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If you are a Christian, you need to consider other Christians for marriage, so that you will be equally "yoked". If you are living for Christ, and you marry someone who doesn't consider the Lord or Jesus to be important, you can be certain that it will either strain your marriage OR you will begin to fall away from God yourself.
[SUP]
2 Corinthians 6:14 [/SUP]Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
Since you would need to consider only other Christians for marriage, it is best not to date non-Christians, because there is a good chance you could come to love an unbeliever, and be tempted to set aside your spiritual values in order to be with him.
[SUP]
2 Corinthians 6:14 [/SUP]Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
Since you would need to consider only other Christians for marriage, it is best not to date non-Christians, because there is a good chance you could come to love an unbeliever, and be tempted to set aside your spiritual values in order to be with him.
S
You can do whatever you want. The question you have to ask is, would dating someone who ISN'T a practicing Christian be good for your Christian walk, or bad for your Christian walk? Is that person going to distract you from following Christ and drawing closer to Him, or are they going to ENCOURAGE you to grow in Christ and draw closer to Him?
Of course, there are some specific Biblical commands, but I figure just plain ol' logical thinking is good enough.
And someone else will post the passage from 2 Corinthians before I finish writing this. Probably.
EDIT: *sees GLR's post* CALLED IT!!!
Of course, there are some specific Biblical commands, but I figure just plain ol' logical thinking is good enough.
And someone else will post the passage from 2 Corinthians before I finish writing this. Probably.
EDIT: *sees GLR's post* CALLED IT!!!
R
Biblically you can marry an unbeliever. Trust me, if you did that it wouldn't be considered being "Unequally Yoked" as a lot of Christian's believe. But marrying an unbeliever may be a difficult thing because the agreement of God and everything God entails will be absent. The question you must ask yourself is, "Do I want to be loved and edified spiritually by a spouse?" It's best to marry a like minded indidivual for the sake of peace and unity.
I cannot answer the question as it is stated. "Do I have to..." is not germane to the topic at hand. God has never told me "You can't do this, you have to do that."
There are some guidelines though, that I should follow. Not that I have to follow them, but I know God set these guidelines for a reason and if I want to avoid a lot of trouble I really should follow them.
So to obliquely answer your question - You should marry a christian. You don't have to. Shoot, you could marry a satan worshipper if you want. It's your life, you can do what you want with it. And I could put kool-aid in my minivan's oil pan, because it's my minivan, I can do what I want with it. But we'll both have trouble if we do...
There are some guidelines though, that I should follow. Not that I have to follow them, but I know God set these guidelines for a reason and if I want to avoid a lot of trouble I really should follow them.
So to obliquely answer your question - You should marry a christian. You don't have to. Shoot, you could marry a satan worshipper if you want. It's your life, you can do what you want with it. And I could put kool-aid in my minivan's oil pan, because it's my minivan, I can do what I want with it. But we'll both have trouble if we do...
R
You CAN marry someone who isn't a Christian.
1 Corinthians 7:12-14 NIV
To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wise has been sanctified through her unbelieving husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
What 2 Corinthians 6:14 is contextually saying is... You first need to understand what a yoke is. A yoke was a wooden bar that connected two oxen together. They would walk together bound by a single piece of farming equipment. It was used to till the ground with. Now the metaphor of not being equally yoked with another means not to be bound by the sins of another person. Not to walk in sync with a sinful persons ways. It has nothing to do with being married to someone. Now if you are married to someone who is an unbeliever and they have sinful ways and you succomb to their sins, (your agreement being the wooden yoke here) then you are equally yoked. So know the person who is an unebeliever. Know what their muses are. Are they sinful? Then ask yourself if you are confident enough to not be tempted to do what they do. This is why it is more difficult to marry an unbeliever.
1 Corinthians 7:12-14 NIV
To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wise has been sanctified through her unbelieving husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
What 2 Corinthians 6:14 is contextually saying is... You first need to understand what a yoke is. A yoke was a wooden bar that connected two oxen together. They would walk together bound by a single piece of farming equipment. It was used to till the ground with. Now the metaphor of not being equally yoked with another means not to be bound by the sins of another person. Not to walk in sync with a sinful persons ways. It has nothing to do with being married to someone. Now if you are married to someone who is an unbeliever and they have sinful ways and you succomb to their sins, (your agreement being the wooden yoke here) then you are equally yoked. So know the person who is an unebeliever. Know what their muses are. Are they sinful? Then ask yourself if you are confident enough to not be tempted to do what they do. This is why it is more difficult to marry an unbeliever.
For the sake of argument... I personally believe this is referring to those who were saved after being married. (Remember this was the early church when many were just starting to believe.) If we look to the Old Testament Israel in relation to the New Testament Church (ie. Israel is/was a type or shadow of "God's Chosen People") we see that God had very definite views about his People marrying those of other religions, because the unbelieving spouse would cause the believing spouse to stumble. (See Solomon for an example of this.) It DID happen, but those were the exceptions.
I
I agree with Grace-Like-Rain.
Do I think that it is a good idea to date a non Christian? No, I don't. Why? It's not that I have not done it before when I was younger and spiritually immature; I have dated a non believer and I found it very difficult to maintain that relationship when I started drawing closer to God. He was a good guy but there was no spiritual connection there and I began to feel restless and eventually ended it.
My thing is, don't date someone that you don't intend on marrying... yes, intentions may change in time and courtship is there to determine if that person you set out to have a long lasting relationship with, is actually the one for you but don't intentionally walk into a relationship knowing that you are not meant to yolk with a nonbeliever.
Let your emotions/feelings bow down to the voice of God. What you cannot control or fail to have control over, eventually masters you.... If choosing someone to have a God centred relationship with was easy, we all would have someone by now. I believe that if you are Christian, you would know that having a God centred relationship is a lot more important than just getting into any relationship with anyone.
Do I think that it is a good idea to date a non Christian? No, I don't. Why? It's not that I have not done it before when I was younger and spiritually immature; I have dated a non believer and I found it very difficult to maintain that relationship when I started drawing closer to God. He was a good guy but there was no spiritual connection there and I began to feel restless and eventually ended it.
My thing is, don't date someone that you don't intend on marrying... yes, intentions may change in time and courtship is there to determine if that person you set out to have a long lasting relationship with, is actually the one for you but don't intentionally walk into a relationship knowing that you are not meant to yolk with a nonbeliever.
Let your emotions/feelings bow down to the voice of God. What you cannot control or fail to have control over, eventually masters you.... If choosing someone to have a God centred relationship with was easy, we all would have someone by now. I believe that if you are Christian, you would know that having a God centred relationship is a lot more important than just getting into any relationship with anyone.
U
Why would you want to love and marry someone knowing in the back of your mind they were going to hell? And how will you enjoy explaining to your children that you picked a father for them who is bound for hell?
Why pick a person to be the spiritual head of your home who is unable to fulfill that duty?
There are so many more questions like this you could ask yourself.
And as far as dating, why date if you aren't looking to marry? What is the point? Most Christians who are dating are looking to marry. So you will either have to lie about or withhold this information from Christians in order to date them. Or have a very difficult time finding a Christian willing to date you with the intention of nothing more happening.
Why pick a person to be the spiritual head of your home who is unable to fulfill that duty?
There are so many more questions like this you could ask yourself.
And as far as dating, why date if you aren't looking to marry? What is the point? Most Christians who are dating are looking to marry. So you will either have to lie about or withhold this information from Christians in order to date them. Or have a very difficult time finding a Christian willing to date you with the intention of nothing more happening.
Marrying someone is 2 flesh becoming 1 flesh... if one is saved and the other isn't, the Bible indicates that person is made holy. If a person truly loves God, why would they want to share a life with someone who doesn't? A marriage is a 3 fold cord, both husband and wife are in submission to God at the center. You also have the issue of the kids. It's just not a good idea at all. And I think anyone who thinks it is, is under severe delusion. Seek God and His Kingdom and the right things will be added to you.
C.
C.
B
Well, how about these scenarios.
1. Suppose a person is chronically asthmatic. Why would that person want to marry a heavy smoker?
2. Suppose a person is promiscuous. Why should that person want to marry a person practicing celibacy?
3. Now, suppose a godly person is a practicing Christian. Why should that person marry you?
1. Suppose a person is chronically asthmatic. Why would that person want to marry a heavy smoker?
2. Suppose a person is promiscuous. Why should that person want to marry a person practicing celibacy?
3. Now, suppose a godly person is a practicing Christian. Why should that person marry you?