What does the Bible say about marrying a non-Christian?
2 Corinthians 6:14-18
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?
15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
17 Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
18 And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
New International Version (NIV)
The answer
A Christian should not knowingly enter marriage with a non-Christian. In 1 Corinthians 7:39, a believer who is free to remarry is told that she may marry whomever she desires, “only in the Lord.” Although addressed to a widow, this states the kind of marriage a believer is free to enter: one shared with a fellow believer.
The broader principle appears in 2 Corinthians 6:14: “Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” The passage concerns idolatrous fellowship and binding partnerships generally, not marriage alone, but marriage is life's closest binding partnership. Its contrasts—righteousness with iniquity, light with darkness, Christ with Belial, and God's temple with idols—show the spiritual division involved (2 Corinthians 6:14-16). Marriage cannot erase the fact that one person belongs to Christ while the other does not. A hoped-for future conversion is not a reason to disregard God's instruction beforehand.
If the marriage already exists
Scripture does not command divorce merely because one's spouse is not a Christian. This applies whether the spouse was an unbeliever when the marriage began or became one later.
- Remain faithful: 1 Corinthians 7:12-13 tells the believing husband or wife not to leave an unbelieving spouse who is content to continue the marriage. Even a marriage entered disobediently is not treated as disposable.
- Do not assume automatic salvation: 1 Corinthians 7:14 describes the unbelieving spouse as sanctified within that household and the children as holy, yet 1 Corinthians 7:16 still speaks of the possibility of saving that spouse. Being married to a Christian does not itself make someone a Christian.
- Do not imprison a spouse who departs: If the unbeliever chooses to leave, 1 Corinthians 7:15 says to let there be separation and that the believer is “not under bondage in such cases.”
- Witness through a godly life: 1 Corinthians 7:16 holds out the hope that the unbelieving spouse may be saved. Likewise, 1 Peter 3:1-2 teaches that an unbelieving husband may be won through his wife's pure and reverent conduct, even without a spoken argument.
Answered from Scripture · reviewed November 11, 2026
Scripture consistently and plainly instructs God's people not to unite in marriage with those who do not know and worship Him. From the Law of Moses to the apostolic letters, marriage is designed to be a sacred covenant anchored in shared allegiance to the Lord, protecting the believer's heart from spiritual compromise. Understanding this biblical boundary reveals God's deep care for our spiritual fidelity, our families, and our ultimate joy in Him.
The New Covenant Rule
Believers are commanded to marry only in the Lord.
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
2 Corinthians 6:14 (NIV)
It uses the vivid agricultural metaphor of an unequal yoke to forbid binding spiritual partnerships between believers and unbelievers.
The apostolic standard for marriage is unambiguous: believers are forbidden to bind themselves in spiritual partnership with those outside the faith. In 2 Corinthians 6:14, the apostle Paul issues the foundational command: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” He immediately draws the fundamental contrasts that govern Christian existence—righteousness with lawlessness, light with darkness, and in 2 Corinthians 6:15, Christ with Belial. A disciple of Jesus cannot share an enduring spiritual portion with someone walking in spiritual death. Because believers are the living sanctuary of God, 2 Corinthians 6:16 declares that no agreement can exist between His temple and idols. Therefore, 2 Corinthians 6:17 calls the faithful to come out and be separate, while 2 Corinthians 6:18 seals the command with the tender promise that the Lord Almighty will be a Father to those who honor His holiness.
This principle applies explicitly to the marriage bond. When addressing widows who consider remarriage, Paul permits them to marry whom they wish, but attaches one non-negotiable requirement in 1 Corinthians 7:39: “only in the Lord.” The freedom of Christian choice remains strictly bounded by the necessity of shared faith in Jesus Christ. Paul mirrors this conviction in 1 Corinthians 9:5, asserting his right to take along a believing wife, demonstrating that apostolic practice presupposed that marriage partners must both belong to Christ. Long before the New Covenant, the prophet posed the timeless truth in Amos 3:3: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” When the fundamental direction of two lives is opposed at the deepest level of worship, harmonious spiritual union is impossible.
| Passage | What it says |
|---|---|
| 2 Corinthians 6:14 | Forbids believers from becoming unequally yoked with unbelievers, contrasting righteousness with lawlessness and light with darkness. |
| 2 Corinthians 6:15 | Contrasts Christ with Belial and asks what portion a believer shares with an unbeliever. |
| 2 Corinthians 6:16 | Declares that believers are the temple of the living God, which can have no agreement with idols. |
| 2 Corinthians 6:17 | Commands believers to come out from among the worldly and be separate, touching no unclean thing. |
| 2 Corinthians 6:18 | Promises that the Lord Almighty will be a Father to those who maintain holy separation. |
| 1 Corinthians 7:39 | Permits a widow to remarry whomever she desires, with the explicit restriction that it be only in the Lord. |
| 1 Corinthians 9:5 | Paul affirms the apostolic right to take along a believing wife, demonstrating that Christian marriage presupposes both spouses share the faith. |
| Amos 3:3 | A rhetorical prophetic question establishing that two cannot walk together in harmony unless they are agreed on essential direction. |
Old Covenant Foundations
God forbade intermarriage to guard the covenant heart.
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 me to serve other gods, and the LORD’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.
Deuteronomy 7:3-4 (NIV)
It gives the explicit reason for prohibiting foreign marriages: such unions inevitably turn hearts away from the Lord to serve other gods.
From the earliest pages of Scripture, God taught His people to guard the covenant line by marrying only within the sphere of faith. In Deuteronomy 7:3-4, Moses delivers the divine rationale behind the prohibition against marrying foreign pagans: “For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods.” God was not expressing ethnic prejudice, but spiritual protection, knowing that marital affection toward unbelievers inevitably erodes loyalty to the living God.
The patriarchs understood this danger intimately. In Genesis 24:3, Abraham charged his servant with a solemn oath not to take a wife for Isaac from the pagan Canaanites, and in Genesis 28:1 Isaac gave the same charge to Jacob. By contrast, Genesis 26:34-35 records that Esau’s marriages to Hittite women brought deep bitterness of spirit to his covenant parents. The Mosaic law reinforced this vigilance across multiple ordinances. In Exodus 34:12-16, the Lord explicitly warned Israel that treaty covenants and intermarriage would entice their sons into whoredom after false gods. God embedded this truth in the everyday fabric of agrarian life: Leviticus 19:19 forbade mixing different kinds of seed and cattle, and Deuteronomy 22:10 prohibited plowing with an ox and a donkey yoked together—a living picture of discordant partnership. When Israel defied these boundaries, ruin followed swiftly. In Numbers 25:1-3, Israelite men yoked themselves to the daughters of Moab at Peor, falling headlong into idolatry and plague through the deliberate enticement of Balaam (Numbers 31:16). As Joshua drew his final breath, he warned in Joshua 23:12-13 that unholy intermarriage would become snares, scourges in their sides, and thorns in their eyes.
| Passage | What it says |
|---|---|
| Genesis 24:3 | Abraham makes his servant swear not to take a wife for Isaac from the daughters of the Canaanites. |
| Genesis 26:34-35 | Esau's marriages to Hittite women cause deep grief and bitterness of spirit to Isaac and Rebekah. |
| Genesis 28:1 | Isaac commands Jacob not to take a Canaanite wife, directing him instead to his mother's kin. |
| Exodus 34:12-16 | Warns Israel not to make covenants or marriages with the inhabitants of the land lest their daughters seduce them toward false gods. |
| Leviticus 19:19 | Forbids the mixing of different kinds of cattle, seeds, and garments, establishing an object lesson on holiness and purity. |
| Deuteronomy 7:3-4 | Commands Israel not to intermarry with pagan nations because those spouses would turn their children away to serve other gods. |
| Deuteronomy 22:10 | Prohibits plowing with an ox and a donkey yoked together, illustrating the mismatch of incompatible natures. |
| Joshua 23:12-13 | Warns that intermarriage with remnant pagan nations would become snares, traps, scorpions, and thorns in Israel's eyes. |
| Numbers 25:1-3 | Israelite men yoked themselves to the women of Moab, which led directly into idolatry and divine judgment at Peor. |
| Numbers 31:16 | Moses notes that Balaam counselled foreign women to entice the Israelites into trespass against the Lord. |
Tragic Historical Warnings
Scripture records the disastrous fruit of spiritual compromise.
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 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. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 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.
1 Kings 11:1-4 (NIV)
It shows how even the wisest earthly king was turned to idolatry through unholy marital alliances.
The historical narratives of the Old Testament provide a tragic confirmation of God's warnings regarding unequally yoked marriages. Even the wisest man who ever lived could not withstand the compromising influence of an unbelieving spouse. In 1 Kings 11:1-4, Scripture records the catastrophic downfall of Solomon: “his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God.” If Solomon’s supernatural wisdom was undone by unholy marital alliances, no believer can presumptuously assume they will remain unaffected.
This pattern of spiritual decay repeats through every generation of Israel’s history. During the era of the judges, Israel mingled with the Canaanite nations, gave their daughters to their sons, and promptly served their idols (Judges 3:5-6). Samson’s sensual insistence on taking a Philistine woman in Judges 14:1-3 led inexorably to Delilah’s treachery and his own blinding and capture (Judges 16:4-5). In the northern kingdom, Ahab’s marriage to Jezebel provoked unprecedented apostasy; 1 Kings 16:31 and 1 Kings 21:25 note that Ahab sold himself to work wickedness because his foreign wife stirred him up. The poison seeped into Judah as well, where King Jehoram walked in the wicked ways of Ahab because Ahab's daughter Athaliah was his wife (2 Kings 8:18; 2 Chronicles 21:6).
Even after the chastisement of the Babylonian exile, the returning remnant fell into the same destructive snare. Ezra wept and pulled his hair upon discovering that the holy seed had intermarried with idolatrous peoples (Ezra 9:1-2), leading to a national assembly of repentance in Ezra 10:10-11. Nehemiah contended fiercely with the men of Judah who had married women of Ashdod and Moab (Nehemiah 13:23-27), pointing back to Solomon’s ruinous compromise. Through the prophet Malachi, God proclaimed that Judah had profaned His sanctuary by marrying “the daughter of a strange god” (Malachi 2:11).
| Passage | What it says |
|---|---|
| Judges 3:5-6 | Israel intermarries with Canaanite peoples, leading directly into idolatry and servitude under foreign oppressors. |
| 1 Kings 11:1-4 | Solomon loves many foreign wives who turn his heart away after other gods in his old age. |
| 1 Kings 16:31 | Ahab marries Jezebel, daughter of the king of the Sidonians, plunging the northern kingdom into state-sponsored Baal worship. |
| 2 Chronicles 21:6 | Jehoram walks in the wicked way of the kings of Israel because he had married the daughter of Ahab. |
| Ezra 9:1-2 | The returning remnant pollutes the holy seed by taking foreign wives from the surrounding idolatrous peoples. |
| Ezra 10:10-11 | Ezra confronts the people for transgressing God's law by marrying foreign wives, calling for separation and repentance. |
| Nehemiah 13:23-27 | Nehemiah contends with Jews married to foreign women, citing Solomon's fall as a sobering warning against such sin. |
| Malachi 2:11 | Judah is accused of profaning the Lord's sanctuary by marrying the daughter of a foreign god. |
| Judges 14:1-3 | Samson demands a Philistine wife despite his parents' warning, illustrating the personal peril of unequally yoked desires. |
| Judges 16:4-5 | Delilah's foreign allegiance leads directly to Samson's betrayal, captivity, and spiritual ruin. |
| 1 Kings 21:25 | Scripture records that Ahab sold himself to do evil because Jezebel his foreign wife stirred him up. |
| 2 Kings 8:18 | Jehoram king of Judah walked in the wicked way of the house of Ahab because Ahab's daughter was his wife. |
Wisdom and Associations
Intimate companionship inevitably shapes a believer's walk.
Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV)
It offers an apostolic warning that ongoing intimate association with the ungodly inevitably corrupts moral character and spiritual devotion.
Scripture's wisdom literature and New Testament epistles emphasize that intimate companions invariably shape our spiritual trajectory. In 1 Corinthians 15:33, the apostle Paul issues a piercing warning against self-delusion: “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” Companionship is never neutral; entering the closest possible human covenant with an unbeliever exerts an unrelenting gravity away from Christ.
The Book of Psalms opens by defining the path of blessedness through deliberate relational boundaries. Psalm 1:1 pronounces blessing upon the man who refuses to walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful, echoed by David’s resolve in Psalm 26:4-5 to avoid fellowship with hypocrites and evildoers. King Solomon captures this immutable dynamic in Proverbs 13:20: “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” Wisdom constantly warns the young against intimate entanglements with those who have forsaken the covenant of their God (Proverbs 2:16-17) and warns that making friends with the undisciplined causes one to learn their destructive paths (Proverbs 22:24-25).
The apostles apply this wisdom directly to the life of the church. In 1 Corinthians 10:21, Paul reminds believers that they cannot partake of the Lord’s table and the table of devils without spiritual catastrophe. Ephesians 5:6-11 commands believers not to be partakers with the children of disobedience, but instead to walk as children of light and expose darkness. James 4:4 uses the language of marital betrayal, declaring that friendship with the world is spiritual adultery and enmity with God. Second John 1:10-11 warns that welcoming those who reject Christ makes one a partaker in their evil deeds. Marriage to an unbeliever places a Christian into daily, lifelong communion with a heart fundamentally opposed to their Lord.
| Passage | What it says |
|---|---|
| Psalms 1:1 | Pronounces blessed the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked nor sit in the seat of scoffers. |
| Psalms 26:4-5 | The psalmist refuses to sit with deceitful persons or associate with hypocrites and evildoers. |
| Proverbs 13:20 | Teaches that whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools suffers harm. |
| 1 Corinthians 10:21 | Affirms that one cannot partake of both the Lord's table and the table of demons. |
| 1 Corinthians 15:33 | Warns against deception, stating that bad company corrupts good character. |
| Ephesians 5:6-11 | Exhorts believers not to be partakers with the sons of disobedience, but rather to walk as children of light. |
| James 4:4 | Declares that friendship with the fallen world system constitutes spiritual adultery and enmity against God. |
| Proverbs 2:16-17 | Wisdom warns against the forbidden woman who forgets the covenant of her God and leads men toward death. |
| Proverbs 22:24-25 | A proverbial warning that entering into close relationship with the undisciplined leads one to learn their destructive ways. |
| 2 John 1:10-11 | Believers are warned against welcoming those who deny sound doctrine, lest they participate in their wicked works. |
Already Married to an Unbeliever
God calls existing mixed marriages to faithfulness.
To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
1 Corinthians 7:12-14 (NIV)
It shows that an existing marriage to an unbeliever remains valid and holy before God, forbidding unilateral divorce.
When a believer finds themselves already married to an unbeliever—most commonly when one spouse turns to faith in Christ after the wedding—an existing marriage remains sacred and binding before God. Paul addresses this delicate situation directly in 1 Corinthians 7:12-14, declaring that if an unbelieving spouse is willing to dwell with the believer, the believer must not initiate a divorce. The presence of a Christian brings a sanctifying influence into the home, setting the unbelieving spouse and their children apart within the sphere of God's common grace and covenantal witness (1 Corinthians 7:12-13; 1 Corinthians 7:14). If the unbelieving partner insists on departing, the believer is not enslaved in such cases, for God has called His people to peace, though always holding out the sober, loving hope that God may use the faithful spouse to lead the other to salvation (1 Corinthians 7:15-16).
Peter reinforces this redemptive posture by urging Christian wives to win their unbelieving husbands without a word, through the quiet power of respectful, holy conduct rather than endless argument (1 Peter 3:1-2). Likewise, Christian husbands are commanded to treat their wives with honor, gentleness, and understanding as fellow heirs of the grace of life, knowing that domestic disharmony hinders vital prayer (1 Peter 3:7). While Scripture expressly forbids seeking out an unbelieving spouse, it fiercely guards marriages that already exist, directing the Christian to display patient, Christlike love within the home.
| Passage | What it says |
|---|---|
| 1 Corinthians 7:12-13 | Instructs believers not to divorce an unbelieving spouse who is willing to continue living with them. |
| 1 Corinthians 7:14 | Explains that the unbelieving spouse and children are sanctified through the presence of the believing partner. |
| 1 Corinthians 7:15-16 | Permits peaceful separation if the unbeliever departs, while reminding the believer that they might save their spouse. |
| 1 Peter 3:1-2 | Urges believing wives to win their unbelieving husbands without a word through their respectful, chaste conduct. |
| 1 Peter 3:7 | Husbands are charged to live considerately with their wives as fellow heirs of the grace of life so prayers are unhindered. |
The Covenant Picture
Marriage is designed to reflect Christ and His church.
“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.
Ephesians 5:31-32 (NIV)
Marriage's supreme purpose is to display the covenant union of Christ and His church, which requires shared allegiance to Him.
The deepest biblical reason to marry solely in the Lord lies in what marriage was ordained to display. In Ephesians 5:31-32, the apostle Paul quotes Genesis 2:24 to unveil a cosmic reality: earthly marriage is a living portrait of Christ's unbreakable union with His bride, the church. When a man leaves father and mother to hold fast to his wife as one flesh, he mirrors Christ's sacrificial devotion to redeem and purify His people. Jesus Himself appealed to this creation ordinance in Matthew 19:4-6, affirming that God joins two persons into one flesh in a sacred covenant that human hands must not tear apart.
Because marriage is fundamentally designed as a spiritual mirror of redemption, it requires shared devotion to Jesus Christ to achieve its fullest design. Across Ephesians 5:22-33, husbands are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, while wives are called to honor and submit to their husbands as to the Lord. A marriage where one partner rejects Jesus cannot consciously proclaim this holy gospel mystery. In Colossians 3:18-19, all marital duties are explicitly anchored "in the Lord," making allegiance to Christ the cornerstone of daily life together. To unite intentionally with someone outside Christ fractures the very portrait marriage was created to show, obscuring the witness of covenant grace before a watching world.
| Passage | What it says |
|---|---|
| Genesis 2:24 | God establishes the creation ordinance of marriage where two become one flesh in total life union. |
| Matthew 19:4-6 | Jesus reaffirms that God joins husband and wife into one flesh in holy covenant union. |
| Ephesians 5:22-33 | Christian marriage pictures the profound mystery of Christ and His church, which an unbelieving spouse cannot consciously display. |
| Colossians 3:18-19 | Marital duties are defined explicitly as being fitting 'in the Lord', establishing Christ as the foundation. |
Where in the Bible
| Book | Passages |
|---|---|
| Genesis | 4 · Genesis 24:3, Genesis 26:34-35, Genesis 28:1, Genesis 2:24 |
| Exodus | 1 · Exodus 34:12-16 |
| Leviticus | 1 · Leviticus 19:19 |
| Numbers | 2 · Numbers 25:1-3, Numbers 31:16 |
| Deuteronomy | 2 · Deuteronomy 7:3-4, Deuteronomy 22:10 |
| Joshua | 1 · Joshua 23:12-13 |
| Judges | 3 · Judges 3:5-6, Judges 14:1-3, Judges 16:4-5 |
| 1 Kings | 3 · 1 Kings 11:1-4, 1 Kings 16:31, 1 Kings 21:25 |
| 2 Kings | 1 · 2 Kings 8:18 |
| 2 Chronicles | 1 · 2 Chronicles 21:6 |
| Ezra | 2 · Ezra 9:1-2, Ezra 10:10-11 |
| Nehemiah | 1 · Nehemiah 13:23-27 |
| Psalms | 2 · Psalms 1:1, Psalms 26:4-5 |
| Proverbs | 3 · Proverbs 13:20, Proverbs 2:16-17, Proverbs 22:24-25 |
| Amos | 1 · Amos 3:3 |
| Malachi | 1 · Malachi 2:11 |
| Matthew | 1 · Matthew 19:4-6 |
| 1 Corinthians | 7 · 1 Corinthians 7:39, 1 Corinthians 9:5, 1 Corinthians 10:21, 1 Corinthians 15:33, 1 Corinthians 7:12-13, 1 Corinthians 7:14, 1 Corinthians 7:15-16 |
| 2 Corinthians | 5 · 2 Corinthians 6:14, 2 Corinthians 6:15, 2 Corinthians 6:16, 2 Corinthians 6:17, 2 Corinthians 6:18 |
| Ephesians | 2 · Ephesians 5:6-11, Ephesians 5:22-33 |
| Colossians | 1 · Colossians 3:18-19 |
| James | 1 · James 4:4 |
| 1 Peter | 2 · 1 Peter 3:1-2, 1 Peter 3:7 |
| 2 John | 1 · 2 John 1:10-11 |
The story in order
- Creation ordinance of marriage (c. 4000 BC) · Genesis 2:24 · Establishes marriage as a lifelong union of two becoming one flesh.
- Abraham forbids intermarriage (c. 2000 BC) · Genesis 24:3 · God's people are warned against marrying Canaanites.
- Law forbids mixed marriages (c. 1450 BC) · Exodus 34:16 · Warns against marriage with inhabitants of the land to prevent idolatry.
- Esau's marriages cause grief (c. 1850 BC) · Genesis 26:34-35 · Illustrates the sorrow resulting from marrying outside the covenant.
- Israel warned against intermarriage (c. 1450 BC) · Deuteronomy 7:3-4 · Commanded not to intermarry with pagan nations to protect children's faith.
- Israelite men join Moabite women (c. 1450 BC) · Numbers 25:1-3 · Led to idolatry and divine judgment.
- Israel intermarries with Canaanites (c. 1350 BC) · Judges 3:5-6 · Resulted in idolatry and servitude.
- Samson demands Philistine wife (c. 1100 BC) · Judges 14:1-3 · Personal peril of unequally yoked desires.
- Solomon's foreign wives turn heart (c. 930 BC) · 1 Kings 11:1-4 · Foreign wives led Solomon to worship other gods.
- Ahab marries Jezebel (c. 870 BC) · 1 Kings 16:31 · Plunged the kingdom into state-sponsored Baal worship.
- Ezra confronts mixed marriages (c. 450 BC) · Ezra 9:1-2 · The remnant polluted the holy seed by taking foreign wives.
- Nehemiah warns against foreign wives (c. 430 BC) · Nehemiah 13:23-27 · Cites Solomon's fall as a warning against such sin.
- Malachi condemns marrying foreign gods' daughters (c. 400 BC) · Malachi 2:11 · Judah profaned the Lord's sanctuary by marrying foreign women.
- Paul instructs on marrying in the Lord (c. AD 55) · 1 Corinthians 7:39 · Permits remarriage only 'in the Lord'.
Key words
- Unequally yoked (heterozygeō, ἑτεροζυγέω)
- Believers united in marriage with unbelievers, creating a fundamental spiritual mismatch. · 2 Corinthians 6:14
- One flesh (basar echad, בָּשָׂר אֶחָד)
- The profound union of husband and wife, established by God in marriage. · Genesis 2:24
- Holy seed (zera qodesh, זֶרַע קֹדֶשׁ)
- Refers to the descendants of believers, set apart for God. · Ezra 9:2
- Covenant (berit, בְּרִית)
- A solemn agreement or promise, particularly between God and His people, or in marriage. · Genesis 24:3
- Separate (apochōreō, ἀποχωρέω)
- To withdraw from impurity and association with the ungodly. · 2 Corinthians 6:17
- Profaning (chalal, חָלַל)
- Treating something sacred with disrespect or impurity. · Malachi 2:11
God's command to marry only in the Lord is given out of profound love to protect our faith and foster marriages rooted in Christ. For those contemplating marriage, honoring this boundary is an act of trust in God's good design. For those already married to an unbeliever, Scripture calls for steadfast, sacrificial love and prayer, trusting that God's grace remains powerfully at work within the home.
49 passages, each cited once.
Scripture cited
- 2 Corinthians 6:14-18
- 1 Corinthians 7:12-16
- 1 Corinthians 7:39
- 1 Peter 3:1-2