Day: February 21, 2019

Thursday, February 21, 2019

“Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin” (Nehemiah 13:26 KJV).

Just who are these “outlandish women?”

The Holy Spirit through Paul definitely preferred we distance ourselves from false religious systems—including being romantically involved with unbelievers (who embrace those organizations). First Corinthians chapter 6: “[15] Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. [16] What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. [17] But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. [18] Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. [19] What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? [20] For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Alas, we discard sound Bible doctrine and quench the Holy Spirit just to enjoy a temporary, lopsided relationship with the spirit of this world! “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3). The two “agree” in that the Christian accepts the non-Christian’s view. Such spiritual debilitation and destruction is overwhelming—especially for the poor children originating from that unfortunate and risky union!

Our human heart, tainted by emotions, is quite sinful, unreliable, and clouds our judgment. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). The fantasy of Christians dating and/or marrying unbelievers and successfully converting them is one example. Solomon did not transform his pagan wives, did he? Oh, but they certainly “rehabilitated” him… and all Israel! Even today, intermarriage with an unbeliever usually results in the Christian turning from the Lord (not the unbeliever turning to the Lord)! Brethren, may we learn this lesson well now, before we learn it “the hard way!”