Verses 1-2: The Urgency of Grace and the Present Call of Salvation

¹ Working together, we entreat also that you do not receive the grace of God in vain, ² for he says, “At an acceptable time I listened to you. In a day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.

• Grace must be received in a way that bears real spiritual fruit:

  Paul’s plea assumes that God’s grace is truly given and truly meant to accomplish God’s saving purpose in human lives. To “receive the grace of God in vain” is to accept God’s generosity outwardly while resisting its intended effect—repentance, faith, perseverance, and transformed living. This holds together God’s initiative (“I listened… I helped you”) and the believer’s real responsibility to respond to grace with enduring, obedient trust.

• Salvation has a decisive “now” that calls for immediate, obedient response:

  By repeating “Behold, now,” Paul highlights the immediacy of God’s gracious invitation. The “acceptable time” and “day of salvation” are not merely abstract ideas; they confront the hearer with a present moment of divine mercy. Theologically, this teaches that God’s saving help is not only something to remember or postpone—it is to be embraced in the present through faith that acts, repents, and clings to God’s promise.

Verses 3-10: The Credibility of Ministry Through Endurance, Holiness, and Gospel Power

³ We give no occasion of stumbling in anything, that our service may not be blamed, ⁴ but in everything commending ourselves, as servants of God, in great endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, ⁵ in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings; ⁶ in pureness, in knowledge, in perseverance, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in sincere love, ⁷ in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, ⁸ by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; ⁹ as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and not killed; ¹⁰ as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

• Gospel ministry must avoid becoming a stumbling block to others:

  Paul’s concern “that our service may not be blamed” shows that the credibility of the gospel is tied to the integrity of its messengers. While salvation rests on God’s work, ministers and believers are still accountable for conduct that either adorns the gospel or obscures it. This calls the church to a careful, humble life that protects the weak and gives no needless occasion for scandal or cynicism.

• Servanthood is authenticated by resilient endurance in suffering:

  The list of afflictions and hardships portrays ministry not as triumphal self-promotion but as costly service. Theologically, this aligns with a cruciform pattern: God’s power is often displayed through steadfast perseverance under pressure. Such endurance does not earn God’s favor, yet it can publicly demonstrate the reality of faith and the worth of Christ to a watching world.

• The Spirit forms the moral and relational character fitting for God’s servants:

  Paul joins inward virtues (“pureness… kindness”) with explicit dependence “in the Holy Spirit” and “in sincere love.” This teaches that holiness is not mere self-discipline; it is life shaped by God’s presence, expressed in truth, love, and perseverance. The church is reminded that authentic spirituality is both doctrinal (“knowledge”) and relational (“sincere love”).

• The gospel advances by truth and God’s power, not by image management:

  Paul roots ministry “in the word of truth, in the power of God,” and speaks of “the armor of righteousness.” Theologically, this centers the church on divine means: God’s truth proclaimed and God’s power at work, alongside a life marked by righteousness. Reputation fluctuates (“evil report and good report”), but the ministry’s foundation is God’s action and God’s truth rather than public approval.

• Christian life contains paradox: weakness and suffering coexist with joy and true wealth:

  Paul stacks contrasts: “as dying… we live,” “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing,” “as poor, yet making many rich.” This reveals a deep theology of participation in Christ: believers can be outwardly diminished yet inwardly sustained by God, carrying a joy not canceled by grief. The “riches” Paul gives are ultimately spiritual—life in God, the gospel’s blessings, and the inheritance implied by belonging to God.

Verses 11-13: Open-Hearted Fellowship and the Healing of Divided Affections

¹¹ Our mouth is open to you, Corinthians. Our heart is enlarged. ¹² You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. ¹³ Now in return, I speak as to my children: you also open your hearts.

• True pastoral care speaks honestly and loves expansively:

  Paul’s “mouth is open” and “heart is enlarged” expresses transparent speech joined to deep affection. Theologically, this reflects God’s own posture toward his people: truth spoken in love, not manipulation. Healthy church life requires leaders and congregations to pursue both doctrinal honesty and relational warmth.

• Spiritual restriction often comes from disordered loves, not from God’s servants:

  Paul locates the problem in “your own affections,” teaching that what binds believers is frequently internal—misdirected desires, loyalties, fears, or attachments that narrow the heart. Growth in grace therefore involves not only learning but re-formation of love: the heart opening toward God and toward God’s people.

• The church is called to mutual, family-like reciprocity in love:

  Paul speaks “as to my children” and asks for a corresponding openness. This highlights the family character of the church: relationships marked by honor, receptivity, and affection that mirrors the reconciling love God has shown. Such mutual openness is not sentimentality; it is a concrete expression of communion in Christ.

Verses 14-16: Holy Distinctness—Righteousness, Light, and the Living Temple

¹⁴ Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship do righteousness and iniquity have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? ¹⁵ What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what portion does a believer have with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ What agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk in them. I will be their God and they will be my people.”

• Some partnerships are spiritually incompatible because they pull the heart in opposite directions:

  The image of an “unequal yoke” addresses binding relationships that require shared spiritual direction. Paul’s questions (“what fellowship…?”) emphasize that righteousness and iniquity, light and darkness, Christ and Belial represent fundamentally opposed allegiances. This is not a call to withdraw from ordinary human contact, but a warning against covenants and alliances that demand compromise of worship, obedience, or identity in Christ.

• Believers’ identity is defined by union with God’s holy presence:

  “For you are a temple of the living God” locates holiness in identity before it becomes behavior. God’s promise—“I will dwell in them and walk in them. I will be their God and they will be my people.”—shows covenant intimacy: God actively present with his people. Theologically, this supports a robust doctrine of sanctification: because God dwells with his people, idolatry is not a harmless preference but a contradiction of who the church is.

Verses 17-18: Separation From Uncleanness and the Promise of Fatherly Welcome

¹⁷ Therefore “ ‘Come out from among them, and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you. ¹⁸ I will be to you a Father. You will be to me sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

• God calls his people to active separation from impurity as a response to his covenant love:

  The commands “Come out… be separate… Touch no unclean thing” present holiness as an intentional, embodied practice. This separation is not self-righteous isolation but faithful devotion that refuses idolatry and moral defilement. It is the lived “therefore” flowing from being God’s temple: God’s indwelling presence makes purity a fitting response.

• Holiness is sustained by God’s promise of welcome and family adoption:

  God attaches promise to command: “I will receive you” and “I will be to you a Father… sons and daughters.” Theologically, this frames obedience within relationship: believers pursue separation not to earn sonship, but because God is truly Father and truly receives his people. The church is encouraged that God’s authority (“the Lord Almighty”) is not cold power but fatherly commitment that strengthens believers to live distinctly.

Conclusion: 2 Corinthians 6 holds together God’s initiating grace and the believer’s urgent, responsible response; it presents Spirit-empowered endurance and integrity as marks of credible ministry; it calls the church into open-hearted communion free from enslaving affections; and it grounds holiness in identity as God’s living temple, sustained by the covenant promise that the Lord Almighty receives his people as a Father who claims sons and daughters.