I’ve sinned, living with a non-believer. I’ve repented, but do I marry this man?
Question:
I am a Christian woman in my thirties. I have two children outside of wedlock for the same father who is a Muslim man. Now I know that having sex before marriage is wrong, making my children illegitimate. But I know the errors of my ways and I have come back to Christ through repentance. The father of my kids says that he does love me and that he wants to marry me. We both sincerely love each other, but I'm not sure that would be enough to get married as he is not a child of God and I know what the Bible says about being unequally yoked. We have been together for nearly a decade now. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Answer:
It is possible for a Christian to be married to a non-Christian. "But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace" (I Corinthians 7:12-15). So the question becomes whether he would accept his wife living and practicing Christianity, and teaching it to his children. You have to judge the sincerity of his answer, especially when dealing with a Muslim since their religion does not forbid lying to a non-believer.
It would be nice that he realizes that Christianity is the truth and converts. Yet, for your decision, the possibility of his changing can't factor into it. After all, he hasn't changed in all this time you've known him.
The truth of the matter was that these questions should have been asked and considered long before you jumped into his bed. It is because you are considering these issues after you've sinned that you are seeing the mess it has created.
Whether you marry this man or not must be your decision. I can't make it for you. But I will tell you that the difficulty of the situation is not justification for continuing to sin. Either marry the man you love or move out; those are your only choices if you wish to be a Christian.
