Christians seem to struggle with the freedoms which God gives them. One such freedom comes within the realm of choosing a spouse. With such a decision, God does not give a specific answer as to individual identity. But the Bible give believers a direct command about the type of person to marry.

The apostle Paul gives us the Biblical command by way of a principle on choosing a spouse.

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?
II Corinthians 6:14 NASB

The principle given by the apostle is not to have intimate relations with a non-believer. An intimate relationship is one in which each party must share core, personal values. Marriage demands the blending of values from both the man and the woman. If the core values from each person within a marriage do not align, the marriage is bound to suffer strain and/or failure.

So from the principle Paul gives, a believer is only allowed by God to marry another believer. This principle may seem unfair or restrictive, but it is for the good of the believer. Should a Christian marry a non-Christian, there is the attempt at joining two people who hold very different core values and very different world views. One person rests his or her eternal security upon Christ for the forgiveness of sin while the other person does not. One person believes God is the ultimate authority while the other does not.

The attempt to join two people with opposing values does not work. There is never a true union between the two. Such a joining is like mixing oil and water, or as Paul writes, light and darkness. No matter how much a couple tries, there is always a definitive separation.

Once the euphoria of finding a “special someone” wanes, and it naturally does, the glue that keeps married people together is their shared, core beliefs. Without a common bond of values, marriages have trouble.

As long as you intend to marry someone (of the opposite sex) who is a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the Biblical freedom to marry. It is also good to marry someone with whom you share other common interests and attractions. But as long as your future spouse is a Christian, you do not sin if you marry,

If you would like more counsel on preparing for marriage, I suggest you get a copy of Biblica Principles for a Great Marriage.

If you are seeking Biblical counsel on marriage, you and your future spouse can take advantage of personal counseling sessions with Pastor Randy Weddle. Just click here.

The Bible clearly talks about the humanity of Jesus Christ. The incarnation is such an important doctrinal stance of God’s word, that its denial is classified by the Bible as Satanic (I John 4:2; II John 1:7). Knowing that Jesus becoming man is important, perhaps we should ask why He became human.

Jesus became a man in order to die. The Bible states that the Lord partook of flesh and blood so that He could die (Hebrews 2:14). And in suffering death, Jesus made Himself an offering to God for our sin. His offering was perfect and acceptable to God.

God cannot die because He is eternal. But if God adds to His divine nature a human nature, He is susceptible to death as a man. The Bible says that as a man, Jesus condemned sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3). In other words Jesus, as a man, defeats sin at the level at which sin entered the world. The result is the destruction of the devil (I John 3:8).

Additionally, as a man, Jesus’ death fully satisfied God’s justice. Had God excused humanity’s rebellion, He would have not been just. His justice required the death of the sinner. By dying in our place, Jesus was the substitute payor of the justice due to sinners.
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The incarnation was the way God satisfied His own justice for all sin. Jesus had to become human to pay the debt we owed to God. And in doing so, He opened the door for people to be free from sin and death. 

The incarnation, the event at which God put on human flesh, is truly a miracle. This is because only God could accomplish such an event.  Only God could come up with such a plan.

The preincarnate Christ existed as a person before He was born of a virgin. The apostle John writes that the Lord was in the beginning, with God, and that He was God (John 1:1). And as God, Jesus, in the time before His  incarnation, was fully divine. Jesus possessed every characteristic of divinity, the very image of God (Colossians 1:15).

When the time came for Jesus to be born of Mary, He lowered Himself to become human. He emptied Himself, not of any divine attributes, but of the rights and privileges of being God (Philippians 2:7). Jesus Christ humbled Himself to take on the nature of man. The act of the incarnation was the God of all things adding to His divine nature that nature which was human. Jesus, while fully God became fully man.
This begs us to ask why the Messiah had to become fully human. Jesus became man in order to suffer death. And in dying, Jesus paid the penalty for humanity’s sin. God’s wrath demanded death as the payment for sin. Jesus, by His death, fully satisfied God’s wrath.

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Hebrews 2:17 NASB
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The act of the incarnation was essential to the salvation of mankind. God cannot die unless He adds a human nature to his divine nature and becomes man. Through the death of Christ, mankind’s sin problem has been solved.  

Two kings gathered forces to invade and defeat the city of Jerusalem. The threat of war struck fear into the hearts of the people and king of the land of Jerusalem, which, at the time was Judah. But amidst the threats from Jerusalem’s two enemies, came a voice of comfort. The Lord God spoke words of assurance to Ahaz, king of Judah.

The Lord assured Ahaz that the plans of the two enemies would not succeed. And to help King Ahaz understand the Lord’s message, a sign was given by God through the prophet, Isaiah.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 
Isaiah 7:14 ESV

The sign is to show King Ahaz that if he trusted God’s plan, the two enemies plotting to overthrow him would fail. And in that sense, Ahaz is promised salvation if he simply trusts in the Lord. Additionally, the sign given to Ahaz is also a sign for us today.

The Bible explicitly links the sign given to Ahaz with the birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. We find this link in Matthew’s gospel. In the context of Jesus’ birth, Matthew writes this.

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).The sign given through Isaiah to Ahaz found its complete fulfilment years later in the birth of Jesus. The sign spoke of a real event that took place in Bethlehem. the event was God becoming a man, the incarnation. The incarnation was God’s plan to deliver mankind from two enemies, death and hell.
Matthew 1:22, 23 ESV
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The incarnation is a miraculous event. It marks God taking on the nature of man in order to save mankind from sin. In becoming human, Jesus Christ delivers sinners from the penalty of sin.