Let Us Not Neglect the Old Testament

(Originally written in early March, 2012.  The final two paragraphs were written on 6.30.12, to fittingly end the post.)

My wife and I are continuing to read through the entire Bible in chronological order ... to varying degrees of success.  I have already had some milestones, reading some books I had never read completely - including Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  Though I grew up in church, I have yet to read all of God's Word.  Sad state of not only myself but education and chatechesis of Christians.

In reading these books, I did not find them to be at all what I had expected. I was under the impression that these books were dry, without value for the 21st century Christian, and too difficult to "get through."  I don't recall anyone telling me this directly; I arrived at this perception from hearing how others had tried to read the Bible through and got hung up past Exodus.  I am happy to proclaim, however, this was not my experience.  I found the books to be, by and large, very interesting and informative.  Taken as a whole, they show how God truly does rule and reign over his people.  He established laws not arbitrarily but based upon what is in keeping with his nature and character of holiness.  Knowing God's standards shows me, as a Christian, what constitutes a good work and, at the same time, shows me my utter failure to keep his laws perfectly - pointing me to the cross of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

If you have yet to read through the entire Bible... I would really encourage you to do so.  God did not take time to reveal himself to us "for his health", as it were.  God's revelation includes far more than the 27 books of the New Testament.  The Old Testament is also an important part of God's Word, and therefore valuable to the Christian for growing in faith and teaching and instruction.

Don't neglect the older sections of the Holy Bible.  It's amazing how the Old and New Testaments fit so well together.  What an amazing God we serve, faithful to save.

House of God With Extra Cloud Filling

And when the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves, without regard to their divisions, and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 priests who were trumpeters; and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD,

“For he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever,”

the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.

(2 Chronicles 5:11-14 ESV)

While my wife and I are still using the Chronological Bible reading plan ... we are not very good at consistency and staying on target.  I often am ashamed of myself, as I do have a passion and love for God's written Word, yet I often neglect the daily reading of said Word.    Terribly too often.  I seek forgiveness for this and strive to discipline myself in study, so that I may know what God has definitely said through his Word.

The passage quoted above really captured my eye, as I continue through 2 Chronicles. 

This was a notable time in Israel's history, as a nation and as the covenant people of YHWH God.  God, keeping his covenant promise to Abraham, was making a great nation. He had brought them out of Egypt, sovereignly, displaying his mighty works in a number of ways.  He bestowed ten plagues against Egypt on account of Pharaoh and the pagan beliefs of that region - showing that YHWH is above all other gods.  He parted the sea for his people, and yet used that same means of the sea to bring judgement on those against whom God's wrath burned. He provided both bread and water to the Israelites while in the wilderness, showing that He is the provider and sustainer of life.  God settled His people in the land he promised to give them.  

Now, having established the wisest of kings, Solomon, son of David, the king leads the people to build a house for the worship of God, that he may dwell amongst the people. True, he previously tabernacled with his people in the days of the exodus and conquest in a tent. It seems, though, that David wanted a permanent home for the Ark of the Covenant.  (It seems unclear to me, at this point, whether or not God actually wants a temple... though I am very open to correction on this point.)  David could not build it because of his warmongering (of sorts), and this was passed on as a work for his son Solomon to do before the Lord.  

So, when finally the Temple is built, Solomon has the Ark brought to the Temple from Bethlehem.  This is a great ordeal, to be sure.  The Ark represented the promise of God to the people of Israel that he would be their God and they would be his people.  The mercy seat of the Ark is where God dwelt when among the people.  Such an occasion would, by necessity, spark a tremendous worship of God for who He is and what He has done!  He is the Mighty God, the Ultimate Military Commander against whom no nation could hope to stand.  And he is AMONG US!  What a time to celebrate for those who are his covenant people!

And celebrate the people did:  "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever."  God is good.  He doesn't do good, merely.  He is good.  He is goodness.  Anything and everything God does is good and right; not because he has to obey a standard outside of himself that describes what is good and right, but because everything God does is good and right, as it flows from his nature of being good and right.  God is good.  God is loving. His steadfast love he has for his (elect) covenant people is a lasting one.  Though at one time an enemy of God, we, who repent and trust in Christ's work alone to save us,now experience peace with God.  This is astounding.  Peace.  No more war; no more wrath against us - even though we do deserve the wrath of a Holy God.  Our law-breaking has earned us the reward for such behavior: death and Hell.  But through the rich love and mercy of God, we now have peace with this same God.  Amazing love!

During this worship of God for who He is and what he has done, something spectacular happens.  The glory of God manifests itself in a physical sensory fashion.  The Temple is filled up with an enormous cloud, such that the temple priests could not stand to minister.  This cloud is the physical presence of the glory of YHWH.  That God would physically make himself known to the people is an amazing act of condescension.

Today, if I go to the local Presbyterian church, the sight of smoke will be immediately followed by the fleeing of the congregation - because the church would be burning down.  God does not manifest himself physically in a smoke any longer.  We have no one physical temple at a specific geographic location.  Some may initially lament this.  Instead it should be seen as a blessing.  We have something better.  We need not go to the Near East to see the dwelling place of God: we, the Church universal, ARE the dwelling place of God!  1 Corinthians 3:16.  God dwells among us gathered together.  It is not the church building which is the replacement of the Temple.  It is the Church - the people.  This is a far more intimate knowing and closeness than that of the Temple on earth, which could only really be known the most by those members of the Levitical priesthood.  

We, as Christians, have the Holy Spirit.  Gathered, we are the dwelling place of God.  We have a personal, intimate relationship with God, as a bride has a relationship with her husband.  We've been redeemed and have his dwelling amongst us now.  This is a reason to rejoice and stand in awe that God would step down from Heaven and be among a sinful people to redeem them and conform them to the image of his Son.

God's holiness and love are everlasting and amazing.

The Habitually Sinning Christian

Recently, my father-in-law asked me a rather unusual question last weekend while we were picking blueberries.

"Is there such a thing as the 'spiritual prosperity gospel', and if so, what does it   look like?"

"Spiritual prosperity gospel"?  It did catch me off guard.  At first, I had thought he was just asking about the prosperity gospel.  I started explaining how people will claim that if you sow a seed then God will bless you with money or physically... but he eventually stopped me and informed me that is not what he was asking about.

After some clarification, though I am not sure I even fully understand what he was/is asking, I think I have a slightly better understanding as to what he was inquiring about. 

Is there freedom from the power of sin, in this life, through prayer, worship, Bible-reading, or other spiritual disciplines as such?  AND Why do Christians still sin?

Having never been actually asked this before, I admit I was still a bit confused.  

Describing what he meant, he offered an illustration of a man who claims to be a Christian but is an alcoholic.  He tries and tries, but he cannot put down the bottle.  I offered that we should make our calling and election sure (2Peter 1:10) and to examine ourselves to see if we are truly in the faith (2 Corinthians 13).  A constant addiction of giving into a specific sin time and time again could be cause for concern.  After all, positionally, Christians are no longer enslaved to sin (Romans 6); sin no longer reigns as it once did.  Therefore, it should definitely be a reason for someone to, at the very least, pause and examine whether one is really looking to the cross of Christ for the forgiveness of sins and whether he is regenerate or not.  

I was informed that this hypothetical alcoholic in the hypothetical scenario had done that and had concluded that he truly does believe the biblical gospel and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sins.  Alright then.  Not being able to read the hypothetical mind of this hypothetical person (It can be easy to see how this is getting a bit dangerous in discussing such conditions and "what ifs", I think!), I would see that person as still struggling with an addiction and easily falls to the temptation to sin... but I would, if he has TRULY repented and believed, recognize him as a fellow Christian, justified in the sight of God (Romans 5:1-5).

After some back and forth, the question was posed this way:  Jesus says that if you love me, you will keep my commandments, right?  (John 14:15, 21-24, etc.)  So, if he (or ANYONE) sins, it shows they do not really love God, right???

Sorta.  Not really, but sorta kinda.

Any sin we commit shows, at that moment, that we are breaking the first commandment.  We are worshiping a substitute for YHWH - the truine God of the Bible.  We are not obeying him as we ought.  We are not bowing to him; we bow instead to our desires.  Whether that sin be lust, pride, or anger.  Sin is, at its root, an idol problem.  We do not worship Him as we ought.  We do not love Him as we ought.  So yes, we are being idolaters and are not loving God as we should in our breaking of his commandments.  

Lame sermon illustration time.

If I speak harshly to my wife... am I being loving?  If I am rude to her or respond in an unkind fashion, am I being loving?  No.  In that moment, am I loving her?  Nope.  So is it fair to say, then, that I don't love my wife AT ALL?  No.  The presence of sin/disobedience in any capacity does not mean that I have no affection for God.  My sin does not absolutely ultimately separate me from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39).  

The Christian life is one of struggle against sin.  A constant struggle.  The battle begins upon regeneration (John 3; Ephesians 6) (Note: the nonChristian does not struggle with sin; he willingly submits to its rule over his life.) and ends with death/glorification (Romans 8:30).  We are meant to fight and kill the deeds of the body (John 8:13).  Our constant fight against sin neither earns salvation nor keeps it effectual.  Instead, our battle to kill sin is the sign of and working-out of sanctification, in which we are being conformed to the image and likeness of Christ.  We strive to obey not to be saved, but because we are saved.  We desire to serve and please our Creator and Savior: Jesus Christ.

It should go without saying that Christianity is NOT a religion of antinomianism.  It is not anti-law.  The born-again bondservant of Christ does not have a desire to (ab)use grace so as to willfully persist in sin, saying "it's okay - Jesus paid this tab I'm racking up on the cross."  Romans 6 is extremely clear:  we do not purposefully sin that God's grace may abound all the more (Romans 6:1).  Just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too were raised, as in baptism, to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).  We are called to recognize that sin no longer reigns in us; when we sin, we forget this truth.  That truth does not become a lie, that is, we do not move from a position of not being under the reign of sin to one of being under sin.  The truth that we who have had our sins atoned for are no longer under sin's dominion does not become untrue when we sin.  Rather, it is briefly forgotten.  Positionally, however, we are are still in Christ, justified by grace through faith, and have peace with God (Ephesians 2, Romans 5, Romans 6:6, 22-23).  

Is this struggle with sin hypothetical?  Or does it actually happen?  Let us not consider this to be only an individual "perpetual" sin, but any sin.  The idea of "perpetual sin" is rather arbitrary.  How many times must one commit sin x before sin x is "perpetual"? Twice?  Thrice?  Is 5 times not perpetual, but then on the sixth time it turns from a venial sin to a mortal sin?  Where is the habitual sin threshold?  When asked the question "What if a Christian sins perpetually?", a pastor interviewed for the June 22, 2008 episode of The White Horse Inn responded: "What if it is perpetual sin?  Well, I sin perpetually."  The Christian life is one that will have sin present, yet that sin is being perpetually repented of by the renewing of one's mind.

Look at what the apostle Paul wrote, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to the church of Rome:  

Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

(Romans 7:13-25 ESV)

Here we have Paul describing the very real state of Christians as being one that is a constant struggle against the sinful nature. "I do the very thing I hate."  The redeemed person hates sin... yet will, at points, fall into temptation to sin.  If this were not so, Jesus would not have taught us to pray: "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." (Matthew 6:12-13)  We are to fight against our sinful nature, so that we may live as a Christian is to live, obeying Christ's commands.  Paul's experience in Romans 7 and even John's writings in 1 John make it clear that Christians can and do sin.  This "can" is not one of permission; it is a "can" as in possibility.

Actually, come to think of it, it is far worse than a "possibility."  How so?  In a recent discussion with my friend Jason Vaughn on this very topic, he pointed out that our concept of sin itself is often too narrow.  We often limit our consideration of sin to only the active sins to the exclusion of passive sins.  "I think it is even easier to understand if we look at passive sins rather than active. Take thankfulness.  How many people do you know that give thanks to God in all things all the time?"  This is very true.  Sins include far more than drunkenness, lying, theft, fornication, lust, and coveting.  Those sins take purposeful actions to perform.  Passive sins are lazier sins, taking less effort to commit, and are often forgotten - resulting in them being a different kind of dangerous.  The proud person may say "I have not lied today; I am doing good!"  ... but has that person done EVERYTHING he should have done in every situation today?  Has he thanked God for every moment he has been gifted?  Thanked God for every breath of air?  Doubtful.  Sin.  And how often do we do that?  "Perpetual sin."  Guilty.

Idolatry is the basic nature of sin itself.

So what would I tell the person perpetually struggling with sin x?  Same with a Christian who sins at all:  Point him to the cross.  Use the law to bring about the conviction of sin.  Then, point him to the cross of Christ, where Christ took upon the wrath that person deserved for that sin.  Christ stood in my place with the Father poured his wrath that had been stored up for me.  Amazing love! How can it be that Thou, my God, should die for me!  Taking on my sinfulness, and clothing me in Christ's perfect righteousness, so that God sees Christ's merits when he looks at me, as though they were my own!  Such glorious news, such an amazing gospel, does not drive one redeemed back to sin.  It stirs up a humble sorrow over sin, a deep repentance from sin, and a deep erust in Christ's work to save, as well as humble submission and service.  The Christian's rebellion against God does happen when we turn away from the cross and trust in an idol masquerading as Christ.  Yet Christ is still there, interceding on our behalf.  And it is his intercession that guarantees our salvation will be completed in the end.  

Having been declared righteous and justified by God, we then begin the process of God conforming us to the image of Christ. This process, known as sanctification, takes time, and is never fully complete in this life.  We are only perfectly conformed to the image of Christ in glorification, which happens at the finish in the New Heavens and the New Earth (Romans 8:30).  Until then, we are called to live in the reality of being adopted children of God, dead to sin and alive in Christ (Romans 6:1-14).  This is certainly not easy, obviously.  Part of our nature desires to throw us back in the mud and the mire, rolling around like the wretched swine we were since birth.  Yet, after a period in the muck, the Christian will, in humble repentance, turn from the mire and look to Christ's work on the cross for the forgiveness of sins.  Thus is the Christian life: one of humble repentance and constant looking to Christ, until the end.  The final verse of the classic "Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing", though rarely sung in congregations, captures this well: 

O that day when free from sinning

I shall see Thy lovely face!

Full arrayed in blood-washed linens,

How I'll sing Thy sovereign grace!

Come my Lord - no longer tarry

Take my ransomed soul away!

Send Thy angels now to carry

Me to realms of endless days!     

Come quickly, Lord Jesus, come.

-------------------------------------------

Epilogue-type-thing

While contemplating and writing this response to the posed question of why Christians sin and if a perpetually sinning Christian is really saved... I had a bit of an insight as to the nature of the question and possible presuppositions behind the question.  I don't know how much I will be able to really flesh this out... But I think the assumptions behind the question shed light in places.

I (obviously) am Reformed.  My father-in-law, who posed the question, is distinctly not Reformed.    In fact, he is in the Wesleyan tradition of the United Methodist Church.  I was told once that Calvinism was the stupidest thing he had ever heard of.  So safe to say, he is not a Calvinist.

What does this have to do with anything?  Possibly quite a bit.  See, when I am asked "What about a Christian who struggles perpetually with sin?  What do you tell him?  Is he saved?", the answer, for me, is a very easy one:  Yes.  Because salvation is a gift and a work of God the Father primarily for His own glory and the pleasure of the Son, as a bride is the pleasure of her husband.  Salvation is not a work I do.  It is totally and utterly a work of the Triune God FOR the Triune God.  Because of this, God is not going to loose a single one of his redeemed (Romans 5:1, Romans 8, John 6:35-45, John 17).  Not a single one.  

One does not move from a state of condemnation by nature of being in Adam, to a state of justification by being in Christ, then positionally moving BACK to Adam and then back to Christ again.  There is no moving from justification back to condemnation.  Having been justified, we are made right with God.  There is no more wrath of God abiding upon us.  Christ took ALL of the wrath God store up against us.  Even those of sins that are committed more than once.  Christ made satisfaction on our behalf and was raised from the dead for our justification.  We now have peace with God.  And God will not break his own peace treaty he made with the Son regarding those whom the Son died for.  

I can't help but wonder if this was at least part of a foundation from which the question was asked. The Wesleyan view holds that one may be justified before God but can actually lose their salvation.  I am unsure whether or not Methodists have a concept of "false faith."  The Wesleyan views I have encountered point to my remaining in Christ to be the result of my obedience.  If I disobey and ultimately deny Christ, I lose my justification.  

This cannot be.  We see in 1 John 2:19 that there is a reason for why individuals leave the Christian community.  They went out from us because they were not of us; had they been of us, they would have remained with us.  Or, as R.C. Sproul is fond of saying regarding salvation: "If you have it, you'll never lose it.  And if you lost it, you never had it!"

Well said, Dr. Sproul.  Well said.  

All the Father gives Christ come to him and are raised up on the last day.  The golden chain of redemption can never be broken.  Foreknown -> Predestined -> Called -> Justified -> Glorified.  (Romans 8:30).  The lamb will receive the reward for His suffering.

I suppose this is the answer to the follow-up question my father-in-law asked regarding a "Calvinistic answer to the question."  What is a uniquely Reformed perspective on this?  Probably the assurance that, if one is truly in Christ, no amount of sin is going to separate me from the love of God.  My salvation is sure in secure as surely as Christ's blood was pleasing to the Father.  Rather than leading to a desire to sin more to get more grace, this knowledge results in loving submission to the righteous King.

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To never be a Deacon or an Elder...

Question:  Would you join a local congregation knowing you would be excluded from holding either office of deacon or elder?

I am asking this question from a complimentarian view.  That is, I am against "eldressess" or "pastrixes" and see no biblical support for women holding such roles.  While on the topic, I *do* see the capacity of women to hold the role of deaconess.  But that is not what I am referring to.  The issue is not one of gender requirements; it is one of belief or conviction.

I am Reformed (NO! REALLY?!??!).  I am also a convinced credobaptist, wishing to bestow the visible sign of the New Covenant to those who are actually members of that covenant - namely those who repent of sin and place their trust in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.  Are there false converts? Yes.  Credobaptists baptize many many many who are not truly of the the New Covenant, though they profess to be.  This is due to our inability to know the heart, of course.  The elders cannot look into the heart to see if God has taken out the heart of stone and replaced it with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36 - 37), which is definitional to the New Covenant itself.  It is this very definitional aspect of the New Covenant which drives me toward a credobaptist understanding and away from a paedobaptist understanding of the sacrament.  The unregenerate babe does not have his heart of stone replaced by a heart of flesh - otherwise he would be regenerate!  The unregenerate person is not part of the New Covenant, which brings with it the explicit promise of the forgiveness of sins.  Those who are in the New Covenant now have their sins forgiven now; the author of Hebrews believed and wrote as much.  (Any attempt under the "already/not yet principle" to push the declaration that all in the New Covenant know God intimately and need not be evangelized further is a conclusion derived from external tradition and not derived from the author's own argument in Hebrews.)  The New Covenant consists of believers, and believers only.  It is akin to the invisible church, not the visible church.  As such, baptism must not be administered purposefully to those outside of the New Covenant, which is contrary to the purpose and meaning of baptism.

That was a bit of a soap box... not even the soap box I meant to get on in this post.  I provided it only as a means to show that I have considered both sides of this argument, but am forced to come down on the side I believe is most consistent with the Bible - that of credobaptism.  We require a credible statement of repentance and faith for the administration of the Eucharist (Communion).  Why should we not also require such for the sacrament of baptism?

My conundrum is that, though I am a credobaptist, my wife and I had been attending and serving at a Presbyterian congregation for a number of months.  We love the congregation and those who serve there.  They are a group of God-fearing men and women who love Jesus and strive to make Him known to others. I would not doubt their standing before God and see that they are united with Christ as his precious bride whom he died for.  Additionally, we love the *how* they worship on Sunday morning when they gather.  Hymns proclaiming deep theology are forefront (even done in the style of Indelible Grace and Red Mountain Church!).  Confession is part of the worship also.  Communion is taken more than once a month.  We love it.

One concern I have deals with is what submition to the Elders and Presbytary would mean.  Being a credobaptist in a paedobaptist congregation (and denomination) does not prohibit me from participating in worship.  Nor would it prohibit me from becoming a member of that congregation. The EPC denomination does not require the affirmation the Westminster Standards on the part of members.  However, the EPC does require affirmation of the Westminster Confession of Faith on the part of any who would be deacons or elders.  With this in mind, I would be excluded from serving in the church, as I hold to a conviction regarding baptism that is blatantly counter to that of Presbyterianism.

I am not seeking to be a pastor or an elder.  Deacon is a service role, not a leadership role, so that is somewhat different.  My point is I am not out looking to get power or control in church.  I know a young woman who, in high school, assured me that it was her ambition to someday "run the church" we were both in at the time. (YIKES!)  I don't want power or control.  It is not something I am looking for or after.  I cannot emphasize this disclaimer enough.  It is not something I am seeking.

Yet, being in a paedobaptist church would nullify me from being used of God in such a capacity in the future.      To willingly place myself in such a congregation in which I would be, in essence, refusing to allow for my serving in a leading servant role could be seen as sinful neglect of God's work.  "Here's a sure-fire way God will never call me to a role of deacon or elder!  I'll join a congregation that could not appoint me to such a role!"  I am not stating that there are no other roles for a Christian to play OTHER than that of deacon(/ess) or elder.  There are plenty and God uses them much in his work and building his Church.

To place myself (and my family) in a situation that precludes service in that way seems unwise.

There is an alternative, of course... JUST BELIEVE IN COVENANTAL INFANT BAPTISM!!  In some more candid moments... I would admit that I would like nothing more than to fall in line and believe it with my Presbyterian brethren!!!  To just see a far more stricter continuity between Old and New Covenants ... to see circumcision of the flesh as being a picture of and replaced by baptism... to see the Old and New Covenant makeup being that of both regenerate and unregenerate.  To see the New Covenant as new-ish in comparison to the Old Covenant - rather than the "newness" of the New Covenant that the credobaptist position holds to.

I will post more soon on the flirting I have been undergoing regarding the Paedobaptist position - particularly regarding some of the arguments I have encountered as reasons to baptize infants as covenant children.  There are only one or two arguments/responses that hold ANY weight with me in the question of baptizing infants- and they both deal with the nature and makeup of the New Covenant.  Again, more on that another time.

I pose the question:  Would you willingly join a church that would prohibit you, based on your conscience, from holding a role as deacon or elder in the congregation - due to your convictions regarding what the Scripture taught on something the congregation thought to be a slightly closed-handed issue?  Not just baptism.... but suppose a congregation required its elders and deacons to be Dispensational?  or Covenantal? and you differed?  What would you do?

Christ & His Bride & My Wife

"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.  In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself."

Christ's love for his bride makes me look like the most pathetic husband ever.

What??  Yes.  Recently married - about 5 1/2 months now - and already I'm learning about how selfish human beings are.  She will not want to be cuddly with me and insist on having space.  I will complain that I'm too tired to cook dinner and that I'm hesitant to do it, as I don't have a clue what I'm doing.  k

Selfishness.  Two sinners living together.  Yowssah!

Compared to Christ... I'm a pathetic example of Christ's love for his bride.  He died for her.  Am I willing to lay down my time for her?  Christ hasn't called me to endure anything CLOSE to the suffering he went through for HIS bride... so why am I so  ...  so ... lacking? 

It is frustrating.  When we decided to have Ephesians 5 read as part of our wedding ceremony, it was because I wanted the gospel to be proclaimed to those who were in attendance - both those who have never repented and trusted in the gospel AND those who had, that they may look to Christ continually (the preached word as a means of grace).  I wanted to emphasize the union between a man and his bride as a visible gospel depiction of Christ's union with his bride - the redeemed - the Church. 

The picture of Christ and his Bride does not end after the wedding and reception ends, however.  It continues THROUGHOUT the marriage. 

The entire marriage, not just the ceremony, is to be a visible picture of Christ's love and sacrifice for his Bride that he showed and performed on the cross to redeem many sinners. 

This is particularly challenging to me this week.  Christ is long-suffering.  I am self-serving.  When His Bride goes against his desires, He remains ever-faithful.  I easily get spiteful and sinfully irritated. 

As frustrated as I get with my wife at times... I have done infinitely more to against my Savior I am in covenant relationship with.  When I sin against Christ, does Christ, in turn, sin against me??  No.  As a visible gospel-picture, I am to treat my bride with the love, care, and faithfulness that Christ treats his that he foreknew. 

God, give me the will and ability to visibly show the gospel in my marriage to Kacey.  I can never be the gracious husband toward Kacey that you are to your Bride.  Yet this is what you call me, as one you have saved by grace through the gift of faith for works, to do.  I desire to place my wife above myself, to die to self, and live to serve and sanctify her, as you are sanctifying and purifying your church.  Amen.