2 Corinthians 6

Paul urges the Corinthians to take God’s grace seriously, and he shows from his own hard and joyful ministry that the gospel is real. He then appeals for open hearts between himself and them. Finally he calls the church to live as God’s holy temple, not tied in close partnership with unbelief or idolatry.

2 Corinthians 6:1

Paul and his team work alongside God, and as His partners they plead with the Corinthians. Grace is a gift, but it can be received emptily, with no change of life following. He wants their faith to bear real fruit.

BSA: fellow workers (“co-laborers, working together with Him”): Paul sees himself as a partner in God’s own work, not as a free agent. vain (“to no purpose, empty, without effect”): Grace received without result would be hollow, a gift left unopened.

See also: 1 Corinthians 15:10.

2 Corinthians 6:2

Paul quotes God’s promise to His servant, spoken long before, and says it is fulfilled now in Christ. God’s favor is on offer today. The urgency is plain: this is the moment to respond, not to put it off.

BSA: time (“season, opportunity”): It is an opportunity God has opened, and it should not be missed. salvation (“rescue, deliverance”): God’s help is a real rescue from sin and its power.

See also: Isaiah 49:8.

2 Corinthians 6:3

Paul takes care that nothing in his conduct gives anyone a reason to reject the gospel. A messenger’s life can either help or hinder the message. He wants his ministry to be beyond fair criticism.

BSA: obstacle (“stumbling block, cause for offense”): Paul will not trip anyone on the road to faith.

2 Corinthians 6:4-5

Paul begins a long list of proofs that he is a true servant of God. First come his sufferings: patient endurance through pressure, beatings, prison, mobs, hard work, lost sleep and hunger. His hardships are his credentials.

BSA: endurance (“perseverance, patiently waiting”): It means staying steady under pressure, and it heads the whole list.

Greek: ὑπομονῇ (hypomonē, G5281) — “remaining under, steadfast endurance.” The word pictures someone staying under a heavy load without giving way. It is active staying power, not just passive waiting.

See also: 2 Corinthians 11:23-27.

2 Corinthians 6:6-7

Next come the qualities of character that mark him: purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, honest love, true speech and God’s power. His weapons are righteous living, used for both defense and attack. God’s own character shows in His servant.

BSA: sincere (“genuine, without hypocrisy”): His love is real and unacted, with no mask. weapons (“armor, instruments of war”): Righteousness is the equipment he fights with, not force or cleverness.

Greek: ἀνυποκρίτῳ (anypokritō, G505) — “without play-acting.” The word is built from the idea of an actor wearing a mask. Paul’s love is the opposite of pretense.

See also: Ephesians 6:11-17.

2 Corinthians 6:8-10

Paul now sets opposites side by side. People call him a fraud, yet he is genuine. He seems to be dying, yet lives. He is sad, yet joyful, poor, yet enriching many. The believer’s life looks one way outwardly and is another inwardly, because Christ is his true wealth.

BSA: rejoicing (“feeling happy and glad”): Joy goes on alongside sorrow and is not wiped out by it. rich (“spiritually wealthy, abounding in faith”): What Paul gives away is spiritual wealth, which is why he can give it while poor.

See also: 2 Corinthians 4:8-10; Philippians 4:12-13.

2 Corinthians 6:11-13

Paul speaks warmly and openly. His heart is wide open to the Corinthians, but their hearts have pulled back. He asks them, as his spiritual children, to answer in kind and open their hearts to him.

BSA: open wide (“widened, enlarged”): His heart has room for them, and he asks that theirs make room in return. restrained (“restricted, held back, or narrowed”): The narrowness is in their feelings, not in his.

Greek: πεπλάτυνται (peplatyntai, G4115) — “has been made broad.” Paul uses a picture of breadth, as in a wide open space. A wide heart is a welcoming one.

2 Corinthians 6:14

A yoke joins two animals to pull one load together. Paul warns believers against binding themselves in close, shared partnership with unbelievers, since the two pull in opposite directions. His pairs of opposites, righteousness and wickedness, light and darkness, make the point. It concerns close ties, not all contact.

BSA: unequally yoked (“mismatched or unequally joined”): Two partners of different kinds cannot pull the same way.

Greek: ἑτεροζυγοῦντες (heterozygountes, G2086) — “being yoked with a different kind.” The word echoes an old command against yoking two different animals together. It points to a poor and painful match.

See also: Deuteronomy 22:10.

2 Corinthians 6:15

Paul asks two more questions. Christ and Belial, a name for the evil one, can never agree. Nor can a believer and an unbeliever share the same ultimate loyalty. The questions expect the answer: nothing at all.

BSA: harmony (“agreement, concord”): The word comes from music, a sound where voices fit together, which Christ and evil cannot.

2 Corinthians 6:16

Idols have no place in God’s temple, and Paul says believers are that temple. God lives in His people. He then recalls God’s old promise to dwell and walk among His people. Holiness follows from who we are.

BSA: temple (“dwelling place, spiritual house”): The church is the place where God Himself lives.

See also: Leviticus 26:11-12; 1 Corinthians 3:16.

2 Corinthians 6:17

God calls His people to separate from what is unclean. This is a call to leave idolatry and sin, not a call to leave the world altogether. The promise goes with it: He will welcome them.

BSA: separate (“set apart, devoted to God”): Separation is for something, namely being devoted to God, as well as away from something. receive (“welcome, accept, and take you in”): Leaving the wrong crowd brings you into God’s warm welcome.

See also: Isaiah 52:11.

2 Corinthians 6:18

The chapter closes with a tender promise. Those who come out will find God as their Father, and they will be His sons and daughters. The One who calls is the Almighty, and His care is a family care.

BSA: Father (“like a loving father, a paternal caregiver”): God’s care for His people is close and personal, like a father’s.

See also: 2 Samuel 7:14; Romans 8:15.