Paul offers a blunt assessment of marriage between a
Christian and an unbeliever in 2 Corinthians 6:14.
"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do
righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what
fellowship can light have with darkness?"
Paul does not go as far as to call it sin, but
nevertheless this could be considered a command not to do
so. The reason is simple - a Christian and
non-Christian do not have much in common. They may
share similar interests, family backgrounds, and even
philosophies on raising children, but their faith in Christ
should be first and foremost.
Marriage to an unbeliever is like playing with fire and
the believer will get burned. Although Paul stops
short of calling this sin, he knows that it will lead to
compromises within the marriage and that will cause sin.
He has the entire history of Israel to back up his thoughts.
As the Israelites entered the Promised Land, they were
told to rid the land of all of the foreigners because of
their idolatry. This sounds cruel and barbaric but God
knew what the outcome would be if they remained.
Instead, the Israelites signed peace treaties with some of
the people. Soon the Israelites had intermarried with
them and some had begun to worship their idols.
Solomon, the wisest man ever, fell victim to the allure
of idols because of his foreign wives. Even though he
constructed the magnificent temple of God, he built temples
to foreign gods that his wives worshipped. They led
him astray and despite his wisdom, he couldn't tell them no.
Nehemiah reacts violently when he hears of intermarriage
among the Israelites and reminds them of Solomon's troubles.
Nehemiah 13:25-27 tells the story.
25 I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat
some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take
an oath in God's name and said: "You are not to give your
daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take
their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves.
26 Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon
king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no
king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him
king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by
foreign women. 27 Must we hear now that you too are doing
all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our
God by marrying foreign women?"
Nehemiah took what was going on very seriously. So should
every Christian. Marriage to an unbeliever is asking
for trouble. They may seem kind and there may be hope
of winning them to Christ but it should be avoided.
The issue of marriage to an unbeliever comes down to
love. Will the love for God be most important in a
Christian's life, or will the love for an unbeliever be most
important?
