Questions
(Questions and correspondence for this department should be sent directly to Brother Douthitt at the above address.)
Yoked Unequally: Is Marriage Included:
An elder in a church in Texas writes that he believes 2 Cor. 6:14 "is warning Christians against any alliance, including marriage which would hinder them in living the Christian life," and he wants to know if he is wrong.
2 Cor. 6:14-18 is a warning to Christians against any and all participation in heathen worship. That is one thing in which a believer can have no fellowship, no communion, no concord, nor portion, and no agreement. The only kind of marriage relation that could be included in this warning, according to verse 17, is the kind of marriage that must not be permitted to continue, but the relation must be broken up and ended to please the Lord. 2 Cor. 6:14-18 forbids the believer's remaining unequally yoked as well as becoming unequally yoked. If the passage had reference to all marriages between Christians and non-Christians, then every Christian married to a non-Christian would be required to leave the unbelieving companion; to "come ye out from among them"; to "separate" from the unbeliever; and "be ye separate." But by a careful reading of 1 Cor. 7:12-18, every one should be able to see two things: (1) Paul orders the Christian not to leave the unbelieving companion. (2) In marriage the believer and the unbeliever do have, with divine approval, fellowship, communion, concord, portion and agreement in many things. This compels us to conclude that marriages between believers and unbelievers is not the union to which Paul refers in the terms, "unequally yoked."
Correction
In the Gospel Guardian of Nov. 20, page 6, second column, beginning with the thirteenth line, the sentence should read, "If the church cannot use these apartments for classrooms, or for living quarters for its workers, or for the poor, why not sell the apartment building and use the money to pay for the property that the church can use?" The last two words in the sentence, "cannot use," as they appeared in the Gospel Guardian, gives the sentence the very opposite of the meaning intended.
—O—
Flat Notes
W. O. Flatt, Fort Worth, Texas
Yes, I know: but you see I know I am right, and can prove that what I teach is scriptural by what Old Brother So-and-So said about it, way back yonder a long time ago.
And again . . . I know that's wrong because the Guardian said it was.
The Whole Armour: — and thou: when thou goest out to fight the Devil, thou shalt wear only eight ounce boxing gloves. Jude 2:2.
Same Old Stand: — Through the years I have been offering every penny I possess for just one word from the Bible, for any authority for the Baptist Church or the doctrine peculiar to Baptist. I own my business, still operating at same old stand.
Offering Thanks: — Did you ever notice that about two-thirds of the time, thanks are never offered for the bread and fruit of the vine? No, they say, "We are thankful for this privilege and opportunity to partake of this bread, fruit of the vine. Bless us that we may do this according to Thy will." (Some teaching needed.)
Big Things: — No church has a scriptural right to start something that is too big for it to handle, then expect other churches to pull their chest-nuts out of the fire. (Homes and other things.)
Faith Only: — I know a man who was saved by faith only, it must be so, that's what the man said.
Fool-proof: — I'll prove it! I know I will some-how That the sow that was washed was not a sow.
I'll prove it! What I say must stand. I'll prove it someway by the word of man.