Is it non-christians' fault that they are non-christian?

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Let's look at the words.

Marriage is a type of yoke. When Matthew and Mark write about man and woman “joined” together by God in marriage (Matthew 19:6; Mark 10:9), they use a Greek word with “yoke” as its root. This root is the same as the one used in the 2 Corinthians 6 passage. In other words, the verbs in Matthew 19, Mark 10, and 2 Corinthians 6 are all etymologically related. God has “yoked” man and woman together into a one flesh relationship.

Definitions for suzeugnumi (literally “yoke”).
"Yoke" was the common term used for marriage in the first century. The husband and bride were yoked together for life.
“So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.
Therefore what God has joined [yoked] together,
let not man separate”
Matthew 19:6
“Therefore what God has joined [yoked] together,
let not man separate.”
Mark 10:9


Definitions for heterozygeo, which is translated “unequally yoked”:
“To be wrongly or poorly matched in an association - ‘to be mismatched, to be wrongly matched.’ ‘do not be wrongly matched with unbelievers’ 2 Cor 6.14. It is often necessary to indicate somewhat more precisely the manner in which one may be wrongly matched with others. Accordingly, one can translate 2 Cor 6.14 as ‘do not attempt to work together with those who are unbelievers’ or ‘do not become partners with those who do not believe.’ Louw, and Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains.
This word derives from heterozygos. “unequally yoked” (e.g., the yoking of an ass and ox). It occurs for the first time in 2 Cor. 6:14, where Paul uses it to describe the abnormal situation that results when Christians fail to maintain their distinction from unbelievers.
Kittel and Friedrich, Editors, The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.

To be “unequally yoked” would naturally be seen as a joining of two in marriage who do not belong together.​

Yes, this is the most popular belief. And the explanation makes good sense, and you may be 100% right, but there is still the possibility that Paul meant what I heard the pastor say.
 
Im going to let my kids choose once they reach a certain age. Im certainly not going to force the bible into them. I would be disappointed if they chose something else, but its their free will.

Kids learn more by example than anything else. When we live the life we've been called to in front of our kids, pray with them and for them, teach them right from wrong, love them and teach them to love and respect others, praise God with them and in front of them, we don't have to force anything on them, they will know. They may even rebel for a time, but they will know the truth. :) Dedicate your children to God. He can be trusted with them. God doesn't love us any more than He loves our kids. I totally trust Him with my son. Always :)
 
What you wrote doesn't make sense to me.

First, you said labeling it 'unfair' holds not water, so that means you think it IS fair to reject someone just because they are non-christian...

But then you start showing how one has to weigh different reasons before deciding whether to accept or reject that person.

So which one is it?

It made sense. I was applying your logic to other aspects of rejecting people to show how wrong it is to say its 'not fair' to reject someone off of certain criteria. Everyone chooses to not have interest in someone else because of certain aspects of who they are and/or what they choose. In order to be 'fair' by your standards you could not refuse to date anyone because of what they believed or how they lived.
 
I read what i'm telling here from Bible..don't let anyone tell you what to do,ask to the Bible what to do.
;) :)

Well this pastor's life is centered on understanding the bible and his explanation makes a lot more sense to me than telling all christians to outright reject all unbelievers even as friends.
 
Im going to let my kids choose once they reach a certain age. Im certainly not going to force the bible into them. I would be disappointed if they chose something else, but its their free will.

There is a difference between letting a 2 year old choose and an 18 year old choose. That's more along the lines I was referring too, a two year old. I agree, a full grown adult child should be allowed to choose, because they are adults. Maybe even 16 or 17. But there is still a vast difference between and 2-5 year old child and a 16-18 year old child.
 
Well this pastor's life is centered on understanding the bible and his explanation makes a lot more sense to me than telling all christians to outright reject all unbelievers even as friends.

It's one thing to have someone as a friend, it's another to have a drug dealer be your closes friend.
 
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Exactly, vkat, couldn't have said it better myself, and, in fact I nor you , vkat, can say it is ours said, so to speak, because...it's in scripture (Matt 6:24), a bit worded different than serving 'two Gods,' as you aptly put it, but, that said, I think everyone who believes Christ is Lord of his/her life that 'two gods,' does not just apply togetherGod and money, but to many things, including God and the Devil who both want to be MASTER of your life.

Ok, so maybe I didn't have the scripture correctly quoted. Sigh ....
 
Ok, so maybe I didn't have the scripture correctly quoted. Sigh ....

---depends on which version, or, translation used , probably, but i was not disagreeing with you, vkat...au contraire. I was completely agreeing, just adding that scripture says, 'you cannot serve two masters,' as what I read. And 'God and money' are the matt. 6:24 examples, all I was doing was comparative analysis ('máster' can mean many things, including God and Satan) of what you aptly said. Sorry if I confused.
 
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Originally Posted by zeroturbulence
It means "do not be yoked unequally to an unbeliever".

This is different from simply saying "Do not be yoked to an unbeliever."

That would be a plausible explanation if the rest of the verse did not ask what fellowship has light with darkness and lawlessness with righteousness.

You cannot take a portion of the scripture without looking at it in the context of the sentence...the contrast being used refers to christians and non-christains . Not levels of Christianity
 
Originally Posted by zeroturbulence
It means "do not be yoked unequally to an unbeliever".

This is different from simply saying "Do not be yoked to an unbeliever."

That would be a plausible explanation if the rest of the verse did not ask what fellowship has light with darkness and lawlessness with righteousness.

You cannot take a portion of the scripture without looking at it in the context of the sentence...the contrast being used refers to christians and non-christains . Not levels of Christianity

Ok, even if the pastor I heard is wrong about that scripture, why did Paul write these scriptures telling christians to not end a marriage with an unbeliever solely because they are unbelievers?

"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." - 1 Cornithians 7:12-13
 
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That would be a plausible explanation if the rest of the verse did not ask what fellowship has light with darkness and lawlessness with righteousness.

Different levels of Christianity does not put one in darkness and one in light. If you are truly a Christian; you are of light

Ok, even if the pastor I heard is wrong about that scripture, why did Paul write these scriptures telling christians to not end a marriage with an unbeliever solely because they are unbelievers?

"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." - 1 Cornithians 7:12-13

You know; I really love the word of God. You know just for a moment like this; Paul makes sure that he identifies that the advice he was about to give was for people who were already married...Isn't God great?

I Cor 7:10 Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. 11 But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.

And further more, its interesting that Paul had to say you dont have to leave your wife'husband if you come to the Lord and they have not...Why he is giving that advice? because do not be uneqaully yoked is what would normally stand.
 
You know; I really love the word of God. You know just for a moment like this; Paul makes sure that he identifies that the advice he was about to give was for people who were already married...Isn't God great?

I Cor 7:10 Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. 11 But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.

And further more, its interesting that Paul had to say you dont have to leave your wife'husband if you come to the Lord and they have not...Why he is giving that advice? because do not be uneqaully yoked is what would normally stand.

So you're saying that Paul was ok with mixed faith couples that were already married before he wrote his letter, but forbids anyone to marry a non-believer after he wrote his letter. That sounds like a valid argument but that would give Paul spiritual authority to decide that it was ok to marry an unbeliever before he wrote the letter, and not ok after he wrote it. God doesn't set rules like that and I don't believe Paul did either. I believe that Paul is referring to all marriages between believers and unbelievers past, present and future...just the same as all the other things that the apostles declared in scripture.

But, I want you to know that I respect your interpretation and I'm not calling it foolish or anything like that.
 
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So you're saying that Paul was ok with couples that were already married before he wrote his letter, but forbids anyone to marry a non-believer after he wrote his letter. That sounds like a valid argument but that would give Paul spiritual authority to decide that it was ok to marry an unbeliever before he wrote the letter, and not ok after he wrote it. God doesn't set rules like that and I don't believe Paul did either. I believe that Paul is referring to all marriages between believers and unbelievers past, present and future...just the same as all the other things that the apostles declared in scripture.

But, I want you to know that I respect your interpretation and I'm not calling it ignorant or anything.

LOL. It wouldnt matter to me if you did actually;I know who I am in Christ; but thx....

Please note that scripture i quoted before also indicates its not that its not him but the Lord who was saying that..

Second it was never ok to be unequally yoked before or after Paul gave that scripture...Paul was simply saying dont leave you wife/husband if you are already married; but if you havent married yet...dont yoke yourself to darkness if you are light.

But, it seems this is what you want... God gives us free will
As for me, I dont just want to be married to someone I'm attracted to but also to someone who loves the Lord as much as I do so that we can be about God's business on the earth together...

I wish you well...God bless
 
LOL. It wouldnt matter to me if you did actually;I know who I am in Christ; but thx....

Please note that scripture i quoted before also indicates its not that its not him but the Lord who was saying that..

Second it was never ok to be unequally yoked before or after Paul gave that scripture...Paul was simply saying dont leave you wife/husband if you are already married; but if you havent married yet...dont yoke yourself to darkness if you are light.

But, it seems this is what you want... God gives us free will
As for me, I dont just want to be married to someone I'm attracted to but also to someone who loves the Lord as much as I do so that we can be about God's business on the earth together...

I wish you well...God bless

OK, I know this is getting boring and legalistic now, but I have to ask.. whats stopping Paul from telling christians to divorce their unbelieving spouses? Is he just being a nice guy? Paul was very adamant about relationships of darkness and light. He also is a man of God and would never say "well ok, I'll let you guys go even though its not right." So, why do you (or anyone else) think that Paul is letting the already-married couples off the hook?

...Or is he? I don't think he is. I think that scripture is time-honored just like every other writing of the apostles.
 
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OK, I know this is getting boring and legalistic now, but I have to ask.. whats stopping Paul from telling christians to divorce their unbelieving spouses? Is he just being a nice guy? Paul was very adamant about relationships of darkness and light. He also is a man of God and would never say "well ok, I'll let you guys go even though its not right." So, why do you (or anyone else) think that Paul is letting the already-married couples off the hook?

...Or is he? :)

In contrast; you are trying to convince us that Paul is actually saying

Hey Guys if you are both Christians, but you are not on the same level you cant get married
But if one is not a Christian at all, pls by all means.....

See my dilemma..

But what I do know, is God does not like divorce, so it would not be His first choice, He prefers that they try to make it work

The same grace does to apply to someone who is single, Hence the introduction said to the married people
 
In contrast; you are trying to convince us that Paul is actually saying

Hey Guys if you are both Christians, but you are not on the same level you cant get married
But if one is not a Christian at all, pls by all means.....

See my dilemma..

But what I do know, is God does not like divorce, so it would not be His first choice, He prefers that they try to make it work

The same grace does to apply to someone who is single, Hence the introduction said to the married people

No no, thats not what I'm saying. I'm saying that Paul means to not get into a relationship with someone who can overpower your faith and convert you to their religion. That is exactly what was going on in Corinth at that time. Many were leaving to worship Belial. There were many places to worship Belial all over Corinth. If you read the rest of that scripture you'll see how desperate Paul was about the situation (I'm not saying you haven't read it. I have no idea if you did.)

In other words, if your faith is strong and well-grounded then you are in no spiritual danger if you are in a relationship with someone who is an unbeliever.
 
2 Corinthians 6:14
New King James Version (NKJV)
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?


.....and what of the rest of the scripture that said what fellowship has light with darkness, etc, what is that referring to?
 
Maybe there isn't a clear understanding in here of what a yoke is, and what "unequally yoked" looks like.

This is a classic example of two animals that are yoked together unequally. The bull is much stronger than the donkey. The bull is not in danger of being pulled into a different direction by the donkey. The bull represents the christian with a strong, well-grounded faith. The donkey represents an unbeliever who cannot pull the bull towards his direction (religion).

donkeyoxyoke.jpg
 
2 Corinthians 6:14
New King James Version (NKJV)
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?


.....and what of the rest of the scripture that said what fellowship has light with darkness, etc, what is that referring to?

2 Corinthinas 6:16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?

He was talking about people leaving the church to worship idols (Belial). He later says to not touch the unclean thing. Thats referring to an idol. What I'm saying is that this scripture had nothing to do with marriage or romantic relationships. It had to do with christians who were leaving the church for Belial.