Marriage: Mixed (Unbeliever & Believer) – 1 Cor. 7
1. A mixed marriage can result from:
a. Believer marrying an unbeliever. This is contrary to doctrine, 2 Cor 6:14.
2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be bound together with
unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what
fellowship has light with darkness?
b. One partner accepting Christ after marriage.
2. A marriage of one believer and one unbeliever creates problems that are not found in a marriage where both are believers.
3. Salvation does not remove the natural repercussions of previous marriages.
4. A mixed marriage is not justification for the dissolving the marriage. Biblical principles provides a soluti8on, 1 Cor 7:13.
1 Corinthians 7:13 And a woman who has an unbelieving
husband, and he consents to live with her, let her not send her husband away.
5. If the marriage bond is broken in a mixed marriage, God only allows it to be done by the unbeliever, 1 Cor 7:15.
1 Corinthians 7:15 Yet if the unbelieving one leaves,
let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases,
but God has called us to peace.
6. By utilization of divine operating assets, the believing mate can often with the unbelieving mate to the Lord, 1 Cor 7:16.
1 Corinthians 7:16 For how do you know, O wife, whether
you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will
save your wife?
7. PRINCIPLE: Marital problems are solved by knowledge and application of doctrine, 1 Pet 3:2. It is imperative to consistently live in fellowship with God, learn doctrine daily, and apply (faith-rest) doctrine to the situation.
1 Peter 3:1 In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, 2 as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior.
8. Reasons for remaining in status quo:
a. Possibility of winning the unsaved partner to Jesus Christ.
b. Providing a secure environment for the children.
c. Principle of stability in a society.
d. Principle of accepting the responsibility of one’s decision, “for better or worse.”
e. Recognition of the principle that two wrong do not make a right.
9. In a marriage between a believer and an unbeliever, God deals with the family as a whole, in addition to dealing with each individual.
10. The believer is dealt with in grace, the unbeliever in judgment with emphasis on bringing him to the Lord.
11. The unbeliever comes under the grace which is extended to the believer because he is in the same household, as do the children:
a. Guardian angel.
b. Fringes of blessing when the believer is in fellowship.