2 Corinthians 6: Your Kingdom Come

There is an old phrase that has been floating around the church for a long time, “He is so heavenly minded that he is no earthly good.” The problem does not lie in the fact that individuals focus their life toward heaven, but in that they fail to see how it applies to today. Jesus even prays this in Matt 6, “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” So how do we live this in our daily lives?

Paul lays out an interesting contrast in Second Corinthians 6. Initially, he seems to be encouraging the Corinthians to live boldly and to expand their love for others (v. 1-2, 12-13), but then he commands them to separate from the sinful world (6:14-7:1). So what’s the deal? Does Paul contradict himself?

Simply, no. One of the major problems with the Corinthian church was their involvement and interactions with the temple cults of Corinth. These were places that would far surpass the moral decadence of Las Vegas. Rather they themselves are the holy temple of God and must live like it. But his is different from ceasing to interact with all unbelievers. We can think of this charge in light of 1 Peter 1:14-15, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” It is a call to purity of heart and mind.

The day of salvation has come with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (v. 2), but we must live in purity before God and the world (7:1). Our culture affords us the opportunity to live in almost any sin imaginable. But in our zeal for purity we must not also forget to seek to bring the kingdom to our culture.

Posted by Aaron