“It’s so good, so good, how can this be wrong?
These lyrics were written by Ben Weisman to be sung by Elvis Presley, but I have often heard a variation of them spoken by single Christians who begin to relate romantically to non-Christians.
Therefore, this is usually supported by an avalanche of other comments:
“I used to think the Bible said that I shouldn’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, but I looked at 2 Corinthians 6 in context and it doesn’t seem to be talking about marriage, but about how Christians should be separated from unbelievers. Christians inside the church. So I tried to find a verse that said that a Christian should not marry a non-Christian and I didn’t find one. I’ve talked to Christians I trust and they haven’t found any, not even a verse! that I was wrong and I am free to continue in this relationship.
Anyway, he/she is really interested in the gospel and told me that my faith is something that he/she finds really captivating and would not want to change, in fact, I think it will support my faith more than many Christians would. .
The temptations common to many singles?How to fight pornography?They are formed in such a way that Christians know they are wrong, and the problem will often be that, because of them, they will remain hidden. recognize that you have sinned; the problem is the slow and painful process of repentance.
But the temptation to have a romantic relationship with a non-Christian tends to take a different form. Don’t people tend to hide it, but to try to justify it?First for themselves and then for other Christians who are trying to warn them about the problem. If that sounds good, then they will turn to the Bible to try to prove it right.
In this article, I will not attempt to propose a method for advising people facing such temptation. This article should include a clearer picture of what marriage is: making professional decisions, where to live, how to spend money, how to raise children, etc. All of this is complicated when you and your spouse are going through different things. To better examine some of these issues, read this article. Above all, this counsel will involve careful examination of God’s motivation and examination of God’s reliability and goodness. this does not call us to make concessions in our devotion to Him, but to trust In Him.
Instead, I will propose a brief biblical theology on encounters with disbelievers. I want to show that it is a matter of obedience to God not to seek a relationship with a disbeliever. I will try to make it as clear as possible that, although they seem correct, these feelings are temptations to simply say what God calls false; these feelings are not accompanied by any confirmation from God.
If someone’s reasoning for not having a romantic relationship with a non-believer depends on some evidence drawn from context, then I am sure that reasoning can be altered at times under some attention and enthusiasm for a potentially satisfying relationship. throughout life.
It is also my painful experience that when the weak foundation of such a belief is removed at the beginning of a potential relationship, there will be no time when anyone is in a good position to examine the Teaching of the Bible more carefully and build a stronger relationship. biblical foundation. .
I hope that this article will be of some use to people in such a situation, but of greater use to the Christian who, in the face of temptation, must make a firmer decision not to have a romantic relationship with a non-Christian.
And to be clear: a romantic relationship is likely to occur if you spend a lot of time alone with a person of the opposite sex. I recently had a painful conversation with a dear friend who told me that I had never planned to have a romantic relationship with a certain woman. But he spent hours and hours chatting alone with her after midnight for several weeks.
If you don’t want to have a romantic relationship with a certain person, don’t spend hours contacting them alone. If you have good opportunities for evangelism with a person of the opposite sex, introduce that person to devotee Christians of the same sex. If he is really interested in the gospel, he will be as happy to know the gospel with them as with you. If the Lord wants you to marry, it will clarify that this person comes to faith!
Moreover, a text of evidence not to date a non-Christian is strange for some reasons.
First, quotations, as we understand them, did not take place in biblical times. Secondly, “Who should I marry?” it is something that should arise from all the biblical theology of what marriage is, rather than one or two simple verses of rules.
I maintain that if a Christian is forbidden to marry a non-Christian, it is at least a deliberate attempt at temptation to date a non-Christian. If one cannot marry a non-Christian without a supernatural conversion carried out by the Holy One. Ghost in his heart, over which you have no control, then, first of all, it would be extremely reckless and very unpleasant to consider this marriage.
Now I hope to show how clearly the Bible says it is a sin for a believer to marry a non-believer.
1) Genesis 1: Marriage exists to show the image of God through obedience to God’s commandments related to fertility and domination.
In Genesis 1: 26-28, God designates marriage as a society in the government of creation under His rule. If we do not recognize that we rule under God’s rule, then we rule under the reign of an idol, or a combination. of a series of idols.
In practice, this has an impact on all the decisions you have to make as a couple, for example, how do you decide what to do in any aspect of your life?
1) Do what pleases the Lord?
2) Do what you like?
3) Do what others like?
For the Christian, the number 1 exceeds numbers 2 and 3, for non-Christians, there are only 2 and 3.
2) Genesis 2: Marriage is a society to serve God
Genesis 2 further demonstrates this fact. Genesis 2:15-17 shows how Adam is a prophet/priest/king in the garden kingdom where God placed him to rule within the limits of God’s supreme kingdom (symbolized by the two trees: blessing and life to live under his rule; curse The rest of the chapter details how Adam is unable to fulfill his call to be prophet/priest/king alone. He needs the right help to do so, so Eve is provided together to fulfill God’s call to glorify his name under his dominion.
So marriage is a society, isn’t it good that man is alone?This is not true mainly because man is alone: it is true because he is incompetent, even before the fall.
God did not create man only to be competent to answer his call on the image of God, but created man and woman in a relationship to do this; single men and women can also do so, especially in relation to the Church under the love of Christ, the fulfillment of marriage.
Therefore, in a Christian marriage, marriage is an association in the Gospel; on the other hand, marrying a non-Christian makes marriage an association in something else.
Why would a Christian choose to participate in such a society?
3) Genesis 3: Sin damages the marriage.
Genesis 3 shows us how marriage is destroyed by sin. Adam and Eve, who once lived naked and were not ashamed, now hide from each other.
In the curse, God declares that marriage after the fall is a battle of one sinful will against another:
“Will it be your wish for your husband and he will direct you?(Genesis 3. 16).
This means that all marriages are difficult. But in a Christian marriage, spouses have the opportunity to call each other to subject sinful wills to God’s perfect will. When you marry a non-Christian, you lose the blessing of having a spouse who calls you to submit your will. Christ, and instead you have a spouse who has no interest in being called to submit to your own will. Christ.
4) The Old Testament warns against the marriage of the unbelievers
In the rest of Genesis we see a tremendous effort made to ensure that God’s people only marry those who believe in the Lord.
In Genesis 24, we see the great distances Abraham traveled, combined with God’s incredible response to prayer, to ensure that his son Isaque marries the believer Rebekah.
In Genesis 27:46-28. 9, we see Rebekah and Isaac’s displeasure at their son’s marriage to Canaanite and Hittite women. It’s not racism: it’s religious.
In Genesis 34:8-9, Hamor invites Jacob’s sons to marry the daughters of Shechem (a city that had just demonstrated its character in Dina’s abuses). Marrying people in this city, rather than distanced from such pollution, would give way completely. ; would destroy God’s people in the first generation.
By conquering Canaan, the Lord strictly forbids mixed marriages
nor will you marry the children of these nations; You will not give your daughters to your children, nor will you take away your daughters from your children; for they would want your children to turn away from me to serve other gods; And the wrath of the Lord would light up against you and destroy you quickly?(Deut 7. 3-4).
This prohibition is repeated in Joshua 23. 12, and the trajectory of mixed marriages does not imply or expect canaanites to eventually become.
Mixed marriage is also the fall of kings: even the wisest Solomon (1 Kings 11) and, of course, Ahab (1 Kings 16-19). More positively, a sign of repentance for God’s people was their repentance of mixed marriages in Ezra. 9-10. On the other hand, if a foreigner had already converted, there was absolutely no prohibition on marrying any of them, in fact this is considered positive (Séfora, Rahab and Ruth).
All this biblical evidence makes me think that: Will I continue to follow Jesus even with a non-believer spouse?It is a very proud statement that underestimates our own weakness and presumes God’s grace.
Positively, Proverbs 31 asks the young man to look for a woman of noble character. The top of the poem, and the source of all that is noble in it, is attained in verse 30:
“Grace is deceptive and vain, beauty, but the woman who fears the Lord will be praised.
What attracts you to more than one potential spouse—the charm, beauty, or fear of the Lord?With a non-Christian, there are only the first two: deceptive charm or vain beauty.
Ruth and Boaz are among the most beautiful portraits of married believers. Supplies and protects; she trusts and takes a pious initiative. It is a wonderful love story about how a woman who came under the wings of the Lord achieves the love of a pious man.
In the New Testament, there are a number of observations that clearly show that this Old Testament ban remains valid.
“The wife is connected while the husband lives; However, if the husband dies, is she free to marry whoever she wants, but only in the Lord?(1C 7. 39).
Do not be under the unequal yoke of the unbelievers; because what society can be between justice and wickedness, or what communion, light and darkness?(2Co 6. 14).
Although this second verse is not explicitly related to marriage and offers a more general principle that the Church should remain separate from communion with the heathen, what could be more intimate than communion with the spouse?Does anyone want a marriage other than communion?In reality, it will end up being a ‘communion’ or an ‘association’ in something, but it will not be an association in the gospel and will therefore tend to stop the believer, as 2 Corinthians 6. 14 warns.
1 Corinthians 9. 5: “And also to accompany us with a sister, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
This suggests that having at least one non-believer would disqualify him from ministry; if you want to be old in a church, you’ll disqualify him.
Those who ask for New Testament evidence to prohibit mixed marriages with non-believers will find these texts, but at the same time, they will not find a single verse with a clue that the Old Testament prohibition on such mixed marriages has been lifted for the New Testament. Believer of the will.
The New Testament offers a clearer revelation of marriage: it is an association that represents Christ’s redeeming love for his church. The main aspect of marriage is to represent the gospel (Ephesians 5:21-33; Apoc 21. 9-27). , describes the relationship between the Father and the Son (1Co 11. 3).
Marrying a non-believer is like two artists trying to paint two different images on the same canvas. You try to paint an image of Jesus and the church, but your spouse is trying to paint something completely different.
Or, to make a musical analogy, it would be a couple in which one person tries to sing a song and the other tries to sing something completely different. You sing, “I want this song to be about Jesus,” while your spouse sings, “It’s just you and me. ” There can be no true harmony.
When is a believer married to a non-Christian?Whether by past disobedience, your own conversion, or your spouse’s apostasy after marriage, it is the painful, discordant but ultimately glorifying chant of God that should be sung. However, this is not the song for which marriage was conceived and no Christian should deliberately seek to compose it.
What is the purpose of a believer’s life?Jesus tells us in John 17, “And this is eternal life: that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. “
Does the believer live to know, to know, to love, to honor, to worship, and to follow God through his Son, Jesus Christ.
It is much better to live without a spouse and in the company of the church than with someone who lives for a life that is not eternal.