John R. Rice Quotes of the Week

The command of God about being yoked with unbelievers certainly applies to marriage. Marriage is a yoke. The only one who would deny this is a man or woman who has never been married. When a Christian man or woman takes in marriage a husband or wife who has not been saved, then he disobeys this explicit command of God. He yokes a believer with an unbeliever; he puts righteousness in fellowship with unrighteousness; he puts light in communion with darkness; he puts Christ in concord with Belial. He, a believer, has part with one who is an unbeliever and he makes the temple of God in agreement with an idol. - John R. Rice [The Ruin of a Christian, pg. 199]

Children of God should never marry those who are not children of God, no matter how virtuous or high-minded or cultivated or pleasing they may be outwardly. Inwardly they are rebels against Christ, children of Hell. To do so is a sin against God and a sin against one's own best self. It is a sin certain to be reaped with sorrow in the future. - John R. Rice [The Ruin of a Christian, pg. 199]

Some one has well said that one who marries the Devil's child is sure to have trouble with his father-in-law. The Christian, married to one not a Christian, is certain to have trouble. Such marriage should not be broken, and the Christian believer should not depart from his unbelieving mate (I Cor. 7:10-16). The time to do right about that is before marriage. After marriage is too late to avoid trouble. All one can do then is pray that God will save the unsaved ones and try one's best to atone for the sin of yoking up in marriage with an enemy of your Saviour and your God. - John R. Rice [The Ruin of a Christian, pg. 199-200]

In every revival campaign I hold there is one kind of request made again and again - the request of wives that people pray for the salvation of their unsaved husbands. I am sorry to say that in a majority of cases the revival services come to a close and such husbands are not saved. Women ignore the plain command of God, go against the Bible and marry unsaved men, and then turn and ask God to put His blessing upon their sin. In many cases a good and merciful God does answer their prayers, but in hundreds of such cases, for some good reason, He does not. - John R. Rice [The Ruin of a Christian, pg. 203]

Dear Christian girl, if you want some man saved, then get him saved before you marry him. To sin against God in this matter often means that you will so displease God and so compromise your own Christian influence that you will be unable to win to Christ the man who is to be the father of your children and your lifetime companion. After you marry then you ought not to leave your husband. But if you plan such a marriage, then heed the command of God and break up your plans, even though it be only one day before the wedding. You may think it will break your heart now, but a heart broken in doing right will soon be healed by the mercy of a loving heavenly Father. I warn you now that if you go headlong against the direct command of God in this matter your heart will be broken a thousand times. After all, only one thing brings real trouble, and that is to sin against God. "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." - John R. Rice [The Ruin of a Christian, pg. 203-204]

Honest Christians may differ as to some details of Bible interpretation, but honest Christians cannot differ about the deity of Christ nor whether the Bible is all God's Word, infallibly true, nor about the blood atonement not about the miracles such as the virgin birth and the bodily resurrection of Christ, the creation of the world by the direct act of God, etc., nor about a literal Hell. When a man dissents from what the Bible says on such great fundamentals of the faith, then that man has no right to call himself a Christian, much less a preacher of the gospel or a teacher of the Bible. Such a man is an impostor, a deceiver, a false prophet. An honest infidel one might somewhat respect even though the Bible calls him a fool. But an infidel in the garb of a preacher, with language of deceit because of covetousness, is a wolf in sheep's clothing, a base hypocrite. He forfeits the respect of decent people and should have open scorn and public exposure at the hands of true Christians everywhere. The Bible commands us to contend earnestly for the faith. - John R. Rice [The Ruin of a Christian, pg. 215-216]

The kind of Christian character that does not stand up under temptation is not the right kind of character. The kind of faith that will not make us happy Christians even in war time, happy Christians when food is rationed, when boys are in the armies, when we do without our coffee, or sugar, or meat, or cars, is not enough faith. Love that falters in its expression in time of trouble and temptation is not perfect love. - John R. Rice [The Ruin of a Christian, pg. 229]