The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 7:39
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
Young friends, do you profess Christ? If so, take care what marital connections you form. Never consent to marry any one in opposition to the plain precepts of God’s holy Word. Remember it was mixed marriages between saints and sinners–which brought on the deluge! It was mixed marriages that brought the Jews into such distress after their return from the Babylonish captivity. It was such a marriage that brought all the troubles of Samson upon him; and it was marrying with unconverted women that led away Solomon’s heart from God. The strongest and wisest of men were thus overcome, and therefore you should be on your guard.
Think of its effects on your own spirituality—of the consequence to your children—of the bad impression it makes on the world—and the mischief it introduces. It is one of Satan’s chief snares—one of his most powerful engines; therefore beware of it!
Settle it in your minds; determine, in God’s strength, that, yield to what you may, you never will yield to this temptation—to be unequally yoked with an unbeliever. A man must be intimately acquainted with the entire history of God’s church from the beginning, and then he would require the arm of an angel, to write down all the mischief, misery, and sin, that has resulted from the mixed marriage of believers and unbelievers! If such a volume were written, it would take more than a lifetime to read it.
If any of my readers have fallen into the snare, confess your sin before God, walk softly before Him, accept the (chastisement) of your iniquity, and try to warn and deter others from falling into such a fatal snare! Many such marriages have I seen—but never did I see one that turned out to be happy, holy, or for the real benefit of the parties. But I have heard the confession of the broken heart, I have seen the scalding tears flowing from the weeping eye, and I have marked the dismal effects of such disobedience to the Divine oracles, in a variety of ways.
You may fancy you are about to pluck a rose—but there is a scorpion under its leaves! You may think you are about to drink of a cup of nectar—but there is poison in the cup! You may foolishly conclude that your case will be an exception to the general rule—but it is not. God is true; his Word must be fulfilled; and every age has borne its testimony to the fact that “the way of transgressors is hard.” It is hard—but who shall say how hard, since the bitterest sorrows, the sharpest pains, the most acute sufferings, and the most agonizing remorse, have been endured in secret!
1 Corinthians 7:12 If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.
13 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.
14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.
16 For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?