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Equally Yoked Together is only $9.95 plus SH in our bookstore. It is
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II Corinthians
6.14 "Do not be unequally yoked together with
unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with lawlessness?"
NKJV "Don’t become partners with those who
reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s
not partnership, that’s war."
The Message A recent survey of graduation college students asked about student opinion regarding marriage. Almost 93% stated they wanted a marriage that would last a lifetime; however few thought that it was possible in our culture. Statistically, more and more Christians have bought into the idea that a lifetime marriage is something of the past and have accepted "marriage for this season" as an acceptable life decision. Pre nuptial agreements and cohabitation supports this "maybe I do" position because the couple acknowledges up front that this relationship may not work and presupposes failure at some point in time.
The fact is that over 70% of all married couples have cohabitated or lived together before marriage. The reason most given for cohabitation is to find out if the relationship will work before the commitment is made for the relationship to work. What our culture does not realize is that the commitment to make a relationship work IS the reason a relationship works. That is why successful cohabitation is rare. Only one in five of cohabitating couples are still together after five years. The Bible view is in direct opposition to cohabitation. There is a direct relationship between the marriage commitment and God’s commitment to us. In speaking of the marriage relationship, the apostle in writing to the Christians at Ephesus said, "This is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ and the church." In other words the apostle is telling us that the mystery of marriage and how it works is in direct correlation to the way that Christ relates to the church.
This relationship is called "covenant" because it is unconditional. Covenant goes beyond commitment to loving and caring no matter what. God sees marriage as a "death do us part" commitment. Yokes are a picture of what the Marriage and Family Kingdom is all about. A yoke is an implement used to connect two entities together for the purpose of meaningful work. We are m
ost
familiar with a yoke of oxen which physically connects two oxen to pull
something like a wagon or plow. In the case of marriage, it is two people
yoking up for the purpose of serving God. In Scripture yokes are
metaphorically viewed as: 1. A tool to get the most out of two working
together 2. An implement of slavery
The Message A recent survey of graduation college students asked about student opinion regarding marriage. Almost 93% stated they wanted a marriage that would last a lifetime; however few thought that it was possible in our culture. Statistically, more and more Christians have bought into the idea that a lifetime marriage is something of the past and have accepted "marriage for this season" as an acceptable life decision. Pre nuptial agreements and cohabitation supports this "maybe I do" position because the couple acknowledges up front that this relationship may not work and presupposes failure at some point in time.
The fact is that over 70% of all married couples have cohabitated or lived together before marriage. The reason most given for cohabitation is to find out if the relationship will work before the commitment is made for the relationship to work. What our culture does not realize is that the commitment to make a relationship work IS the reason a relationship works. That is why successful cohabitation is rare. Only one in five of cohabitating couples are still together after five years. The Bible view is in direct opposition to cohabitation. There is a direct relationship between the marriage commitment and God’s commitment to us. In speaking of the marriage relationship, the apostle in writing to the Christians at Ephesus said, "This is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ and the church." In other words the apostle is telling us that the mystery of marriage and how it works is in direct correlation to the way that Christ relates to the church.
This relationship is called "covenant" because it is unconditional. Covenant goes beyond commitment to loving and caring no matter what. God sees marriage as a "death do us part" commitment. Yokes are a picture of what the Marriage and Family Kingdom is all about. A yoke is an implement used to connect two entities together for the purpose of meaningful work. We are m
ost
familiar with a yoke of oxen which physically connects two oxen to pull
something like a wagon or plow. In the case of marriage, it is two people
yoking up for the purpose of serving God. In Scripture yokes are
metaphorically viewed as: 1. A tool to get the most out of two working
together 2. An implement of slavery
There are seven ways that believers are yoked together in marriage:
we are yoked by covenant, by purpose, spiritually yoked, emotionally
yoked, financially yoked, family yoked, and sexually yoked. "How can two
walk together unless they have agreed to do so" Amos 3.3