Jennifer Rothnie Supporter Housewife, Artist, Perpetually Curious

God isn’t going to ‘curse’ you in that scenario. You will not lose your salvation or be condemned to hell either. That said, God will hold you accountable - not for whether or not the children chose to put their faith in Christ, which is their choice to make, but due to purposefully entering a marriage that is unequally yoked. While it is not automatically a sin to marry an unbeliever (God asked Hosea to marry a prostitute), it is generally unwise - and to those who know the good they ought to do, but do not do it, it’s counted as sin (James 4:17.)

“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.” I Cor 3:11–15

That is, disobedience or poor works in general do not condemn us, but those works ‘burn up’ - they have no lasting endurance into eternity and they do not bring a reward.

“ For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” II Cor 6

For a believer to purposefully marry an unbeliever, knowing the marriage contract is unwise, is much like building with wood or hay. Though there is the small possibility the unbelieving spouse might become a believer, there is also the possibility that the unbeliever will lead the believing spouse astray, or even lead him to give up his faith.

As for the children, the imbalance of the marriage could potentially lead to a lot of fighting among the parents or disunity as to how they should be raised. It is hard to ‘train up a child in the way he should go (Prov 22:^) if the parents fundamentally disagree on what the right path is. In this way, the poor judgement of the parent could be a factor in the religious upbringing of the child. For a Christian parent, that should not bring fear of God’s judgement, but rather deep sorrow of their own poor judgement. The parent has purposefully made himself a stumbling block to his child before the child was even born.

“Jesus said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks will come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.”

Physical death is a better outcome than purposefully setting oneself up as a stumbling block to the faith of a child.

There is no guarantee though that even two strong Christian parents who walk faithfully with God will have children that all place their faith in Christ. Faith is an individual choice - the burden we must each bear on our own. 

In summary, there may be a loss of reward, or some works that fail to have an eternal impact, but the Christian parent will be safe through the blood of Jesus. However, there would be condemnation for the child if the child rejects faith in Christ, and great sorrow for the parent if his purposeful actions contributed to that.

December 16 2016 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report