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"WHAT THE BIBLE
SAYS ABOUT MIXED MARRIAGES"
The Bible says that marriage is an
honorable institution ordained by God (Hebrews 13:4). God says that
marriage is to be for a lifetime (Romans 7:1-6). Divorce was only
allowed by God because of the hardness of two hearts (Matthew 19:1-9).
The Bible says that God prohibited
Ills people Israel from intermarrying with pagan peoples (Deuteronomy
7:3-4; 1 Chronicles 23:22; Ezra 9:1-2,12; Nehemiah 10:30 -.13:26-27,
Malachi 2:11). God gave this command because He knew that His people
would be adversely influenced in mixed marriages with pagans (1 Kings
11:1-4). In Genesis 24:2-4 the Bible says, "So
Abraham said to the oldest servant of
his house, who ruled over all that he had, "Please, put your hand under
my thigh, " Genesis 24: {3} "and I will make you swear by the LORD, the
God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife
for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; "
141 "but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife
for my son Isaac. "
In the New Testament God says to
christians not to be, "unequally yoked together with unbelievers... " (2
Corinthians 6:14). The principle has not changed. Those who are evil or
unbelieving can have a detrimental effect on christians (1 Corinthians
15:33). The Bible also commands widows who remarry to do so "only in the
Lord" for the very same reason (1 Corinthians 7:39). However, Paul also
says to the church at Corinth that those already involved in mixed
marriages are not to initiate divorce proceedings because their spouses
are not christians (1 Corinthians 7:12-16). The spouse who is a christian may have a. positive influence on the unbelieving spouse
through their godly behavior and example (1 Peter 3:1-2).
God is always more concerned with
the inward person because he sees and knows the heart (1 Samuel 16:7;
Hebrews 4:12-13). Therefore, when the Bible speaks against mixed
marriage it is a warning because of spiritual concerns rather than
outward concerns. In terms of the flesh God ordains mixed
marriage: one woman to one man (Matthew 19:1-9). In terms of race or
ethnic concerns God does not speak either in a supportive or in a
condemning way.
David
Decker |