INTRODUCTION:
1. Christians, and certainly “Baptist” Christians, DO NOT have difficulty with the doctrine of the Inspiration of Scripture!
2. Christians, and certainly “Baptist” Christians DO NOT have difficulty with the doctrine of the Sufficiency of Scripture!
3. Christians, and certainly “Baptist” Christians DO have difficulty with the doctrine of the Authority of Scripture!
(1st John 2:3-4)
(3) “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. (4) Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him…”
(Luke 6:46) “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”
4. God, through HIS Word, has authority over the lives of HIS people!
5. GOD, through HIS Word, has authority over the marriages of HIS people!
(Ezra 9:1-2) God’s people had intermarried with the unbelieving people of the land and had adopted their idolatrous worship!
“After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. (2) For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.”
(Deuteronomy 7:3-4) The Israelites were forbidden to marry unbelievers!
(3) “You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, (4) for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.”
(1st Kings 11:1-4) Marrying unbelievers destroyed the life, the family, and the testimony of the wisest man who ever lived!
(1) “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, (2) from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. (3) He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. (4) For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
(1st Kings 11:5-8) It seems to be almost always true that when a believer marries an unbeliever, the unbeliever changes the heart and life of the believer!
(5) For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. (6) So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. (7) Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. (8) And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.”
(2nd Corinthians 6:14-18) New Testament believers are also forbidden to marry an unbeliever!
(14) “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? (15) What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? (16) What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (17) Therefore, go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, (18) and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”
Theological Note: This is a religious issue, not a racial issue!
GOD blessed the marriages of Israelites to Gentiles when the Gentile had already come to believe in and worship GOD!
(Hebrews 11:31) “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”
(Cf. Joshua 2:11) “And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.”
(Ruth 2:12) “The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”
(Matthew 4:5-6a) Both Rahab and Ruth are listed in the genealogy of Jesus!
(5) “and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, (6a) and Jesse the father of David the king.”
(Ezra 9:3-4) Rebellion and disobedience against GOD is a serious matter and it ought to break our heart!
(3) “As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. (4) Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice.”
(Ezra 9:5-12) Rebellion and disobedience in the life of GOD’s people must be repented of!
(5) “And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, (6) saying: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. (7) From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today. (8) But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. (9) For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem. (10) “And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments,
(11) which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. (12) Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’”
(Ezra 9:13-15)When GOD’s people marry an unbeliever, it is a sin against GOD!
(13) And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, (14) shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? (15) O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.”
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