Episode 208 Show Notes
Can a Christian Marry a Non-Believer?
From the Show
Can a Christian marry a non-believer?
God has given us so many gifts in creation, but we dare not raise any of these gifts to the level of the giver. If we enjoy God, then his gifts have their proper splendor. If we enjoy the gifts more than God, then we make them idols. And unlike gifts, idols never really satisfy. I mean, you find this again and again in scripture and in the Christian experience- when you love something God gives as a good gift inordinately, that is, without loving God first, and receiving this as a gift from God, you turn the gift into the giver. You put a weight on the other person, that that other person can't bear. Nobody is God, but God alone. And so, she'll never satisfy you, you will never satisfy her. There will be a discord at the deepest level of your marriage because belief and unbelief is the deepest divide in humanity. Anything that vies for God's place in our life always turns into misery; the gifts become corrupt. And so we find our proper place for receiving God's gifts where he has promised to give them. You put a fire in the fireplace and it warms the whole house, but you take the wood out and put it in the middle of your living room and it burns it down. God gave us a covenant of grace in which to join ourselves, become one flesh together, and to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. That covenant of marriage is within the larger covenant of grace. You answered your own question by alluding to 2nd Corinthians 6. Y can't be unequally yoked. It's not good for her, it's not good for you. — Michael Horton
Questions in this Episode
1. I want to be married to someone who I have loved for 15 years. But she does not believe in Christ? Can I still marry this person?
2. How can you tell if you are really bearing fruit and growing as a Christian?
3. With the law-gospel distinctive in mind, how are we to tell the difference between an exhortation that is moralistic vs. an exhortation that is Christ-centered?
4. In your book, Core Christianity you write that God is self-existent. And you make the point that God created the world out of love and not necessity. Can you elaborate upon that?
5. If the Bible teaches that salvation is by grace how do you make sense of the book of James where he says faith without works is dead?
Resources
Is It Okay to Date a Non-Christian?
What the Book of James Tells Us About God
An Open Letter to Those Frustrated by Their Progress in Sanctification
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