Yoked Together--by Timothy A. Southall
Please note: Each scripture is linked to The Bible Gateway.  Scriptures will open in a separate window in your browser while this window will also remain open.  You can click back and forth between the two windows.  Once you have read all of the scriptures, you can close that window.

Christian, is your boyfriend or girlfriend a Christian? Is your boyfriend or girlfriend even interested in becoming a Christian? If the answer to both of these questions is "no," then you are not doing God's will. Not following God's will or Word is a sin, and you will undoubtedly miss out on many of God's blessings as a result.

2 Corinthians 6:14In 2 Corinthians 6:14, Paul tells us we are not to be yoked with non-believers. The phrase "yoked together" is from the Greek verb "heterozugeo" which means "to have fellowship with one who is not an equal" or "to be unequally bound together." Paul continues to instruct in that verse that righteousness and wickedness do not have anything in common nor does light have fellowship with darkness. Being a Christian and choosing a non-believer for a spouse is the same as not choosing God.

This passage, however, does not mean that if someone is already married and they then become a Christian that they are to leave their non-believing spouse, nor does it indicate that a Christian who marries a non-believer, contrary to this scripture, can then turn around and leave the non-believing spouse. In 1 Corinthians 7:12-14, Paul instructs that the Christian is to remain married to the non-believer. The unbeliever is sanctified by the believer which makes their children clean and set aside for God's purposes. The unbeliever is sanctified (which does not mean saved) so that the marriage bed and the children are clean in God's eyes. The Christian is to remain with the non-believer in the hope that he or she will become a believer (1 Corinthians 7:16). In 1 Corinthians 7:15, Paul does state, "But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace." Notice that Paul does not say the believer can divorce or remarry; he says they are to allow the spouse to leave and are not bound in that circumstance. Later, in that same passage, Paul teaches that when one's spouse dies, he or she may remarry but only someone who is a Christian (1 Corinthians 7:39). When a spouse dies, the bond of that marriage is broken and the living believer is considered single again.

As you can see from the above-mentioned scriptures, when choosing a spouse, the Bible sets rules for the Christian. Not following these rules is a sin and it causes believers to forfeit many of God's blessings. An unbelieving spouse can limit or damage the spiritual life of a Christian and can also have a harmful effect on the children.

God's Word "draws a line in the sand" for the Christian who is seeking a spouse. You are of righteousness and light. Why would you choose to be yoked together with someone of wickedness and darkness? God gives these guidelines for choosing a spouse so that you can have His best spiritual blessings in your home, for your children, and for you. It's your choice. Choose the righteous or the wicked. Choose carefully before you are yoked together.

Copyright © 2003 Timothy A. Southall. All rights reserved.