Be Separate From the World

As we read on in the New Testament Paul continues to preach to people he's taught before through letters. He continues to encourage righteous living and faithful members of the church. In 2 Corinthians 6 there are a couple of phrases that are a little... unusual. The first one says, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers...". If you look down in the footnotes for the word "yoked" you find that its meaning is "interfaith marriage or temporal marriage" So what I got from this line is that the members should not bind themselves in marriage to those that are not of the same faith. At first, I found this line to be slightly shocking and blunt. But when you think about it a little further you find that it is completely valid! As the footnotes state, giving yourself in marriage to someone of another faith means only a temporal marriage. You cannot have an everlasting marriage with them. If we are all striving to be the best and live as righteously as possible, then we will want to have a forever marriage- not one that will end with death.
The second line says, "come out from among them, and be ye separate..." At first I thought that this line meant to have nothing to do with those who are not of our faith, but after thinking about it some more I think that there is more to it. The Lord does not want us to withdraw form others completely, how would we spread the gospel? I think that it's like the line "be in the world, but not of the world". We need to separate ourselves from the WAYS of those that do not believe. We must associate ourselves with those of the same faith so that we can uplift and edify each other. Living the gospel is so much easier when you surround yourself with others who are trying to live the same principles.
The third and final line in this chapter says, "touch not the unclean thing". The world is becoming more and more filthy, yet we are sent here to be tested and to find our own way back to our Father in Heaven. He has given us all the tools that we need to get there it's just a matter of faith and avoiding temptation. The unclean things of the world can sometimes be a temptation to us all. But we must avoid it at all cost! We must be strong and continue to try our best to live righteously. The Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. It's all the same. The Lord expects us to live a high standard and if we don't, we will not be able to live with him in the highest degree of glory again.
All these things are for our benefit in living a more righteous life and trying to resist temptation so that we can once again live with our Father in Heaven some day.