about. You know, ponies, programs, puppets, 
things of that nature should not define the church of Jesus 
Christ. Lloyd-Jones said this, our Christianity 
has the appearance of being an adjunct or an appendix to the 
rest of our lives, something we add on. We like a couple bucks 
worth of gospel, is what I think the good doctor is saying. We 
like enough gospel to keep us out of hell, but it has not consumed 
us the way it ought. So he says, our Christianity 
has the appearance of being an adjunct or an appendix to the 
rest of our lives instead of being the main theme and the 
moving force in our existence. We seem to have a real horror 
of being different. The world expects the Christian 
to be different and looks to him for something different, 
and therein it often shows an insight into life that regular 
churchgoers often lack. See, at times the pagans expect, 
you know, typical, traditional, reformed worship. Juggling acts 
and clowns serving the Lord's Supper even strikes the pagan 
as odd. He goes on to say, the church organized, or the churches 
organized, whist drives. I think Whist Sunday is a specific 
day in England, so there's a little bit of a cultural difficulty 
with that one. A fete, F-E-T-E, kind of like 
a fair, kind of like a little bazaar and the church grounds. 
He says, the churches organize wits, drives, fates, dramas, 
bazaars, and things of that sort, so as to attract people. We are 
becoming almost as wily as the devil himself. But we are really 
very bad at it. All our attempts are hopeless 
failures, and the world laughs at us. Now when the world persecutes 
the church, she, the church, is performing her real mission. 
But when the world laughs at her, she has lost her soul. And the world today is laughing 
at the church, laughing at her attempts to be nice and to make 
people feel at home. My friends, if you feel at home 
in any church without believing in Christ as your personal Savior, 
then that church is no church at all, but a place of entertainment 
or a social club. For the truth of Christianity 
and the preaching of the gospel should make a church intolerable. and uncomfortable to all except 
those who believe. And even they should go away 
feeling chastened and humble." Praise God. Even they should 
go away feeling chastened and humble. What do you think the 
good doctor would consider about or think about what goes on today? Like what MacArthur says, if 
jugglers and midgets and circus acts will attract people, let's 
bring it on. Certainly the church has to be 
different than that. Certainly the church must define 
herself in terms of these promises, of these duties, and of this 
disposition. We don't fear God when we dress 
men up as clowns and have them serve the Lord's table. We don't 
fear God when we subjugate His worship to our entertainment. We don't fear God when the measure 
of our happiness becomes primary and God's glory is secondary. We are not fearing God when those 
things have taken place. I think the good doctor is absolutely 
right. That's in volume one of his biography, 
page 142. A summary statement concerning 
this particular text is this. In Paul's thought, the Christian 
life is in essence an advance in holiness, a bringing to maturation 
of our consecration to God. This process of sanctification 
involves first and foremost a sense of awe and dread before the omnipotent 
Lord. but also a repudiation of evil 
in every form, especially the avoidance of close, permanent 
alliances with unbelievers. That's the context. And that 
brings us to consider, secondly, this text and us as individuals. Individuals. There is an unequal 
yoke. spoken of here in verse 14 of 
chapter 6. Do not be unequally yoked together 
with unbelievers. I remember several weeks ago, 
preaching out of 2 Samuel 4 through 6, a study in archaeology, the 
study of the Ark, how we observed that when things got tough for 
Israel, her theology went out the door. As soon as things got 
rough for her, she sacrificed her theology for what would work. We'll just get the ark and we'll 
bring it into our camp and it'll be our holy horseshoe and our 
lucky star to protect us from these bad Philistines. God will 
not be manipulated. God allowed them to suffer defeat 
on the field of battle and to have His Ark of the Covenant 
taken by the Philistines. One of the places where I've 
observed, and this may bother you, this may hurt you, this 
may offend your delicacies, but one of the places where this 
unequal yoke, where our theology goes out the window, is in the 
issue of marriage. I am a wholehearted believer 
that God was absolutely right. It's not good for a man to be 
alone. I would amen that a hundredfold 
over and over again. I sympathize with those who are 
alone. My prayer is contentment. My 
prayer is that Jesus would be so sweet, Jesus would be such 
a delight, that you would be able to deal with that contentment, 
or deal contentedly with your station in life right now. I 
don't believe anywhere there's no holy tea leaves where God 
has said, you'll never get a spouse. But one of the areas where our 
theology goes out the door is when we begin to be governed 
by our emotions. We begin to be governed by our 
feelings. Worse yet, we begin to be governed 
by our genitalia. And then we have fallen prey 
to stepping into the very thing God says, don't do. When you 
contract a marriage with an unbeliever, you are violating this text. You are violating God's holy 
law. and you are bringing irreparable 
damage upon your own head. God knows what's best for us. 
God is gracious. God is good. God will see you 
through it. Take the theology, bring it into 
your head and in your heart, and think theologically. Don't think emotively. Don't 
think experience. Don't think, well, I'll be this, 
or I'll be that. You cannot rush God's will. Again, I don't want to dismiss 
the genuine difficulty it must be. I pray and I ask and I hope 
and I beg for the Lord to grant you contentment or a spouse whenever 
that time may be. But one of the areas where this 
is a violation is in the marriage ceremony. Another place is litigation. These are all coming out of the 
Corinthian correspondence. Litigation. What's Paul saying 
in 1 Corinthians 6? Don't take a believer to the 
civil court. You don't do that. You don't do it. Well, I got 
ripped off. I got jipped. Don't do it. Paul's very adamant, very clear. Church, brethren, counselor, 
somebody within the context ought to be able to help you sort out 
your differences. You don't do that in civil court. And then the five questions posed 
in verses 14 to 16. Did you see that? Five questions 
are asked by Paul to the Corinthians that we as individuals need to 
consider. What fellowship has righteousness 
with lawlessness? Again, brethren, not we shouldn't 
be friends with sinners so that we can win them to Christ. That's 
not what this is telling us to avoid. It's talking about fellowship. It's talking about union. It's talking about closeness. It's talking about participation. Notice, he goes on and says, 
what communion has light with darkness? There's two different 
vantage points going on. How could you give your heart 
to that man or woman when there's darkness in your light? How could 
you enter into this most close association with somebody when 
there's darkness in your light? How could you do that? Notice 
he goes on thirdly, what accord has Christ with Belial? Interesting, that term Belial 
shows up in the prophecy of Nahum. It's spattered all throughout 
the Old Testament. Only time that it's used here 
in the New Testament by Paul. The idea is somebody that's a 
contemptible person. It actually became a title for 
Satan in the intertestamental period. The Sibylline Oracles 
referred to