What is the context?
Paul warns against being unequally yoked with unbelievers, then asks a series of questions contrasting righteousness and wickedness, light and darkness, Christ and Belial, and God’s temple and idols. Belial is a name for Satan; see Thayer’s entry. The contrast concerns loyalties that cannot be joined without conflict.
The temple statement addresses the people together: we are the temple of the living God. Paul supports the call with Scripture’s promises of God dwelling among His people, receiving them and being their Father. Leviticus 26:11–13 and Isaiah 52:11–12 help explain the dwelling and separation language.
The thought continues into 7:1. Because they have these promises, the beloved are called to turn from everything that defiles body and spirit and pursue holiness in the fear of God. The aim reaches through the whole person, rather than merely improving an outward image.
This warning should be read alongside Paul’s other instructions. In 1 Corinthians 5:9–13 he does not require withdrawal from all unbelieving people. In 1 Corinthians 7:12–16 he does not tell a believer to leave an unbelieving spouse willing to remain. The present warning cannot simply cancel those instructions.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians commonly understand this as a call to loyalty to God that excludes participation in idolatry and incompatible allegiances. They differ in how widely they apply the yoke image. Wesley’s note on verse 14 applies it especially to marriage and extends it to other close ties. The USCCB notes on verses 14–18 focus on the incompatibility of Christian allegiance and pagan worship.
Church teaching on marriage also differs. The Reformed Westminster Confession 24.3 requires Christians to marry in the Lord and adds limits based on faith and conduct. Catholic canons 1086 and 1124–1125 distinguish marriage to another baptized Christian from marriage to an unbaptized person. They provide for permission or an exception under stated conditions, including safeguards for Catholic faith and the children’s upbringing.
These applications are not identical. The shared warning is against a joined life that compromises belonging to God; it should not be represented as contempt for unbelievers or a command to end every existing relationship.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Ezekiel 37:26–28 promises God’s dwelling among His people in a covenant of peace. The parent-child language also recalls 2 Samuel 7:12–16, where God speaks about David’s promised descendant. Paul brings the promise of being God’s sons and daughters into his appeal to the community.
Revelation 21:3 and 7 explicitly join God dwelling with His people and the promise that He will be their God and the one who overcomes will be His son. The call to holiness here belongs within that hope of shared life with God. Separation from idolatry serves the relationship He promises, rather than being an end in itself.
What is our position?
In What Is the True Church?, we affirm that God dwells in His people and that being His temple carries responsibility for how we live and relate to others. That established position applies to the community Paul calls God’s temple here. The study does not decide every marriage, friendship or business application of the yoke image.