No, being unequally yoked applies to any partnership or alliance with unbelievers, not just marriage.
Les Feldick teaches that the command to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers is a general principle of separation from the world, rooted in Old Testament agricultural laws. It applies to any close association or common cause with non-believers, including business, religious, and social partnerships, not merely the marital bond.
2 Corinthians 6:14 — This verse directly contains the phrase 'unequally yoked together with unbelievers' and is the primary text Les Feldick expounds.
The concept of being unequally yoked originates in the Old Testament law. Deuteronomy 22:9-10 explicitly forbids sowing a vineyard with diverse seeds and plowing with an ox and an ass together, illustrating the principle of not mixing unlike things. The New Testament applies this principle in 2 Corinthians 6:14, where believers are commanded: 'Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.' This verse is not limited to marriage; it is followed by a series of rhetorical questions asking 'what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?' and 'what communion hath light with darkness?' (2 Corinthians 6:14). The context emphasizes overall separation from the world, not just in marital unions.
Les Feldick teaches that the admonition against being unequally yoked is a broad spiritual principle, not limited to marriage. He explains the Old Testament background of the yoke as a tool that joins two oxen to plow in unison, illustrating how believers and unbelievers cannot work in harmony. He emphasizes that Christians are to be separate from the world, just as Israel was separated from Egypt, and that this separation should be evident in all areas of life—not just marriage. He notes that this teaching is often neglected, and that the lack of separation has caused Christianity to lose its power.
Les Feldick describes the yoke as a tool that put two oxen together so they could pull in unison while plowing (Clip 0). He uses this imagery to show that believers and unbelievers are mismatched partners, incapable of working together effectively for a common spiritual purpose.
Les Feldick applies the principle of being unequally yoked to any partnership where people work together for a common cause. He emphasizes that Christians should be separate from the world in all aspects, not just in marriage, and that this separation should be evident to others (Clips 1, 2).
The Old Testament Foundation
Les shows the Old Testament roots of the 'unequally yoked' principle, using Deuteronomy 22:9-10 to illustrate mismatched partnerships (like plowing with an ox and a donkey), establishing that the principle extends beyond marriage.
The New Testament Command
Les directly addresses 2 Corinthians 6:14, emphasizing that believers are not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, and laments that this separation is rarely taught today, implying it applies broadly.
Separation from the World
Les explains that God wants believers to be separate from the world, just as Israel was separated from Egypt, and that the world should know where we stand, indicating the principle applies to all areas of life.
No Condemnation: What It Really Means to Be "In Christ"
But now in Ephesians chapter 5, he comes down to, oh, verse 25, a verse that I like to use so often anyway, because I think it's a verse that should speak to every specially newly married couple. And that is the responsibility of the man in that marriage relationship.
No Condemnation: What It Really Means to Be "In Christ"
But once we've entered in and have enjoyed this position now in Christ, what do we become? Like husband and wife. We're one with Him. Now that's a deep concept when you understand that it's all in the realm of the spiritual, and the only way we can comprehend it is by faith. That's what the Book teaches. And if the Book teaches, we have to believe it. That's what God expects.
What the Bible Really Says About Marriage — 1 Corinthians 7 Explained
It's under probably different circumstances than most of us are confronted with, and yet as our society is crumbling, and as we are falling more and more into the same kind of a social fabric that Corinth was, this chapter 7 is probably more appropriate than most of us would like to admit.
What Happens After the Rapture? Romans 7 & Heaven Explained
But God has still mandated this husband and wife relationship is such that the husband is the head of the wife. And I've always told my classes over the years that that does not mean that she can be his gopher. That does not mean that she's his slave girl, and that he's some kind of an augury that can lord over her.
What the Bible Really Says About Marriage — 1 Corinthians 7 Explained
For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by that wife who is a believer, and vice versa an unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband, else were your children unclean, and now they are holy. Now verse 15. But if the unbeliever, the man or the woman steeped in idolatry, has not yet become a believer, and if that believing partner departs, let him or her go.
2 Corinthians 6:14: Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
This is the key New Testament verse used by Les to teach that believers should not partner with unbelievers.
Deuteronomy 22:9: Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled.
This Old Testament law illustrates the principle of not mixing unlike things, which Les applies to spiritual separation.
Deuteronomy 22:10: Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.
This verse provides a vivid picture of being unequally yoked, as an ox and donkey cannot work in harmony.
Yes, according to Les Feldick, the principle of not being unequally yoked with unbelievers applies to any partnership where people work together for a common cause, including business. He teaches that believers should be separate from the world in all areas of life.
Les Feldick indicates that the principle is broader than marriage, implying it applies to any close relationship or partnership. The biblical command in 2 Corinthians 6:14 is general, not limited to marriage, and Les emphasizes separation from the world.
Watch the Teaching: What Does 'Unequally Yoked' Really Mean? 2 Corinthians 6 Explained