What Partnership has Righteousness with Lawlessness? (2Corinthians 6)

 

With 2,000 years of hindsight, it is easy for us to overlook the importance of the things Paul says in chapter 6 and the previous chapters.

Paul was writing 2Corinthians around 50AD. The Greeks and Romans did not view religion in the sense that the Jews regarded it. It did not have the same strength of requirements for moral purity and holiness. It was generally about doing the necessary, basic sacrifices, attend the festivals, but otherwise you live your life according to the local customs.

There certainly was not even a hint that one might be persecuted for his religion. They didn’t have teachings and doctrines such as we take for granted. There is no doctrine of Zeus or Apollo. There were different schools of philosophy with their own ideas about right living which rose and fell in popularity.

So in this context, what Paul says in Chapter 6 is really amazing:

1. 1. 1. 1. He is citing ancient Jewish scripture and claiming it is fulfilled prophesy;
         2. He is showing them that this religion is not about going through the motions, but rather that it is very real and serious and the persecution is not a joke;
         3. The call to live a holy life must be taken seriously. The flippant way the Greeks and Romans treated religion was not to be continued. Christianity is ‘all or nothing.’