Unequally yoked - an open letter/eisegesis

[DaveKerwin]

While seemingly simple in theory, your hypothesis of a "divided house" does not stand up in real life. There are literally thousands of examples to prove it incorrect.

As for Joshua, Joshua, his family and his servants chose to serve the Lord. A Christian/non-Christian marriage can do so as well, as the non-Christian is sanctified through the believers faith.

I said that the marriage can "work", but it will lead to confusion. If you promote Christ, and she promotes Satan, then you are divided because the two of you promote different things. If you want your house to serve the Lord, and your g/f finds the ways of God to be foolish, then your house is divided. You two, being one flesh, cannot be both for Jesus and the world at the same time. Your home will have divided interests. According to Jesus, that type of house cannot stand. This is HIS principle, not mine.

If ANY sanctification occurs, it is merely the cleanliness of your potential children (the sanctity implies dedication/purity, but not salvation). But will your g/f declare that she will serve the Lord? How can she serve a Lord she does not know?

 

[SirKenin]

If ANY sanctification occurs, it is merely the cleanliness of your potential children (the sanctity implies dedication/purity, but not salvation).

1 Corinthians 7:14 (NIV) says

"For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband..."

 

[SirKenin]

Hello drfeelgood,

I'm under the impression that you have a girlfriend who is unsaved. Are you trying to justify your relationship?

Actually, I'm not trying to justify anything. I feel no need to justify my actions to a message board and a whole bunch of people I don't even know. I do not answer to you. I never have and I never will. I answer to God, and God alone will be my Judge.

I felt led to examine the issue in depth one night. I don't know why, but I don't question why. I follow where I am led and I believe I was led to do this. It's not for my benefit. I only care what God thinks and strive to do what is right before God.

The only time I asked a sincere question here, I was pounced upon, chastized, judged and filled with a bunch of nonsense, bias, agendas and dogma. I won't make the same mistake twice.

May God bless you and your marriage.

Until next time.

Peace

 

[SirKenin]

I just felt led to pick up the Bible again. I flipped it open to this, and I kid you not:

James 4:12 (NIV)

"There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you - who are you to judge your neighbor?"

May God's name be praised. Amen.

 

[WashedClean]

Actually, I'm not trying to justify anything. I feel no need to justify my actions to a message board and a whole bunch of people I don't even know. I do not answer to you. I never have and I never will. I answer to God, and God alone will be my Judge.

I felt led to examine the issue in depth one night. I don't know why, but I don't question why. I follow where I am led and I believe I was led to do this. It's not for my benefit. I only care what God thinks and strive to do what is right before God.

The only time I asked a sincere question here, I was pounced upon, chastized, judged and filled with a bunch of nonsense, bias, agendas and dogma. I won't make the same mistake twice.

May God bless you and your marriage.

Until next time.

Peace

I never said you answer to me. You accused me of being a cheering section with no depth to my answer. So I gave you my testimony and point of view.

I'm sorry if you felt chastised, attacked, etc. Did you notice I said I meant that question with love?

 

[SirKenin]

I never said you answer to me. You accused me of being a cheering section with no depth to my answer. So I gave you my testimony and point of view.

I really appreciate you answering my question in depth..

I'm sorry if you felt chastised, attacked, etc. Did you notice I said I meant that question with love?

Yes I did hun, and I thank you for that. I didn't feel chastized and attacked here. It was in another thread.

Peace.

 

[SirKenin]

Oh, and incidentally I will answer the question now of my girlfriends faith.

Yes, she is a Christian.

 

[KleinerApfel]

drfeelgood,

Glad you found a Christian girlfriend. This board doesn't really apply to you does it?

Hope you will be very happy together.

BTW, the yin-yang symbol you are displaying is connected with Taoism and has been used by New Agers. Why would a Christian see any value in it?

I don't know what the other two are - do you?

Blessings, Susana

 

[charligirl]

I said that the marriage can "work", but it will lead to confusion.

Far from confusion reigning, my parents have one of the most loving, enduring and solid marriages I have ever witnessed (most of their collagues and friends would also agree with this observation.) They have been married for 35 years and for 30 of those my Father had no faith of his own, however he did live by christian morals and certainly believed in the Christian God as existing, he was always very supportive of my Mother's faith and trusted her judgement and intuition (in reality of course the Holy Spirit).

My Mother has a strong faith and believes in biblical submission, she lives by the principles of 1 Peter 3 1-2 1 "Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear" Which works every time!

Which is why I believe this type of marriage HAS to be a calling from God, the believeing partner has to be of a certain temperament and the unbelieveing partner needs to be moral and sympathetic to the christian faith for it to work.

 

[DaveKerwin]

Far from confusion reigning, my parents have one of the most loving, enduring and solid marriages I have ever witnessed (most of their collagues and friends would also agree with this observation.) They have been married for 35 years and for 30 of those my Father had no faith of his own, however he did live by christian morals and certainly believed in the Christian God as existing, he was always very supportive of my Mother's faith and trusted her judgement and intuition (in reality of course the Holy Spirit).

My Mother has a strong faith and believes in biblical submission, she lives by the principles of 1 Peter 3 1-2 1 "Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear" Which works every time!

Which is why I believe this type of marriage HAS to be a calling from God, the believeing partner has to be of a certain temperament and the unbelieveing partner needs to be moral and sympathetic to the christian faith for it to work.

So if your Dad lives by the rules of the Bible, and believes that God exists, what exactly makes him an unbeliever? He is not your average person that is considered unbelieving. He may even have faith, but be too ashamed to profess it.

 

[DaveKerwin]

Oh, and incidentally I will answer the question now of my girlfriends faith.

Yes, she is a Christian.

very sneaky sir, your reply is like three weeks late

thats great news though

 

[DaveKerwin]

1 Corinthians 7:14 (NIV) says

"For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband..."

exegete it brother

 

[SirKenin]

drfeelgood,

Glad you found a Christian girlfriend. This board doesn't really apply to you does it?

If I can minister to others here, then I would hasten to suggest that this board does apply to me

Hope you will be very happy together.

We are Thank you.

BTW, the yin-yang symbol you are displaying is connected with Taoism and has been used by New Agers. Why would a Christian see any value in it?

Actually, it was my understanding that the Yin Yang symbol originally describes the relationship between the man/sun/creation/heat/light/Heaven/dominance and the woman/moon/completion/cold/darkness/material forms/submission and the four seasons. Maybe the Taoists stole it as it conforms to their belief structure of balance. lol I do know that the Chinese developed it as a result of their observations of the behaviour of the sun (they put a stick in the ground and measured the shadows).

Here is a comprehensive article on the Yin Yang. http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/yinyang.htm

In general, the Yin Yang symbol is a Chinese representation of the entire celestial phenomenon. It contains the cycle of Sun, four seasons, 24-Segment Chi, the foundation of the I-Ching and the Chinese calendar

I use the Yin Yang symbol because my girlfriend is the Yin to my Yang. Yin is woman/moon, Yang is man/sun. Man can not grow without woman. Woman can not give birth without man. Each of these produces the other and fulfillment is never reached alone. We join together as opposite individuals to form a whole and have become one.

However, that really is a topic for another thread.

I don't know what the other two are - do you?

Blessings, Susana

Yes, I do know exactly what the other two are, or I wouldn't have them in my signature

 

[charligirl]

So if your Dad lives by the rules of the Bible, and believes that God exists, what exactly makes him an unbeliever? He is not your average person that is considered unbelieving. He may even have faith, but be too ashamed to profess it.

He is now a believer, as I said, it took 30 years.

Before then when they married, he was not born again, he had no personal faith in Jesus, he claimed to think the bible irrelvant and out of date, even though he lived by christian 'morals' they were pretty general, as in; don't steal, respect your elders, sexual immorality is wrong etc. Many people live 'morally' but not neccessarily by the bible's rules. Just believing God exists and living a 'good' life does not make one a christian- as you well know

 

[SirKenin]

very sneaky sir, your reply is like three weeks late

thats great news though

I guess the time was not right before. At the time I didn't feel the need to address it. There's a time and a place for everything, isn't there? But yeah, it is good. I love her to pieces.

exegete it brother

LOL!! Funny stuff. How nice. I woke up to a lovely love poem from my girlfriend on MSN and funnies in the forum. What a great start to my day!

 

[Maccie]

drfeelgood,

Glad you found a Christian girlfriend. This board doesn't really apply to you does it?

Despite your wish to "minister" on this board, I'm afraid it really doesn't apply to you! How can you possibly "minister" to Christians married to non-Christians when you are (a) not married and (b) going out with a Christian girlfriend?

You have absolutely no idea what it is like being married to a non-Christian, except possibly at second hand, which is no good, as you cannot know what is going on inside a person, and I am absolutely certain that you cannot understand the hell of a bad marriage with a non-Christian.

Please don't try and tell me you can "minister" to us. I would feel insulted.

Maccie

 

[SirKenin]

Despite your wish to "minister" on this board, I'm afraid it really doesn't apply to you! How can you possibly "minister" to Christians married to non-Christians when you are (a) not married and (b) going out with a Christian girlfriend?

You have absolutely no idea what it is like being married to a non-Christian, except possibly at second hand, which is no good, as you cannot know what is going on inside a person, and I am absolutely certain that you cannot understand the hell of a bad marriage with a non-Christian.

Please don't try and tell me you can "minister" to us. I would feel insulted.

Maccie

If anyone should be insulted, maybe it should be me?

Not only was I married, I was married to a non-Christian woman for years. I think it's safe to say that, my research notwithstanding, I have experience to add that might be beneficial. Don't you think?

 

[Maccie]

I apologise. But had you given your qualifications for being on this board in the first place, we might have understood you better.

I'm not saying that we should give our life histories on every thread! But this is a very specific board, and there is nothing more infuriating than someone implying that they can help when they know nothing about the subject.

I wasn't the only one confused!

Maccie

 

[SirKenin]

I apologise. But had you given your qualifications for being on this board in the first place, we might have understood you better.

I'm not saying that we should give our life histories on every thread! But this is a very specific board, and there is nothing more infuriating than someone implying that they can help when they know nothing about the subject.

I wasn't the only one confused!

Maccie

It's ok. I accept your apologies and I can understand where you are coming from. I had no idea that stating my qualifications was necessary until someone mentioned it to me.

 

[newbiebeliever]

"....... you claim that God brought you into a romantic relationship with an unbeliever! Was there a message written in the clouds that magically told you to do it? I don’t know about you, but God does not just hand me things on a platter like that. He leads me, and I make decisions based on what I feel is right, but I am never certain of his will until I have hindsight. I have heard someone tell me before that it was God’s will for them to use drugs. They apparently “heard from God”, well… I don’t believe someone just because they tell me that anymore. I want evidence that God was working, and I do not accept goose bumps as evidence. So many people are so certain what God wants… but how often do they analyze their own selfish desires?"

Sorry Dave, but I think that is a very judgemental comment. And yes it is possible that God can lead you to an unbeliever for certain reasons. I personally have been on both sides as the believer and unbeliever so I know where DrFeelGood is coming from. My ex was a Christian and met me about 3 years ago in which I was a non-believer, however the oddest thing is I introduced him to the current church he is attending and he still currently attends that church. Anyways, to make a long story short, in the past, I was a lost soul without God in my live. I came from an abusive family where I felt often lost at times. But in the past year since we split up, I have grown quite a bit in my walk with God. I am still learning and I have even been tested about having relationships with unbelievers, but to my surprise after numerous prayers, I felt God telling me to stay away. I also felt God was doing this in testing how strong my faith in Him really is in which I was strong enough to say NO to those who pursued me. All I know at this point in time is strong prayers will give you an answer from Him. Whatever God has in mind for me whether dating a believer or non-believer,(I'm hoping for a Christian man one day), as long as I can help reach out to those who need to be shown God's love, I will do.

As for my personal experience, when I look back in hindsight, my ex's relationship with me served 3 purposes
1) I found the right church for him since he was unhappy with his church at that point in time
2) I am now a believer and I feel very blessed that I was shown God's love. I am still growing but I can clearly put alot of life decisions "in God's hands."
3) My ex is now a stronger Christian simply by realizing that
a) missionary dating is wrong and will never do it again.
b) God tested his faith by seeing if he was willing to break up with me. He showed
God his Faith in Him by breaking up and doing the right thing.

Regardless, God has certains things happen for a reason and in our case, this was done so that we can grow both grow stronger as Christians.

Peace,

NewB