Separating yourself from the world may cause hardship, but God has promised to be with you every step of the way.
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Read previous DIG DEEPER posts on 2 Corinthians
2 Corinthians 6 Summary
Paul lays out a pretty impressive resume regarding his Christian life in v5-10. Granted, you likely will not be called by God to endure beatings, imprisonments & riots (v5), but what hardships will you be willing to face today or this week on account of Christ?
Maybe you are experiencing hard work, sleepless nights and hunger (maybe not hunger for food, but for some other necessary component of life). But are the causes of these stresses coming from things under the sun that will not last (to borrow a phrase from Ecclesiastes)?
You don't need to invite this trouble into your life, but on the other hand, you will instinctually navigate around trouble associated with the gospel rather than take it on if you are not intentionally following God's will despite the associated costs.
Dig Deeper
A key tenant of Christianity is that God freely bestows grace on all who believe. Your forgiveness is based on God's grace, not your works. But although God's grace is freely given, it does not come without cost. As a result of being joined to the benefits of Christ, you must die to your old sinful desires and live guided by God's Word.
The Corinthians wanted grace, but since they didn't like Paul's authority over them, they wanted him to just leave them alone. They didn't want to make the changes to their sinful lifestyle that Paul was demanding.
People are still like this today: wanting God's grace, but not wanting to bow themselves under the submission of Scripture (which has the same authority for us that Paul had in Corinth). But if the free grace people receive does not cause them to live a more Godly life, it is like receiving God's grace in vain (v1).
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: God is our master, and we are His servants (v4)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will be God's people, separated from the world's sin (v17)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
