“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communication hath light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14).
We are God’s peculiar people and so have to live a life worthy of our calling and vocation. “For thou art, a holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth” (Deut. 14:2). By our conversation and mode of living, we have to show that we are God’s real treasure and His peculiar people. With that message, the children of Israel were brought from Egypt. Soon after they came out of Egypt God spoke these words through Moses saying, “Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation”. (Exo. 19:5, 6). We read the same thing in 1Pet. 2:9. “But ye are … a peculiar people; …” The phrase, “Peculiar people” in rendered as “a purchased people” in the margin. We belong to the Lord because we are purchased by Him. We find the same thought in 1 cor. 6:20. “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which is God’s”. We are purchased to be His people to show forth His glory. We ought to live a separated life.
In Deut. 13:6-9 there is a solemn warning to those who marry unbelievers. That is a very, very common weakness and temptation among believers. They marry unbelievers hoping that gradually they can win their husbands or wives for the Lord. Instead, they are enticed by their unbelieving partners to their way of life. Very secretly they go to places like cinema, then they start mixing with worldly people and even accompany them to their temples. In the beginning, they do secretly but gradually they go completely away from the House of the Lord. God gives a strict warning to you. Do not let the enemy deceive you. Do not let the enemy rob you of your heavenly inheritance and portion. God’s Word says, “And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he dies; because he has sought to trust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house bondage” (13:10). Many believers have been deceived by the heathen (vs. 12-14). All kinds of heathen practices are now observed by many believers at the time of childbirth, marriages and funerals, by being in association with unbelievers. God hates all these heathen customs observed by some believers. God’s Word is our guide. If we want to receive and enjoy our full share in God’s fullness and His portion we have to live a life of complete separation. All kinds of rituals and ceremonies should be completely put away from our lives and families. “And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers” (v.17). Ask the LORD to give you grace, strength and courage to follow Him all the way.