 Is it ever okay for a Christian to marry an unbeliever? Well, in short, no. Many people are looking for love and sometimes we're looking for love in all the wrong places and sometimes you meet them in the right places but they might not be the right person. Meaning that person might have all the qualities that you see outwardly that appeal to you, maybe their looks, maybe their mind, maybe their personalities that work ethic so forth. But there's one thing that needs to be there, needs to be present and that is that person needs to be a Christian. There's one passage that's brought up often that really doesn't involve marriage but it can involve marriage. Though marriage was not the point that Paul was bringing up in 2 Corinthians, it does still apply. That is in 2 Corinthians 6 verse 14. He says, do not be bound together with unbelievers for what partnership has righteousness and lawlessness or what fellowship has light with darkness or what harmony has Christ with blout or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever or what agreement has a temple of God with idols. So the point is this, you cannot be as a believer married to an unbeliever even though this is speaking about just in relationships and so forth, but how can two walk together unless they agree and the most important thing that you need to agree upon is your salvation, is your faith, is your walk with Christ. The problem that's gonna be is that this person is gonna have an allegiance to the world while you're gonna have an allegiance to God. There's gonna be a problem because when kids enter into the picture, how are they gonna be raised? When it's time for you to go to church, especially if you're the male and you are to be the priest of your house but you are the priest of an unrighteous household, you are the shepherd of a goat. What is going to happen when there's gonna be chaos? And then you think about how the family dynamic is supposed to operate. Well, you're gonna have a bit of a problem. Remember, we're told in Ephesians 5, wives be subject to your own husbands. How likely is that gonna happen? In many cases, when the person is not a believer and they're gonna reject the biblical style of doing things, instead they're going to embrace what we call social norms where the woman has equal footing with the man and she can even be the head of the household. Well, that does not comport with what the Bible teaches. The Bible says for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ also is the head of the church. Well, Christ being the head of the church is not gonna matter to the person who's an unbeliever because Christ is not the head of that person's life. And so you've already started things off in a bad position. If the situation is reversed and it's a woman who is the believer and the husband is an unbeliever, well, well then the husband doesn't have to apply this particular passage to this life where it says husband in verse 25, love your wives just as Christ loved the church. Well, he's not going to have to respond to that because he is not in Christ. And so you already have something bad to look forward to. You're gonna have this issue, a big issue looming over your head. Now the next question that might come up is what if I'm dating an unbeliever? If I'm dating an unbeliever and everything about this unbeliever seems right except for that, well, should I keep dating this unbeliever? Or what if the unbeliever seems to be receptive of Christ and they are kind of gravitating towards it but they haven't professed Christ? What should I do? Should I stop dating that person? Well, the answer is still the same. Yes, here's the reason why. Because it might be that the person that you're dating is just really just putting on a show at performance. Maybe not necessarily intentionally, but unintentionally because they may also like you as well. Still, you are still fellowshiping with someone not for the purpose of bringing them to Christ but for the purpose of some maybe potential matrimony. That's not why we do so. Now, if you're sharing the gospel with this person and this person becomes a believer, well then amen, that's fine. You need to be upfront and tell that person that I cannot enter into a relationship, a marriage with you because you are not a believer. And so unless things change, well then fine. Now, don't do so to pressure the person into becoming a convert which might mean they become a false convert. No, we want a genuine believer and so I would say take a step back and then focus on being a light to this person without any sort of physical interest whatsoever. Nothing that is pointing towards marriage but just your intent for that person to come to know Christ. For that person to be married to the actual bridegroom. Another question that comes up is then what if I'm married to an unbeliever's show? I'd no longer be married to this person. Shall we get a divorce? Well, the answer to that is different than the other two. That is no, you do not get a divorce. That person is your husband. That person is your wife. When you say I do, then you do. How do you know that person is the right one for you? When you said I do. Now forever that person is to be your wife, your husband. God honors his word. He expects you to honor your word. Is there going to be some difficulty? Sure, but it's difficulty that is the making of the two people that decided to do so. The Bible has also told us that this believing spouse can cause or help the unbelieving spouse to become a believer, to end up becoming sanctified as this person walks and there's plenty of testimonies where there's been somebody who was saved who had to go through the time and maybe it's not a short time, maybe it's a long time, maybe it's tumultuous but there's plenty of testimonies where the unbeliever watches the spouse and then sees how the Lord has worked with that person's life and then decides to place their faith in them because they see, as Jesus says, that person at home has let their light shine and then the spouse saw it, glorified God and became a believer. But in the grand scheme of things, there is no fellowship, except the believer is trying to evangelize and to help lead that person to a right relationship with Christ. Otherwise, there should not be any real fellowship with that person, especially if we're looking towards marriage. So I hope this helps, even though that passage is not, even though that passage is not specifically for marriage, it does involve marriage, just like it would involve even business relationships, just like it would involve other relationships. You are not to be unequally yoked, paired together with someone who has a spiritual interest that is the antithesis of what yours are. Amen.