Do We Bind Ourselves With Unbelievers In Christ?

Paul warns us about mixing our lives with unbelievers in Christ!

2 Corinthians 6 ISV

14Stop becoming unevenly yoked with unbelievers. 

What partnership can righteousness have with lawlessness? 

What fellowship can light have with darkness? 

15What harmony exists between the Messiah and Beliar, 

or what do a believer and an unbeliever have in common?

16What agreement can a temple of God make with idols? 

For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said:

“I will live and walk among them.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.”

17Therefore,

“Get away from them

and separate yourselves from them,”

declares the Lord,

“and don’t touch anything unclean.

Then I will welcome you.

18I will be your Father,

and you will be my sons and daughters,”

declares the Lord Almighty. 

• The verses 16-18 above are quoting God in the Old Testament and are given to us by Paul as he was directed by the Holy Spirit. They clearly appear to make obedience a requirement for him to welcome us, or for him to be our Father, or for us to be his sons and daughters. 
• In the face of these warnings do we say to ourselves we can disobey God and do the things he told us not to because we are saved and under grace? How horrible a thought! Is that the spirit that dwells in the children of God who have been born again from above?
• What if a true believer can continue to disobey? What if you can disobey God and even experience temporary pleasure in sin, but later find Jesus is ashamed of you in the presence of his Father and the angels? 
• Or what if after God's warnings above, you discover that instead of experiencing God's promise to those who obeyed him that "Then I will welcome you", you find out God does not welcome you as he is not your father and you are not his son or daughter? That little word "Then" appears inserted as a condition and is a very serious word! . 

NOTE: Regarding verses 16-18 where God is quoted, Barnes Notes says: "As God hath said" -- The words here quoted are taken substantially from Exodus 29:45; Leviticus 26:12; Ezekiel 37:27. They are not literally quoted, but Paul has thrown together the substance of what occurs in several places. The sense, however, is the same as occurs in the places referred to."