Christians Should Never Get Romantically Involved with Non-Christians
Being a friend to an unbeliever is one while getting into a romantic relationship with one is another. I remembered Pastor Robert Kent Jesalva said, "Never marry an unbeliever, you don't do God's Law by breaking God's Law!" This is the highlight of the Bible that no Christian should even consider dating a non-Christian and much more even marry one. Since it's February then it's time to warn Christians about never getting into a romantic relationship with an unbeliever.
The problem of interfaith marriage
Genesis 6:2 warns of the intermarriage between the Sethites and the Cainites. No, these sons of God aren't angels. We are not dealing with pagan mythology but biblical theology. There are no such things as demigods or half-angels because humans can't reproduce with spirit beings. Instead, this is talking about how the male descendants of Seth (the saved) had illicit relationships with the female descendants of Cain (the unsaved).
The mistake was that they saw that they were fair. The question one can raise is that weren't there any fair women among the Sethites that they must go to the Cainites? Even so, it wasn't an excuse. Children were born and they were led to negative influence by their Cainite mothers. This led to the whole revival of Seth falling down to where Noah was the only one who found grace. This was the problem that only eight people survived after the worldwide flood.
The wrong alliances can be disastrous. Make no mistake marrying an unbeliever is definitely a no-no. The first person that comes into my head when it comes to marrying or dating unbelievers is from the Book of Judges. God already warned the Israelites to never marry the unbelieving women Judges 2:2-3). Instead, they did and a new generation of unsaved Israelites (Judges 2:10). Today, we've got unsaved descendants born from Christian households as a result of such illicit unions.
The story of Samson is him and two attractive Philistine women. First, his parents were right in saying in Judges 14:3 that finding a wife among the uncircumcised Philistines wasn't right. Later in Judges 16, we discover that he had another Philistine woman in his girlfriend Delilah. Both relationships ended in tragedy. He lost his first wife to his companion and Delilah made him give out the secret of his strength. As a result, Samson ended up dying in a tragic way. Would he have discerned better, his repentance would have not been in a prison cell.
We could later read how Solomon's wrong choices in women brought idolatry into his reign. 1 Kings 11 records the sin of Solomon. He knew better than to multiply wives (Deuteronomy 17:17) but he did it anyway. He formed alliances with various princesses until he had a total of 999 other women aside from the Shullamite woman. What a shame that Solomon who wrote a beautiful love song between him and a lowly Shullamite ended up with one of the biggest marital infidelities in history. Perhaps, that's why the Shullamite woman spoke in Song of Solomon 6:1 that she is looking for her love. Perhaps, she was neglected when the other 999 women came. Solomon would later live in so much regret leading him to write the Book of Ecclesiastes. Nehemiah 13:26 even remembers Solomon's disastrous choices. This was a time for serious cleaning in Israel. It was time to make sure that the heathen women and strange unions were put away.
The alliances that would have destroyed a dynasty if it weren't for God's intervention was Jehoshaphat's and Ahab's. 2 Chronicles 18 records the affinity with the house of Ahab. Jehoram married the wicked daughter of Ahab and Jezebel namely Athaliah. We know Athaliah the daughter-in-law of Jehoshaphat nearly destroyed the House of David by murdering her own descendants. This whole alliance nearly destroyed a dynasty. Having alliances with unbelievers is not going to do well especially as 2 Chronicles 19:2 has the prophet Jehu rebuking Jehoshaphat.
The wise choice of having a sexually pure marriage only with a fellow believer
This is where the wise choice comes in. 2 Corinthians 6:15-16 says that there's no agreement with light and darkness, Christ and Satan, and between a believer an infidel. There couldn't be any wiser choice than to make sure that you only date and marry Christians in a sexually pure union for this reason: it's for the furtherance of the ministry.
I remembered looking at some of the world religions and why some people I know only marry people according to their religion. I met a Buddhist who only wanted to marry a Buddhist. I met a Roman Catholic who insisted in marrying only a Roman Catholic. I met a Muslim who insisted in only marrying a Muslim. If these unbelievers could at least understand the value of religious separation then there's no reason why Christians shouldn't.
The reason why it's better for people of the same religion to marry is because they are bound in Christ. If a Muslim marries a Muslim there's more harmony than if a Muslim marries a non-Muslim. Religion and politics are the two most controversial topics. Religion is in fact the greatest divider of all. Jesus already said Luke 12:51 says that Jesus said that He didn't come to bring peace but division. If God wants to divide people because of religion then why got married to non-Christians? It would not be very practical.
There's bound to be much less disagreement in a sexually pure marriage among Christians than with an unbeliever. Religion is indeed the greatest divider. Can you imagine how difficult it is to have an unbelieving spouse? Marrying a Muslim would mean having to compromise the truth about Jesus' divinity and humanity. Marrying a Buddhist or Hindu would mean one side believes in final judgement and the other believes in reincarnation. Marrying a Roman Catholic would mean arguing over whether one has to pass through Mary or not. Marrying a Christian would only mean minor differences since some Christian denominations have some slight differences in practices
The beauty and joy of the Christian marriage is that it's built in unity and equal yoke with Christ. God is not the Author of confusion but order within the Body of Christ. So why attempt to change what God has ordered through an unequal yoke?
The problem of interfaith marriage
Genesis 6:2 warns of the intermarriage between the Sethites and the Cainites. No, these sons of God aren't angels. We are not dealing with pagan mythology but biblical theology. There are no such things as demigods or half-angels because humans can't reproduce with spirit beings. Instead, this is talking about how the male descendants of Seth (the saved) had illicit relationships with the female descendants of Cain (the unsaved).
The mistake was that they saw that they were fair. The question one can raise is that weren't there any fair women among the Sethites that they must go to the Cainites? Even so, it wasn't an excuse. Children were born and they were led to negative influence by their Cainite mothers. This led to the whole revival of Seth falling down to where Noah was the only one who found grace. This was the problem that only eight people survived after the worldwide flood.
The wrong alliances can be disastrous. Make no mistake marrying an unbeliever is definitely a no-no. The first person that comes into my head when it comes to marrying or dating unbelievers is from the Book of Judges. God already warned the Israelites to never marry the unbelieving women Judges 2:2-3). Instead, they did and a new generation of unsaved Israelites (Judges 2:10). Today, we've got unsaved descendants born from Christian households as a result of such illicit unions.
The story of Samson is him and two attractive Philistine women. First, his parents were right in saying in Judges 14:3 that finding a wife among the uncircumcised Philistines wasn't right. Later in Judges 16, we discover that he had another Philistine woman in his girlfriend Delilah. Both relationships ended in tragedy. He lost his first wife to his companion and Delilah made him give out the secret of his strength. As a result, Samson ended up dying in a tragic way. Would he have discerned better, his repentance would have not been in a prison cell.
We could later read how Solomon's wrong choices in women brought idolatry into his reign. 1 Kings 11 records the sin of Solomon. He knew better than to multiply wives (Deuteronomy 17:17) but he did it anyway. He formed alliances with various princesses until he had a total of 999 other women aside from the Shullamite woman. What a shame that Solomon who wrote a beautiful love song between him and a lowly Shullamite ended up with one of the biggest marital infidelities in history. Perhaps, that's why the Shullamite woman spoke in Song of Solomon 6:1 that she is looking for her love. Perhaps, she was neglected when the other 999 women came. Solomon would later live in so much regret leading him to write the Book of Ecclesiastes. Nehemiah 13:26 even remembers Solomon's disastrous choices. This was a time for serious cleaning in Israel. It was time to make sure that the heathen women and strange unions were put away.
The alliances that would have destroyed a dynasty if it weren't for God's intervention was Jehoshaphat's and Ahab's. 2 Chronicles 18 records the affinity with the house of Ahab. Jehoram married the wicked daughter of Ahab and Jezebel namely Athaliah. We know Athaliah the daughter-in-law of Jehoshaphat nearly destroyed the House of David by murdering her own descendants. This whole alliance nearly destroyed a dynasty. Having alliances with unbelievers is not going to do well especially as 2 Chronicles 19:2 has the prophet Jehu rebuking Jehoshaphat.
The wise choice of having a sexually pure marriage only with a fellow believer
This is where the wise choice comes in. 2 Corinthians 6:15-16 says that there's no agreement with light and darkness, Christ and Satan, and between a believer an infidel. There couldn't be any wiser choice than to make sure that you only date and marry Christians in a sexually pure union for this reason: it's for the furtherance of the ministry.
I remembered looking at some of the world religions and why some people I know only marry people according to their religion. I met a Buddhist who only wanted to marry a Buddhist. I met a Roman Catholic who insisted in marrying only a Roman Catholic. I met a Muslim who insisted in only marrying a Muslim. If these unbelievers could at least understand the value of religious separation then there's no reason why Christians shouldn't.
The reason why it's better for people of the same religion to marry is because they are bound in Christ. If a Muslim marries a Muslim there's more harmony than if a Muslim marries a non-Muslim. Religion and politics are the two most controversial topics. Religion is in fact the greatest divider of all. Jesus already said Luke 12:51 says that Jesus said that He didn't come to bring peace but division. If God wants to divide people because of religion then why got married to non-Christians? It would not be very practical.
There's bound to be much less disagreement in a sexually pure marriage among Christians than with an unbeliever. Religion is indeed the greatest divider. Can you imagine how difficult it is to have an unbelieving spouse? Marrying a Muslim would mean having to compromise the truth about Jesus' divinity and humanity. Marrying a Buddhist or Hindu would mean one side believes in final judgement and the other believes in reincarnation. Marrying a Roman Catholic would mean arguing over whether one has to pass through Mary or not. Marrying a Christian would only mean minor differences since some Christian denominations have some slight differences in practices
The beauty and joy of the Christian marriage is that it's built in unity and equal yoke with Christ. God is not the Author of confusion but order within the Body of Christ. So why attempt to change what God has ordered through an unequal yoke?