Christians dating non Christians

[Guest californialamb]

This is just my opinion. If you don't like it, you don't have to accept it. DISCLAIMER: I am not a christian.

For those people who have this Holy Spirit with which to interpret biblical passages correctly, I think it is a good thing to determine what is the difference between:

1) Commandments (what is commanded)

2) Recommendations

3) Suggestions

4) None of the above

Clearly, since I am not a christian, I do not have this Holy Spirit with which I can interpret these differences.

Regards,

UndecidedFrog

I am not quite sure what you are saying. Are you angry with me?

If someting I said insulted you, then I applogize, could you please explain?

I am FAR from some spiritually indepth knowledgable person. I don't mean to imply that. The more I read the More I understand and there is still so much more to understand.

People can lead you astray and so that is why it is important for you to try to understand the scriptures the best you can.

I don't know what else to say.... :x:

[His son]

God prefers that we don't. It's the depth of the association that would be a problem.

Luke 16:13

13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

(KJV)

2 Cor 6:14-16

14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

(KJV)

[Trinity]

God prefers that we don't. It's the depth of the association that would be a problem.

Luke 16:13

13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

(KJV)

2 Cor 6:14-16

14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

(KJV)

Man..., You beat me to using those Verses lol

[His son]

God prefers that we don't. It's the depth of the association that would be a problem.

Luke 16:13

13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

(KJV)

2 Cor 6:14-16

14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

(KJV)

Man..., You beat me to using those Verses lol

I reckon that's a gotcha. LOL

[Guest koppen]

Unequally yoked....

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" [2 Corinthians 6:14/KJV]

For a more modern translation, the NIV states that verse as "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" [NIV]

This verse is advice to believers that they should only marry other believers. The rest of the advice on this by Paul is as follows: "What harmony is there between Christ and Belial ? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you."" [2 Corinthians 6:15-17/NIV

Paul's comment here is that believers and nonbelievers do have nothing in common, so trying to start a marriage with such a disparity will only lead to problems. God is to be at the center of a Christian marriage, and if half of the humans involved don't acknowledge that, tensions will arise.

Note that this does apply to marriages that started off with two unbelievers, but one spouse becomes a believer later. Paul said this earlier in his letters: "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 Corinthians 7:12-13]

Like so many parts of the New Testament that may seem to stand on their own, looking at the history of this issue in the Old Testament is instructive to see the basis for this. From the beginning, when God called Abraham out of his homeland to give him the land of Canaan, intermarriage with the locals was out of the question. In getting a wife for his son Isaac, he said "I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living," [Genesis 24:3] And later, Isaac passed on the same advice to his son: "So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him: "Do not marry a Canaanite woman." [Genesis 28:1]

Centuries later, as the Israelites were about to enter the promised land, Moses spoke God's commands to the people: "Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord's anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you." [Deuteronomy 7:3-4]

Moses's commands were not just of a purely theoretical knowledge of what might happen when the Israelites intermarried, they came after incidents that had already demonstrated that. Earlier, "While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the Lord's anger burned against them." [Numbers 25:1-3]

Even the wisest man of the Old Testament, king Solomon of Israel stumbled in this area. He took 700 wives and 300 concubines, and "As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done." [1 Kings 11:4-6]

From the Old Testament, we see more of the reasons behind God's commands not to marry nonbelievers-- they tend to lead believers astray. In some ways, this is also a warning to not associate too closely with nonbelievers in arenas of life outside of marriage; one can get corrupted there as well. However, marriage is different from those other areas: it is designed to be permanent, as well as intimate. If we're witnessing to nonbelievers, we can do so for an hour or few, then come back to the safety of the church and other believers, but such an experience is not possible within marriage.

As with all things, consider carefully who you hang around with, and what you do. As long as we can be influenced by others, we should be careful to influence the world far more than the world influences us.

http://www.visi.com/~nathan/xtian/unequalyoke.html

[RGR]

To even take it one step further, you should look for someone in the Christian community whose beliefs closely mirror your own. IOW, if you're Catholic, you probably shouldn't date a Pentecostal or vice-versa. Again, there COULD BE situations in which the Lord would lead one in an odd direction, but one need be careful and seek Him before any decisions are made!

[Kabowd]

Just because something might work out, does not mean it's a wise thing to do. People do stupid things all the time and God, in His mercy, works it out for our good.

If no christians ever dated non christians then the word o the lord wouldent be spreading to all people.

Holy Ravioli.

#1 When Jesus commissioned us to go into the world and share the gospel, nowhere did He say "date them to do so".

#2 In our New Testament record, how many conversion stories can you find that were produced out of a dating relationship?

#3 To say the word of the Lord would not spread to all people if christians didn't date nonchristians severely limits the work of the Holy Spirit and discredits God's Sovereignty.

#4 By all means we should love nonchristians, pray for nonchristians and share the gospel with nonchristians, all of which can be done without dating them.

Believers who date nonChristians and justify it by saying "they're witnessing to them" need to heed the words of my atheist friend when the issue of "missionary dating" came up:

I think that "missionary dating" is a bit like prostitution, but less honest.

Basically, you're gaining someone's trust in an intimate way, but for a hidden, secret, alterior motive. It absolutely disgusts me that anyone would even consider doing such a thing.

[Nicks Girl]

Well, it doesn't really MATTER what our opinions are, because God's Word is clear that we aren't to be yoked(be together, form a commitment, which includes marriage) with non believers.

Second of all, WHY waste your time dating someone you aren't and SHOULD NOT marry?

[UndecidedFrog]

Dear californialamb,

This is just my opinion. You don't have to accept it if you dislike it. DISCLAIMER: I am not a christian.

No, I am not angry with you, and I was not insulted by you. But thanks for asking. I was just making sure that everyone knew the differences between commandments, recommendations, and suggestions. That's all.

Regards,

UndecidedFrog

[Trinity]

God prefers that we don't. It's the depth of the association that would be a problem.

Luke 16:13

13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

(KJV)

2 Cor 6:14-16

14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

(KJV)

Man..., You beat me to using those Verses lol

I reckon that's a gotcha. LOL

I reckon ill get you back or my name isn't George W. Bush