Should Christians Marry Unbelievers Like Atheists & Muslims?

Should Christians marry Athiests or people from other religions? In other words, should a Christian marry a non-believer? This is a question I got from someone on my YouTube Channel and I'm going to answer it in this hub. The short answer to this question is, No! One of the reasons is because marrying an unbeliever is a sin. That's because God tells us not to do it, and disobeying God's Word is sinning. Second Corinthains 6:14 puts it this way, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?"

Christians and non-believers have seperate moral standards, so marrying each other can lead to some conflicts. The moral standard for Christians is Jesus Christ and His Word. However, people in the world often compare themselves to other people and think, well, as long as I'm not as bad as that guy who is a rapist, killer, and career criminal I'm not so bad. So what if sometimes I lie, cheat, and steal when it benefits me. I'm still relatively good compared to that criminal. This could lead to stress in a marriage and it could have a corrupting influence on you if you're a Christian. It opends the door for more temptations to be dishonest and half-hearted, and you could lose your salvation in the process. You may think that you could convert your unbelieving spouse; but what if they don't want to be converted and instead end up converting you back to the world? I imagine that happens more often than not.

As a matter of fact, that's one of the reasons why God destroyed the earth with a flood in the Old Testament. In Genesis 6 it talks about the sons of God, which were followers of God, who married the daughters of men, which is a term for worldly women; and as a result the world became violent and corrupt. It became violent and corrupt because the followers of god were corrupted by the worldly women they married. Then God destroyed the earth with a flood.

If you have an unbelieving spouse, what happens if you have children? How are you going to raise them? What if your spouse is an Atheist? Now, you may know that Atheism is just an excuse for people to justify their sins by denying the existence of God; but your children may not be so sure. Especially if you're telling them one thing and your spouse is telling something completely different. Your children can end up confused and lost. Do you really want that kind of stress in your life? Do you really want to worry about not only the salvation of your unbelieving spouse, but also your children? Your family? Yourself? Don't get married to an unbeliever!

More complications arise if your spouse has a different religion than you. What if your spouse is a Muslim? Will you allow your children to go to a Mosque and be taught that Allah is greater than Jesus Christ? Christianity cannot be compromised with other religions like Islam. There's a phrase that Arab Muslims often repeat, "Allahu Akbar". I'm sure you've heard it. Do you know what it means? It means, "Allah is greater." Who is Allah supposed to be greater than? All other gods—including the Lord Jesus Christ. Muslims don't believe that Jesus Christ is God, the Son. Therefore, Muslims and Christians don't worship the same God.

Morover, the Bible indicates that those who worship other gods are really worshipping demons. Paul, in speaking about the Gentiles who made sacrifices to other gods in his day, said, "But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils" (1 Corinthians 10:20). So, if we marry someone that is Muslim or Hindu, or whatever non-Christian religion, we are allowing demonic influences into our lives. That is the last thing we want, because then the devil will work through our non-believing spouse to ruin our relationship with Jesus.

Atheism, that's the religion of Humanism. That's self-worship. Atheists worship someone, too: themselves. They are their own god. When you reject the moral principles in God's Word and choose how you want to live your life, as Atheists do, you make yourself the god of your life. You are worshipping yourself. You are following your own rules. This deception can be traced back to the garden of Eden in Genesis 3:4 when Satan, in the form of a serpent, told Eve that by disobeying God, "...you will be like God, knowing good and evil." What's more, in worshipping yourself, by default, you are ultimately worshipping the devil. That's because when you reject God and His Word, you live a life of sin. And since Satan is the originator of sin, you are submitting yourself to him. Romans 6:16 tells us, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"

In addition, when the Jews wanted to stone Jesus in John 8:44, Jesus told them, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." Those who live a life of sin serve the devil.

Marrying an unbeliever is a sin—and for good reason. If we marry an unbeliever, we put ourselves in danger of losing our faith. It complicates our lives with worry about our unsaved spouse; and if we have children, it makes it difficult to raise them according to Christian values. Not to mention, we open a door to allow the devil to devastate our family and ruin our relationship with Jesus. Now, if you're already married to an unbeliever when becoming a Christian, that's another subject. You should try to love your spouse and pray for them. But if they want to leave you because they don't agree with your faith, you are not required to stay with them. First Corinthians 7:15 says, "But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace."