John Piper has written an outstanding tribute to the pivotal anniversary celebrated today. It was on June 12, 1967 when the United States Supreme Court declared unconstitutional all state laws that prohibited interracial marriage. But it didn’t change in America instantly. In fact, the last state to finally adopt this new law was Alabama in the year 2000!

We won’t take the time to rewrite what Mr. Piper has already written so well. But we will highlight his 5 Points of the Beauty of Interracial Marriage.

1. The biblical description of how so-called racial differences emerged from one pair of human beings, Adam and Eve, shows that interracial marriage does not contradict God’s purpose for diversity in this world and the next.

2. The Bible forbids intermarriage between believer and unbeliever — not between races or ethnic groups.

3. In Christ, our oneness is profound and transforms racial and social differences from barriers to blessings.

4. God severely disciplined the critics of one interracial marriage. (Read Numbers 12)

5. In Christ, the good effects of interracial marriage are worth the challenges it can bring.

I’m happy to say that our church has always celebrated the union of interracial couples.

This past week at my Barefoot Ladies Retreat I was able to spend time with one wife who is in an interracial marriage and has been for over 20 years. I had never heard their story. It was hard to hear the heartache and the trouble they have endured, but even more amazing is how God has brought them to where they are today. We cried as she shared how her dad declared her dead and would not acknowledge her existence anymore. Then when their first child was born how God used this baby girl to restore what the enemy had tried to steal.

“Christians of every race should search their hearts and search the Scriptures, and bring their hearts, by the power of God’s Spirit into line with God’s word.” – John Piper

Take some time and read John Piper’s article. We pray it will be helpful to you as you consider what the Bible has to say about interracial marriages.