2 Corinthians 6:14
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?"
A yoke is typically a plow and frame that fastens around the necks of two animals to enable them to work together. The best outcome occurs when the animals are of equal size and strength, allowing the weight of the yoke and the labor to be evenly distributed. The yoke is often made of wood and iron, and in itself, it is a burden. This principle of not being unequally yoked is reflected in the Law: “Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together” (Deuteronomy 22:10).
The Apostle Paul urges the Corinthians to consider their reconciliation to God through Christ alone and not to become entangled again in the bondage of works-based religion, especially with those still in unbelief. While this verse is often interpreted as a warning against believers marrying non-believers, it must also be applied more broadly to any situation where believers are closely associated with non-believers—whether in business, marriage, or worship. Primarily in this context, it concerns separation from false worship (2 Corinthians 2:15-18). Once again, the principle of separation is revealed in the Law of God: “Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind; thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed; neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woolen come upon thee” (Leviticus 19:19). There can be no mixture of grace and works.
The phrase “Be not” in Greek is “don’t become” yoked, since, as a child of God, you are already yoked to the Lord Jesus in His righteousness, which He earned and established for you. He laid down His life to redeem and justify you. Therefore, you cannot be unyoked from Him—neither in His Person nor His work—and become yoked to anyone still bound to their works of “unrighteousness.” “For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?” The righteous are those whom God the Father has declared righteous through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The unrighteous, literally that which is “inequity” (from which the word “iniquity” is derived), are those whose sin debt has not been paid by the Lord Jesus. They remain “unjustified” and therefore cannot have any relationship with that which has been made equitable with God's righteousness through Christ—since it can never be matched by human effort or works.
The Lord Jesus lived a perfect, obedient life, and He died an obedient death to fulfill the Law on behalf of those the Father elected from eternity and entrusted to Him. He came to pay for their sin and earn righteousness for them through His perfect life and sacrificial death on the cross. This is why the Lord Jesus calls each of His own to “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me...For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Someone has said, “To call those who are weary and heavy laden to take a yoke upon them may seem like adding affliction to the afflicted; but the pertinence of it lies in the word ‘My." The yoke of the Lord Jesus is easy because it represents the yoke of Justice that He has already borne for His people. Being yoked with Him means that the child of God does not bear the weight themselves but enjoys the “weightlessness” of Christ having already borne the burden. He will not place the burden of His yoke on any sinner for whom He has already paid the sin debt. That is why His yoke is easy. To take Christ’s yoke upon us is to come to Him, being drawn by His Spirit of Grace and to rest in Him and what He has accomplished, and never to be further burdened by the guilt of your sin, because our Lord has already taken it all away.
Taking His yoke means not clinging to things that would otherwise weigh us down, such as our sinful nature, futile efforts to improve our sinful flesh, an unforgiving attitude toward others who have wronged us, or any bitterness and shame from our past lives (Ephesians 4:31). When we come to Christ, He reminds us through His Spirit that He has already borne the yoke in His suffering on our behalf. Therefore, there is now NO CONDEMNATION (Romans 8:1).
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