As the world becomes more globalized, one world and inclusive mindset comes into people’s mind. Along with this comes the idea of what is wrong in marrying a person who is not a Christian. My strong suggestion based on Bible principals is this – if you are a believer in Christ, there is no option given in the pages of the Bible for you to marry a non-believer.

The old testament provides convincing examples regarding this matter. The Lord God gave direct prohibition in Deuteronomy 7:3-4. It says there, “Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.”

The above passage gives direct prohibition from the Lord against marrying a non-believer. The reason is also stated there. Because they (unbeliever) will turn your children away from following to serve other gods. Secondly, it says Lord’s anger may come upon you quickly. It is not a warning to parents only. It is a serious divine warning to young men and girls who are thinking about getting married.

The Bible paints the picture of people who disobeyed this commandment and reaped severe consequences. The Solomon, the wisest man, ever lived on the face of the earth ended up in violating this commandment of the Lord and ruined his precious faith, devotion, and trust in the Lord. Eventually, God punished him. 1st  Kings 11 says regarding Solomon’s intermarriage with women of other religion. Listen what it says, “They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love….As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.  He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek, the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.” Solomon who began well with his full faith and devotion to the Lord ended up his life as an idol worshipper. An unimaginable and horrible consequence for the wisest man ever lived on the face of the earth. He ended up following the goddess of the Sidonians and Ammonites because he married unbelievers, Bible underlines.

Bible says in Romans 15:4, “these are written to teach us.” Another translation says, “such things were written in the Scriptures for our instruction.”

One of the famous judges of the nation Israel, Samson, would teach us the foolishness of marrying a non-believer. A Godly man who was called even before his birth,  to the ministry of delivering Israel from their enemies,  got into a romance with Delilah and ruined his life. He ended up in humiliation and torture from enemies, although God accomplished His purposes behind His calling in and through Solomon. You can read about this heartbreaking life incident in Judges 16. Time and space won’t allow me to give more examples from the old testament in this matter.

However, let us look into the New Testament now. 2nd Corinthians 6:14 says, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?  What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” Being yoked together with an unbeliever is compared to righteousness and wickedness, light and darkness and Christ and Belial (Satan). You see when a believer considering marrying a nonbeliever, remember these comparisons Bible makes. You may not see these sharp clear-cut distinctions during your dating period. The picture portrayed here is like two oxen sharing the same yoke, but pulling in opposite directions. Instead of pulling together the load, they would end up pulling against each other- working against each other.

Paul says in 1st Corinthians 9:5 this, “Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do other apostles and Lord’s brothers and Cephas?” It says other apostles, Lord’s brothers, and Peter had wives who are believers. Then he asks, don’t we also have the right to take a believing wife? He says yes he also has the right to take a believing wife. However, this passage informs that taking a believer as a spouse is an option, but having an unbelieving spouse is not an option for them. If it is not an option for them, it is not an option for us today.

I am not saying if you are already married to a nonbeliever, you should not live with him or her. Bible has another guidance in the matter- you should stay in the marriage if the other person is willing to remain married to you.  You are free to marry only if the other person leaves you. If the unbeliever leaves,  then the brother or sister is not bound in such circumstances. (1 Corinthians 7:15). That is a wholly different subject. The answer in this article is only about a person who is thinking about marrying a non-believer, and the marriage has not happened as of yet.

When you think about it the most critical decision in life is this -what would you do with Jesus Christ? Secondly,  who are you to show your allegiance and devotion? If you are a believer, you would say Jesus Christ. Moreover, God gave you His Holy Spirit inside you at the time of your salvation. You are daily being

transformed into the image of Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit inside you. If you have a companion who does not care about this process, how does that going to look like? Darkness and light, Christ and Belial.  If you disagree with the most fundamental thing in life, then how would you keep harmony in other situations?

When you end up spending time with the opposite sex, generally the attraction and romance could develop. If you know the other person is a non-believer, it would be a good idea not to spend prolonged time with that person so that you won’t develop intimacy. I would say, if you are not married yet, it is not late yet to get out of it. Bible has nothing good and promising to tell about marrying a non- believer.