Is Forbidden Marriage related to Race or Faith?

“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” [Corinthians 6:14, NIV]

This may require a hot fresh cup of coffee to help you digest this devotional thought.  So go ahead, pour yourself a fresh cup, and dive into a difficult topic.

The message for God's people is consistent.  The problem is that liberal Christians have turned away from the evangelical interpretation of God's Word to fit racist and ungodly views.  Serious students of God's Word willing to accept it as true, must acknowledge that marriage is to be between a man and woman who join together for life, and are led into the relationship by and for God, regardless of race.  God does not violate His Word and Scripture is very clear that marriage is between a man and woman.  Furthermore, it is clear that God intends that marriage be a lifetime commitment.  Same sex unions have long existed but do not and will never rise to the level of marriage.  In fact, God calls homosexuality an abomination, so same sex unions should not be addressed as marriage.

The issue in marriage is simply, does God want me to marry this person?  What God forbids in His Word is not the marrying of people of different cultural lineage, but marrying outside of the Christian faith.  In fact, God will sometimes specifically direct a person to marry across cultural lines.  This was true of Moses who married an Ethiopian woman (Numbers 12).  Aaron and Miriam opposed Moses.  God stepped in and disciplined Aaron and Miriam for opposing God's will for Moses.  If God forbid interracial marriage, He would not have disciplined Aaron and Miriam.  The consistent issue from God’s standpoint was the marriage of a believer with a nonbeliever, a lesson Christians are bound to honor to this day.  The issue parents and ministers should ask a couple seeking to be marriage is “Has God told you to become husband and wife?”

Paul wrote “…she is at Liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord” (First Corinthians 7:39b).  God gives Christians liberty to marry anyone in the Lord regardless of ethnicity.  Just as God was concerned about Israel marrying outside of their Faith, God is concerned today that Christians marry other Christians.  When a Christians marries a nonbelievers or a believer in another god, the Christian is attempting to mix light with darkness.  God is clear in telling us that light has no part with darkness, a message Christians should heed.  When Christians go beyond the teaching of Scripture, we violate the authority God has given us.

Prayer: "Lord, I ask you to help me understand the truth of your Word. Lord, help me to guard against bending Scripture to fit any of humanity’s belief system. Help me Lord, always to seek the truth, even when it is not popular. Amen.”