Intermarriage Part I

Intermarriage

Matthew Benoit

January 2011

Introduction

“Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Acts 17:11

“You are required to believe, to preach, and to teach what the Bible says is true, not what you want the Bible to say is true.” –R.C. Sproul

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           Before beginning, I want to express that my hearts desire is to love and serve God as he desires to be loved and served. I believe the Bible is his Holy, unerring, and infallible word. I want to obey his commands no matter what the cost. That being said, my belief concerning intermarriage is not what it is because it is popular in our culture, or anything of the sort. I believe what I do about intermarriage, because I believe with all my heart that it is what the Bible teaches about the issue. I do not write the following with a spirit of contention, but with a spirit of contrition, longing to see God glorified as he ought to be glorified. It is not my belief that those who teach falsely in this area or who believe that different races ought not marry are not Christians. I believe they certainly may be, but that their vision has been clouded by their tradition. It is my hope to be an instrument of defogging, a biblical windshield wiper, to clear the eyes of those who read what I’ve written so that God will be worshipped according to what his Word says about him and his commandments. If his Word teaches that different races are not to intermarry, than that is what I will believe, but if it teaches otherwise, then I challenge the reader to examine their tradition in light of the Scriptures, and to stop examining the Scripture in light of their tradition. So I continue with the spirit of the Berean Jews, let us examine the Scriptures to see if these things are so.“To the law and to the testimony, what saith the Scriptures?”

I’ll begin in part 1 by looking at some places in the Old Testament where The Israelites are told not to intermarry with the other people around them. Next I’ll explain why they were told not to intermarry. In part 2 I’ll examine some places in the Old Testament where intermarriage occurred and was honorable and acceptable, and we will see how the family of Jesus descends from a mixed-race background. I will conclude in part 3 by briefly examining what two specific passages in the New Testament have to say about intermarriage, 2 Corinthians 16:4 and Galatians 3:26-29. I will demonstrate throughout that when the Bible speaks about intermarriage, it is consistently talking about mixing holiness and unholiness, belief and unbelief, light and darkness, those who are Christ’s, with those who are the Devil’s. Intermarriage is not blacks and whites or Hispanics and Asians or Americans and American Indians.

I entreat the reader to continue through the length of the work, reading the examples, cross-references and footnotes I provide, as they will be aids to understanding, and the paper makes it’s point as a whole, not in parts. I’ve included the selected passages in both the King James Version as well as the English Standard Version. As well as italicizing Scripture quotations, I have also underlined, emboldened and colored all references to Scripture as a visual aide.

May Christ be glorified by my words and thoughts, and may he protect your eyes from reading anything I say that is not in accordance with his Word.

Injustice on God's Part?

A while ago, a fellow named John Moore, in a response he gave to me in a discussion regarding whether or not God is in control of the evil that occurs and whether or not he acts based not on the actions of men but rather out of the supreme council of his will said,

“Your idea of God makes Him the most unholy being in the universe- the cause of all wickedness and misery.... Shame on you.”

Similarly, Jeremy Hiltz, a friend of Mr. Moore, in an article titled “Unconditional Reprobation: A Divine Injustice states that,

Certainly, a person ordained from all eternity to be punished without any reference to their moral choices is far from justice. Surely no one would condone a man being punished for the good pleasure of a totalitarian dictator without any regard to criminal charges. Such behavior would immediately be repudiated by anyone familiar with Biblical justice. (Paragraph 7:Sentances 4-6).(Full Article Found Here)[1]

First of all, it is completely fallacious, to think that if God does something only for his pleasure then he is the same as a human dictator who does something for his own pleasure. God is God and is pleasure is by nature “good,” and since he is God, he has the Divine right to do anything he wants merely for his good pleasure. The mere pleasure of a totalitarian dictator would not be “good pleasure.” Don’t make Equivocations between God’s pleasure and man’s pleasure.

Secondly, Equal Ultimacy, that is, the doctrine that God with equal and, in both cases, positive force saves and damns, is a fallacy and not representative of the Reformed position.

Thirdly, as will be demonstrated, active punishment is entirely conditioned upon the actions of the criminal and the charges placed upon them due to their willful violation of God’s law. This statement by Mr. Hiltz is an example building a giant straw man and trying to blow it down with a bendy straw, the opponent isn’t real, and the attack is ridiculous.

Our Life and Hope

I love History, as a subject and as an idea.  When I look at old things, the age of them amazes me.  To think that someone else, somewhere else, many many years ago, crafted, wore, and valued the item I’m looking at is incredible. Mankind is vastly outlived by its legacy. These items are not just items, they are products of an era, and their design and existence reflect the thinking, the fears, and the dreams of the times that produced it. They are a part of the bedrock that produced who we are and what we go through. Great men and women, secondary causes of the purposes of God through history, existed alongside them, held them and crafted them. One item in particular that amazes me and has lead me to praise God for his work, is Charles Spurgeon’s Bible on display in The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s library. In it are the very words made of the very ink on the very pages that our Lord inspired the great preacher with, as well as the beautiful and meticulous handwriting of Spurgeon written in the margins of the pages. When I look at things like these, the world around me fades and becomes a crafted vision of the past, where heroes and giants of the Faith and times work to form history. I imagine their fingerprints living out beyond their body, stuck to the silver, gold or wood, fingerprints that are slowly replaced by others.

Worth Dying For

This morning my wife was talking about the music on one of our local Christian radio stations. She wisely pointed out that there is a certain theme present in some of “popular” “Christian” music. The idea running through some popular KLOVE/WAY FM style music, is that, "Jesus died for you because you are worth dying for."

Jesus did not die for anyone because they were worth dying for, but those for whom Jesus died are now worth that death… What do I mean? Let me explain in the following.

John 6:44 and some necessary implications.

Jesus says,

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” –John 6:44

No person on the face of the planet has the ability or desire to come to Christ unless the Father draws that person to Christ.

And when once the Father draws a person to Christ, what does Christ say that he does to that person? He raises them up on the last day.

Why does he raise them up on the last day?

He does so because, he has come to do the Fathers will, which is that he raise up every individual that the Father gives him.

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should loose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”-John 6:37-39

Look carefully:

Fact1: No one is able to come to Christ unless they are drawn to him by the Father.

Fact2: Every single person who the Father gives to Christ, Christ will certainly raise up on the last day.

Consider this, if you are completely wedded to the idea that God must endeavor to save everyone equally because everyone deserves a “chance” and otherwise, he’s not “loving” or “fair.” Then you are forced into a position of absolute Universalism, where every person without distinction will be saved. Because if this drawing is universal, then the salvation that accompanies it must be universal.

Keeping in mind that (in light of such clear passages as Psa. 51:5; Psa. 58:3; Rom. 1: 18-25; Rom. 3:9-18, 23; Rom. 6:23; Rom. 8:7-8; Eph. 2:1-3 and Mat. 10:28, just to skim the surface), no one deserves a “chance” and if God gave to every man what the deserved, every man on the face of the earth would go immediately to Hell. And that if grace is grace, then it cannot be grounded in the merit or “worthiness” of the creature, so God is not obligated to be gracious to anyone in anyway at anytime, ever. Individuals only ever receive mercy or justice from God. No one will ever receive injustice.

Otherwise, you must conclude that God has mercifully worked to save a particular undeserving people in Christ. And this work he will certainly accomplish, because he is faithful to carry out to completion the good work he begins in a person.

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” –Philippians 1:6

There is NO other option.

It must be the latter, and this work he has accomplished before the foundation of the world, because God chose us who are “faithful saints” in Christ before the foundation of the world.

“Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.”-Ephesians 2:4-5

However this work is obviously occurring in time, and God has always used means to accomplish his purposes. And God’s choosing of a particular people in Christ in no way removes the command for his people to continue preaching the Gospel. The Gospel is the means. It is the power of God for salvation.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”-Romans 1:16

Not because it is attractive to dead, God hating rebels (don’t forget, “among whom we all once lived”-Eph. 2:1-3) but because it is “foolish” to them, and “a stumbling block” and by this God will save some.

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” -1 Corinthians 1:18

“For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” –Corinthians 1:21

“But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” -1Corinthians 1:23-24

Don’t you see, that the difference between those to whom the gospel is a stumbling block and foolish, and those to whom it is the power and wisdom of God, is the particular calling of God? And this calling, which has its foundation in the active foreknowledge and predestination of God, necessarily results in justification and glorification, so it cannot be a universal calling.

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed into the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” –Romans 8:29-30

Likewise, every person, regenerate and non-regenerate alike, has a moral obligation because of who God is to recognize him as King and Lord and to turn from their willful sin against his holiness to repentance. God electing a particular people in Christ and working for their salvation, in no way removes this obligation from those whom he elects. They also must repent, and place their faith in Christ, because like the preaching of the Gospel, repentance and faith are the means by which God saves his people.

Lastly, this sovereign work of God does not undermine or ignore the truth of such passages as John 3:16. It is certainly true and always stands that any individual who turns to Christ in repentance and faith will find him to be a perfect savior. And this is what we must boldly proclaim! Whoever believes in Christ will not perish under the just wrath of God, but will have everlasting life. John 3:16 says everything about what will certainly occur when a person runs to Christ in faith, but is says nothing about who has the ability to run to Christ in faith. John addresses that elsewhere, namely in chapter 6, verse 44.

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day”

As believers we praise God that he is merciful and has not left us in our wickedness. We praise God that he has graciously caused us to love that which we once hated, namely himself. We praise God that he is now working in us to will and to do according to his good pleasure.

The Scriptures do not teach that God tries as hard as he can and fails with regularity.

The Scriptures do however, teach that God is Sovereign and mighty, and accomplishes ALL of his purposes.

“Declaring the end from the beginning

and from ancient times things not yet done,

saying, ‘My council shall stand,

and I will accomplish all my purpose.’” –Isaiah 46:10

Shouldn’t John 6:44 cause us to fall on our face and weep with joy at the mercy of the Lord? Praise God for his salvation purpose, which he is accomplishing in Christ Jesus.