[jjvacc]

I know this has come up before but lets address it again.

Someone recently proclaimed to me that no where, in scripture, does it command us not to be unequally yoked. Instead, it just warns us that it makes things alot harder.

But what about 2 Corinthians 6:14?

“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”

That sounds like a rule to me. I don't see any, "it's ok, but it makes stuff harder so be warned".

Could I hear some opinions please?

-Chester

[Art]

"Do not be yoked together with any unbelievers." That is not a suggestion.

[Simo]

Originally Posted by Art

"Do not be yoked together with any unbelievers." That is not a suggestion.

As Art suggested, it is a direct command. There is no way to interpret that verse as anything but a command.

I would be very wary when listening to your friends theology from now on.

[FTS]

"Do not..." Yeah, that's pretty much a command.
It's not like it says "Well it'd be nice if you didn't, but if you did, then it's not going to be all peachy and rosey."

[jjvacc]

Ok, thanks guys. I was making sure there were no other werid opinions that could be remotely backed somehow.

God Bles,
Chester

[bobthecockroach]

If you read a little further, the command gets even more direct:

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (emphasis added)
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

“ I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”

Therefore

“ Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”

“ I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the LORD Almighty.”

[Nomes]

*discussion*

So what could we glean from those verses about:

Marriage?
Friendships?
Business deals?
Aquantences?
etc

[bobthecockroach]

Certainly not friendships or aquaintences, Jesus had those with "sinners."

[GLNN]

I am ever increasingly under the conviction that one can also be very unequally yoked with another person who is also a believer. And that is something I think too few Christians realize, and I have seen some real misery as a result. This seems to happen for one of two reasons.

People live out their faith differently. For example, take a person who is very analytical, wants to study and pick apart the Scriptures, etc. and put them with a person who whose faith thrives on one line worship choruses, and you can be in for some serious problems.

There are some significant differences among what most of us would consider to be legitimate Christian churches where the basic elements of the Gospel are present. For people who are very commited to a particular understanding, a different view point by a mate can also become a huge point of tension. There most likely will be problems if you take a committed free will Bapitist who sees Baptism as a mere public ceremony when one makes a "decision to follow Christ" at some point during the "age of accountability" and put them with a committed Lutheran who understands even infants to be damnable sinners that can receive the gift of faith supernaturally in ways beyond human understanding by God's grace alone through the Sacrament of Baptism. If these problems don't rear their ugly head right away, they will when the first child is born in this particular example. (I just use this as an example, no need to get into a debate about the nature of Baptism here.)

So...by all means, don't be unequally yoked with an unbeliever.... but beware also of possibly getting unequally yoked with a fellow believer.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by GLNN

I am ever increasingly under the conviction that one can also be very unequally yoked with another person who is also a believer.

While I agree that not all Christians are good for other christians (that leads me to wonder if they're saved to begin with), but the verse about not being unequally yoked specifically talks about doing so with unbelievers.

People live out their faith differently. For example, take a person who is very analytical, wants to study and pick apart the Scriptures, etc.

Like the Bereans?

There are some significant differences among what most of us would consider to be legitimate Christian churches where the basic elements of the Gospel are present. For people who are very commited to a particular understanding, a different view point by a mate can also become a huge point of tension. There most likely will be problems if you take a committed free will Bapitist who sees Baptism as a mere public ceremony when one makes a "decision to follow Christ" at some point during the "age of accountability" and put them with a committed Lutheran who understands even infants to be damnable sinners that can receive the gift of faith supernaturally in ways beyond human understanding by God's grace alone through the Sacrament of Baptism. If these problems don't rear their ugly head right away, they will when the first child is born in this particular example. (I just use this as an example, no need to get into a debate about the nature of Baptism here.)

So...by all means, don't be unequally yoked with an unbeliever.... but beware also of possibly getting unequally yoked with a fellow believer.

I think this is a very dangerous attitude. We should all be striving for unity within the church. We must never forget that we are all one body and need to work together. How can a body not be yoked with itself?

[GLNN]

I totally agree that the verse deals specifically, with believers being yoked with unbelievers, but I believe that by application, people can be unequally yoked in other ways.

As far as being able to tell whether someone is a believer or not, remember, conversion is a spiritual condition that only God can see, we can only look for evidence of conversion by the fruit. Sometimes the evidence (a clear verbal confession of faith, the kind of life the person lives) is pretty consistent, but many times it is not, and with many people, you know, I'm just not sure where they stand spiritually. And we all have blind spots.

While I also agree that Christians should seek toward unity, I also recognize that there are disagreements which go back centuries, and while we all can certainly be friends in Christ, it would be a mistake to not recognize that these differences exist and be aware of the problems they unfortunately cause. That's just a fact of life. Sad but true and we can't just deny it.

I think we're basically on the same page since you say that not every Christian is a suitable mate for every other Christian, and that was my basic point because I feel too many Christians think, "Oh, if I'm married to another believer, everything will be great." Real life is unfortunately more complex than that.