We come now to a little portion of 2 Corinthians where Paul, as it were, breaks away from what he has been saying to deal with what was evidently the problem of separation. Then, as now, the issue of separation was a very great problem. In fact, there have been more divisions in the church over this problem than perhaps anything else. Some people have made a career of it. Some whole denominations are based upon the principle of separation. Quoting from the Old Testament, what does Paul mean when he writes in 2 Corinthians 6:17, “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord”? What are the principles of true biblical separation? It is a big subject, and this is not the only text that could be considered. Nevertheless, this text by itself certainly contains enough solid principles in this matter to keep us from the kind of extreme errors that we sometimes have found in the church and which have proved to be so harmful. I want to give it to you in the form of four principles.
The first principle is that separation, where it involves people, is to be between Christians and unbelievers, not between Christians and Christians. Isn’t that obvious when you read the text? Paul says in verse 14, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.” And then he goes on to provide more details to explain what he is talking about. “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 [Satan]? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?”
Now someone is going to say immediately, “But that doesn’t cover all the situations. What about the situation in the church where you have to exercise discipline?” That is true, of course. Church discipline does involve separation, and it is a very needed thing. Where it is properly practiced, it does conform in some measure to this very distinction I am making. When you have discipline in a church that is operating properly, it is not a question of believers separating from the unbelievers. Rather, it is a question of disciplining one who, by his conduct, at least at that moment in time, is acting as an unbeliever. That is what discipline means when you exercise it in its final extreme.
There are different stages of discipline that have to be followed, and in some traditions, such as Presbyterianism, it is required. You cannot just discipline somebody. It has to be very carefully done according to the Book of Church Order. And when you have done all of the other steps, what finally happens is that the person is barred from the communion service. What does that mean? That is not simply a mild rebuke in which the church says, “Well, you’ve been bad, and so now we’re not going to let you take communion.” No, what the church is saying at that point is that communion is for believers, and the person’s behavior is inconsistent with Christian conduct. The individual may claim to be a Christian, but they cannot pretend to be a Christian and act that way. So as long as that behavior continues, they are barred from the communion table. They are only to come back when they acknowledge their behavior as sinful and repent of it.
