George,
After a few re-reads of these posts, I have come to a conclusion - that you and I are "not on the same page," not in regard to our belief system, but in what we are TRYING to discuss. It was my understanding that the original hijack of this thread had to do with a saved person currently choosing to marry a lost person, not (as I believe you are trying to defend) "what about if a saved and lost person are already married."
The fact remains that you slandered me (well, libeled me, because it's not oral,) and you strongly
intimated that I couldn't even read and didn't hold the Bible as my "final authority." You don't even know me! I did not, as you claim that people "like [my]self do," take your words out of context, twist them, ignore them, or put words into your mouth; on the contrary, the only part of my post that had anything to do directly with YOU was the "NO PENALTIES" quote (and you DID state that quite emphatically!) But just to clarify, I am trying to discuss a saved person choosing to marry a lost person, not a saved and lost person already married; that may make a difference in what you were saying and/or in how I used your quote. Agreed? However, I still don't understand why you came out of the gate swinging!
Besides the inflammatory remarks, one thing that you asked did disquiet me - a question you asked in regard to a marriage between a saved and lost person..."Are you going to claim that such a marriage is
LESS PERFECT than the marriage of two saved people?" I wouldn't just "claim" that, I would declare it unequivocably!!! The first thing that comes to mind is Amos 3:3, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" There is a myriad of things that a saved person and a lost person cannot agree on, so in order to keep the peace, they wouldn't be able to share those things...the fewer things you share, the greater the distance between you. How about a love for the King James Bible? There would be a great gulf between me and my husband if we did not share that conviction. Oh, but wait, MAYBE if you are talking about a saved but backslidden person I MAY be able to concede that that marriage MIGHT could be as satisfying (as "perfect," in your words) as any marriage between two LOST people...
I simply must go for now! I kind of hate that we hijacked this thread, because I am still working on a study of the original "love and race" topic! Oh well, maybe later...
Pam
www.custerfamilyfarm.com