Blog: Spiritually Mixed Marriages

Thu, 02 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Questions About Spiritually Mixed Marriages 1 Corinthians 7:12-16

Translation: 12) To the rest I say (I, not the Lord): If any brother (Christian man) has a wife who does not believe and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13) And if a Christian woman has a husband who does not believe and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce her husband.

I say this because the husband who does not believe is purified (sanctified) in relation with (through) the Christian wife. And the woman who does not believe is purified (sanctified) in relation with (through) the brother (Christian man). Then otherwise your children would be unclean (impure), but as it is, they are purified (sanctified).
But if the unbeliever departs (leaves), let him depart (leave). The brother (Christian man) or sister (Christian woman) is not in bondage (bound) in these circumstances. God has called us to be in peace. 16) How do you know, woman, if you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, if you will save your wife?

Comments: In 1 Corinthians 7:12-16, Saint Paul is discussing the matter of spiritually mixed marriages in which a Christian is married to a non-Christian. He indicates that in his teaching he is not quoting something that Jesus said directly during His ministry. However, Paul is speaking on his authority at a divinely inspired apostle who receives his teaching from God. Paul speaks the true word of God. Many of these spiritually mixed marriages occurred when one of the spouses was brought to faith in Christ after he/she was already married. In these verses Paul treats these questions:

Is it wrong and against God’s will for a Christian to be married to a non-Christian? 2) How does God regard/treat any children that come from the marriage of a Christian and non-Christian? 3) Should a Christian who is married to a non-Christian continue to remain in that marriage or should the Christian end the marriage through divorce?

Paul gives these answers: 1) It is not a sin for a Christian to be married to a non-Christian. Marriage to a non-Christian does not change the believing spouse’s spiritual relationship with God 2) God finds it acceptable for a Christian and a non-Christian married couple to have children. God does not refuse the children of such a marriage the opportunity to enjoy His saving grace. 3) God wants a Christian who is married to a non-Christian to remain in that marriage as long as the non-Christian is willing to be married. Through the influence of the believing spouse, the unbeliever in the marriage may come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. God does permit a Christian to divorce a non-Christian if the unbeliever forsakes the marriage and does not want to continue in it.

One thing that Paul does not teach in 1 Corinthians 7:14 is that the non-believing spouse is “automatically” saved just because he/she is married to a Christian. The Christian spouse’s faith cannot and does not guarantee or insure that the non-Christian partner will be spared God’s judgment on his/her sins and go to heaven.

In verse 14, Paul does say that the unbelieving spouse is “purified or sanctified” (the Greek word is hegiastai) in relation with the Christian spouse. This “purification or sanctification” is not “salvation.” Paul makes this clear in verse 16 where he tells us that a non-believing spouse may come to faith because of the influence of the Christian spouse. He does not say that the non-Christian will, must or does come to faith. In verse 16, Paul indicates that marriage to a Christian by itself does not give salvation to the unbeliever.

What Paul is saying in verse 14 is that in a spiritually mixed marriage, God regards the marriage as something that is acceptable to Him and that does not spiritually defile the Christian. He also says that the unbelieving spouse is able to enjoy the Christian love and good works of the believing spouse as a special blessing to him/her. This enjoyment of the Christian love and good works of the believing partner also applies to the children in the family whom God views as “purified” (Greek: hagia), not “unclean” (Greek: akatharta)

Paul’s teaching here is consistent with the rest of the Scriptures teaching about salvation. In the Bible, God clearly teaches a person is saved through his/her own faith in Jesus Christ and is lost through his/her unbelief. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life for God’s wrath remains on him.” (John 3:36)

In Ezekiel 18 God teaches a person is responsible for his/her own sins and is not held responsible for someone else’s sins. One person’s sin and unbelief is not transferred to or held against another family member: “The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him. The wickedness of the wicked man will be charged against him.” (Ezekiel 18:20)

In Matthew 3, John the Baptizer tells his hearers that a person cannot be shielded from God’s judgment on his/her sins just because of a family relationship to a believer such as Abraham. “Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.” (Matthew 3:7b-9

Blog: Do Christian need to confess their sin daily?

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

If God has unconditionally forgiven us of our sins, why then do we need to confess our sins daily?

主无条件的饶恕了我们的罪，为何我们还需要每天悔罪

God commands confession. In 1 John 1:8,9, John writes, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Confession of sin is a fruit of faith, not a condition of our forgiveness. This is equally important for us to understand. When Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord’s prayer, “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive…” we have instruction from Jesus to pray for forgiveness, but pray with the confidence that we are forgiven.

Similar to this issue, is when we come to the Lord’s Supper. Jesus said, “Given and shed for you for the remission of sins.” Well, if we are forgiven for our sins before we come to the Lord’s table, why then do we need to come to the Lord’s table to receive forgiveness of our sins? The answer to that question is similar to your initial question about confession: number 1, Christ commands it, number 2, we are always in need of forgiveness, and number 3, it is a fruit of our faith to desire God’s continual forgiveness in our life.

The question is this: When we ask Jesus for forgiveness in the Lord’s prayer and when we come to communion to receive forgiveness from Jesus and when we confess our sins to Jesus through repentance, does God actually forgive us our sins if we are already unconditionally forgiven by him? And the answer is a resounding yes! In a very personal way, he reminds, assures, and comforts his children through confession, the Lord’s Supper and the Lord’s prayer that we have what we ask for from our loving, heavenly Father. And the truth is that we have it before we even ask for it!

These fruits of our faith, point out the fact that we are the children of God who understand our deep need for his continual forgiveness in our life. The world (unbelievers) has no such need, which is why they don’t dine at the Lord’s table to receive his body and blood for the forgiveness of their sins; they don’t pray in the Lord’s prayer the petition that asks God to forgive us our sins, and they don’t regularly confess their sins, because they have no fruits of faith and therefore no desire to be forgiven by God. But the child of God, who knows that they sin daily and sin much, feels a great burden in his soul to seek God and his forgiveness in Christ and God delivers those channels for us to receive his genuine forgiveness. Absolution from the pastor or from another Christian is a wonderful way in which God uses the mouth of man to reminds us of the joys of the gospel. Remember Jesus told his disciples, “If you forgive the sins of any…they are forgiven”?

As Jeremiah wrote in the Lamentations 3:22,23 22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Confession, the Lord’s Supper, and the Lord’s prayer are just a few ways in which God allows us his children to experience what Jeremiah wrote about in the third chapter of the Lamentations!

Grace Bible Institute – Christian Life

Blog: Spiritually Mixed Marriages

Blog: Do Christian need to confess their sin daily?