Second Corinthians 6:15 is Paul’s rhetorical question about whether anything can be shared between Christ and the forces opposed to him, or between a believer and someone who rejects Christ. The implied answer is that the two cannot share a common foundation, so the believer should not form deep partnerships that pull them away from their faith. Paul wrote this to the church in Corinth, a community he had founded and cared for deeply.
What agreement has Christ with Belial? Or what portion has a believer with an unbeliever?
2 Corinthians 6:15 (WEB)
What 2 Corinthians 6:15 Means
Paul begins with “what agreement has Christ with Belial?” Belial is an old Hebrew word for worthlessness or wickedness, used in the Old Testament and later Jewish writings for the forces of evil. The question asks whether Christ and such a power could ever be in harmony. Obviously not. Paul is pointing out that a follower of Christ belongs to a different allegiance than one aligned with that opposition.
The second question, “what portion has a believer with an unbeliever?” uses the word “portion” in the sense of a shared share or lot, as in a shared inheritance or a common stake in something. Paul is asking what two people who stand on opposite foundations can truly hold together at the deepest level. The verse does not forbid every conversation, friendship, or working relationship with a non-believer. It speaks to the kind of partnership that binds two people into one shared purpose, values, and direction of life.
What the verse does not promise is that believers will be spared hardship or that every relationship with an unbeliever is wrong. Paul himself lived among unbelievers and engaged with them constantly. The concern is with closeness that compromises faithfulness to Christ.
The Context of 2 Corinthians 6:15
Second Corinthians is one of Paul’s most personal letters. He writes to a congregation he loves but which has been shaken by conflict, including tensions with rival teachers and questions about his own apostolic authority. In chapters 6 and 7 he appeals to them warmly, speaking as to beloved children and urging them to open their hearts to him again. Verse 14 begins a short section about not being “unequally yoked,” a picture drawn from the Old Testament law against yoking an ox and a donkey together to plow, two animals of unequal strength pulling in different directions.
Just after verse 15, Paul draws on Old Testament promises that God will dwell among his people and call them to come out from among the unclean and be separate. Verse 16 adds that believers are themselves the temple of the living God. Read this way, the question in verse 15 is not a narrow rule about social life. It is a call to live as the people God has claimed, whose identity and loyalty belong to him.
Key Phrases in 2 Corinthians 6:15
1 Corinthians 5:11
But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortionist. Don’t even eat with such a person.
(WEB)
Paul clarifies here that believers are not to keep company with someone who claims the name of Christ but lives in open sin. The passage shows that the principle concerns the depth of fellowship and its moral direction, not contact with the world in general.
Ephesians 5:11
Have no fellowship with the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even reprove them.
(WEB)
Paul urges believers to take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness but instead to expose them. This echoes the contrast of light and darkness in 2 Corinthians 6:14, showing that separation from evil is joined with a faithful witness to it.
A Short Prayer From 2 Corinthians 6:15
Lord, you are the light, and I want my life to belong fully to you. Show me the partnerships, friendships, and commitments that would pull me away from your ways. Give me wisdom to know where to draw lines out of love for you, and a heart that still reaches out with kindness to those who do not yet know you. Keep my loyalty clear and my hope anchored in Christ. Amen.
