Over the month of September, our church has been meditating on 1 Corinthians 13 and what it means to love. In preparation for last week’s sermon, I came across this quote by John Piper. In it he turns the therapeutic counsel of learning how to love yourself on its head. Instead of telling sinners whose greatest penchant is to love themselves, Piper points out how Jesus—who knew what was in a man’s heart (see John 2:23-25)—assumed that we already love ourselves and that we must learn to love others “as yourself.” Speaking of Matthew 22:39, Piper unpacks Jesus’ words, Continue reading
Love
Love Like Christ: A Look at 1 Corinthians 13
Kenneth Bailey is gifted New Testament scholar, one whose experience living in the Middle East provides him a unique perspective on Jesus parables and other New Testament issues. In preparation for Sunday’s message on 1 Corinthians 13, I picked up his work, Paul Through Middle Eastern Eyes. In it he suggests that 1 Corinthians 11-14 is a series of six homilies, organized by a series of chiasmuses.
His outline gives a fresh way of approaching this often-confused section of Scripture. It doesn’t answer all of the questions, but it does give a pathway to understanding Paul’s argument.
I have reproduced his chiasmuses below, emending one of them and adding another. By looking at these chiasmuses, it lets us understand the central point Paul is trying to make:
Love is the essence of the Christian life. It must be pursued first. Spiritual gifts are instrumental means by which we love others. The central aspect of love is putting others ahead of ourselves, just the way Christ did (Phil 2:1-11).
Let me know what you think. Continue reading
Love the One You Write
Are you a writer? Do you want to write? Does your schooling, work place, or ministry call you to express yourself in words for the sake of others?
If so, John Piper’s counsel on how to write with others in mind is worth ten minutes of your time. Pastor John challenges writers to love the ones for whom they are writing–even if they don’t know who they are.
This is a good admonishment. When we write we should not write for the sake our name, but for the sake of Christ’s. And when we write we should always consider it an extension of loving our neighbor as ourselves. Since writing is often accomplished in a secluded office or in the interior of our mind (in a busy coffee shop), the reminder to think beyond the white screen is essential. Listen to the brief interview.
May we learn to not only to love writing, but to love others with our writing.
Soli Deo Gloria, dss
God’s Love: Particular in Its Design, Infinite in Its Offer
When considering the love of God towards fallen humanity, one of the greatest challenges is rightly discerning how his particular love for his children (1 John 3:1-2) is distinguished from his universal love towards all people (Matthew 5:45). On that subject Charles Hodge has provided a couple helpful illustrations in his Systematic Theology. Listen to what he says, and tell me what you think. I’d love to know if you think these illustration are helpful or not.
If a ship containing the wife and children of a man standing on the shore is wrecked, he may seize a boat and hasten to their rescue. His motive is love to his family; his purpose is to save them. But the boat which he has provided may be large enough to receive the whole of the ship’s company. Would there be any inconsistency in his offering them the opportunity to escape? Or, would this offer prove that he had no special love to his own family and no special design to secure their safety. And if any or all of those to whom the offer was made, should refuse to accept it, some from one reason, some from another; some because they did not duly appreciate their danger; some because they thought they could save themselves; and some from enmity to the man from whom the offer came, their guilt and folly would be just as great as though the man had no special regard to his own family, and no special purpose to effect their deliverance.
Or, if a man’s family were with others held in captivity, and from love to them and with the purpose of their redemption, a ransom should be offered sufficient for the delivery of the whole body of captives, it is plain that the offer of deliverance might be extended to all on the ground of that ransom, although specially intended only for a part of their number.
Or, a man may make a feast for his own friends, and the provision be so abundant that he may throw open his doors to all who are willing to come. This is precisely what God, according to the Augustinian doctrine, has actually done. Out of special love to his people, and with the design of securing their salvation, He has sent his Son to do what justifies the offer of salvation to all who choose to accept of it. Christ, therefore, did not die equally for all men. He laid down his life for his sheep; He gave Himself for his Church. But in perfect consistency with all this, He did all that was necessary, so far as a satisfaction to justice is concerned, all that is required for the salvation of all men. So that all Augustinians can join with the Synod of Dort in saying, ‘No man perishes for want of an atonement.'” (Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, 2:556).
For more quotes on this subject, click on Atonement (Extent).
Soli Deo Gloria, dss
The Creator and His Creation: For Which Do We Give Thanks?
Tomorrow, most of the country (USA) will sit down to enjoy turkey, dressing, and a bevy of other tasty plates. While consumerism, multiple helpings, and televised football encroach on the meaning of the day, for intentional Christians, Thanksgiving really can be a wonderful time of year to contemplate God’s goodness, his faithfulness, and his provision. Yet, even here, there is the temptation to dwell more on the creation given, than the Creator himself.
Here is what I mean. For so many of us, thanksgiving can devolve into holy shout-outs for traveling mercies, physical protection, or some kind of vocational or relational blessing this year. Don’t get me wrong, these things are all worthy of giving thanks! However, what makes those praises any different than a conservative Mormon family, or the Islamic single who gives praise to Allah for passing grad school, or the sober agnostic who gives indescriminate thanks for three clean years?
I think at Thanksgiving it is possible to focus so much on God’s creational blessings, things we gladly share with the world, that we forget the greater blessings of knowing God. Or to say it another way, we muffle praise for the Creator by filling our mouths and our plates with praise for the creation. This is where the Bible comes to lovingly lifts our eyes to behold a greater vision of God, one that will give us reasons for thanksgiving that outstrip anything we might share with the Mormon or Muslim.
Exodus 33:18: A Glimpse of Glory
When Moses prayed to see God’s glory in Exodus 33:18, God responded that he would show him his goodness and his name. Yesterday, we considered the goodness of God. Today, we will meditate on the latter, the name of God, to see how the name of God has the potential to elicit more genuine praise and thanksgiving than turkey, dressing, and a new career ever could.
Parachuting into the text, lets notice the name of God as revealed to Moses. Moses records in Exodus 34:5-9,
The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
Now lets unpack this glorious word with consideration to four aspects of God’s name.
God’s Name is Gracious
While he is unswerving in his demands, he is gracious in his approach to Israel. This is true in the fact that Israel is still alive, but also in answering Moses’ prayer and descending on the mountaintop to proclaim his name. And his name, not coincidentally, is the definition of grace. In fact, expounding on the name he revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14, YHWH says in Exodus 34, when he passed by, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” The reiteration of his proper name, stresses the continuity of his personhood and the weight of glory, but more descriptive in this apposition is the fact that the four-fold description beams of grace and love. While God could have rightfully pronounced his name as judicial and holy, deliberate in condemnation and abounding in wrath; YHWH stresses his mercy and love.
God’s Name is Wise
This method of redeeming grace is wiser than any human religion. God’s wisdom is seen in his patience. His name describes him as one who is “slow to anger,” which means that he is not out of control or overtaken by passion. Yet, at the right moment, he is capable of great wrath. Wisdom knows when to be gracious, when to be just.
It has been noted by R.C. Sproul and others that God is not infinite in patience. He is slow to anger and quick to forgive, but he is not infinite in his forebearance. Yet, unlike short-sighted humanity, he is not confused by when to move from grace to judgment. Moreover, as Romans 2:4 will say later, his seasons and instances of kindness and slowness to anger are motivations to repent and believe. In this way, God manifests his inimitable wisdom.
God’s Name is Loving and Just
This wisdom is balanced in verse 7. He is a God of love—covenantal love. The emphasis of this passage is on that reality. Like a perfect husband, he is loyal to his bride. Like a father, he loves his own—not based on condition or performance of his people; rather, his love overflows from his own delight in rescuing a people for his own possession. Thus the love he has for us is depends solely on his choice to love us, not in our choice to love him.
At the same time, he is a God of perfect justice. In the same place where he describes his overwhelming love, he says, “who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.” Unlike fickle judges and hung juries, God will perfectly execute judgment on the guilty and comfort for the afflicted (cf. 2 Thess 1:6-10).
God’s Name is Glorious
In all these ways, YHWH proves himself to be the infinitely glorious God. He is worthy of eternal worship because of these manifold perfections. In Exodus 34:8-9, Moses models a heart that is overwhelmed with this glory. While he has not “seen” the glory of God’s face, he has heard his name and has been overwhelmed. Even as he sought to look at the glory of God, verse 8 records, that he stopped looking at God’s glory to worship with head down. Moses lowers his head and repents for his own request. In God’s presence he is overwhelmed by God’s glory.
Such a feeling should accompany the Christian’s experience. It is not constant and it is not often, but it is real and unmistakable. In my own life, I can think of no less than two times when I was struck by such a sense of God’s glory and it is a pride-crushing, self-forgetting experience of his manifold beauty and grace for allowing you to even know Him. Such an experience confirms existentially what we know expositionally. God is glorious, and thus the only appropriate way to respond is life-long, indeed eternal, worship!
Give Thanks to the Creator, not Just For His Creation
As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, may we not only thank God for the good things he has given us in creation, though by all means we should do that. Do not merely offer great praise for the benefits of the gospel that secures our redemption, though you should meditate long on those priceless realities. But above all, and perhaps in contradistinction from every other Thanksgiving, offer thanksgiving to God for who he is and how he has made himself known to you! Such praise is based on the greatest motivation to praise–God’s glory. Moreover, it offers you reason to give thanks even when life has been hard this year and every fiber of your being feels like pouting or screaming. When we behold the eternally glorious God, whose works are breath-taking and whose name is beautiful, we have endless reasons to give thanks–in empty times and full times. This is the blessedness of contentment, but even more it is a kind of thanksgiving that can only be offered by a born-again believer. May we offer such glorious praise to Christ his thanksgiving, and may all who know us, know that God is gracious and compassionate, loving and just, worthy of all their praise!
Soli Deo Gloria, dss
Sermon Notes: Exodus 34:6-7 In Biblical-Theological Context
The Context of Exodus 32-34
Exodus 32-34 are at the center of the tabernacle section (Exodus 25-40). They function as a break between the instructions (25-31) and the construction (35-40). But the break is not just literary, it’s relational.
After all that God has done for Israel—remembering them in Egypt, redeeming them from slavery, making his covenant with them—Israel returns the favor by committing spiritual adultery. In Exodus 32, God’s people make a graven image, and bow before it. This invokes God’s wrath, but it also sets the stage to display YHWH’s mercy and grace.
Exodus 34:6-7 is the capstone of this passage, and in these two electric verses, we find the center of Old Testament Theology in God’s revelation to Moses (see Jim Hamilton, God’s Glory in Salvation Through Judgment for a full development of this idea). These verses are programmatic for the rest of the Bible and they read,
The LORD passed before [Moses] and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
To know our God, it is vital to understand these passages in context and content. To better acquaint ourselves with this passage, notice three ways that God’s revelation on Sinai functions much like the cross in the New Testament.
1. Like the cross of Christ, these chapters show God’s mercy and his justice. Like a perfect kaleidoscope, they radiate the colors of God’s severity and kindness (cf. Rom 11:22). In the New Testament, wrath and mercy meet at the cross; in the Old Testament they meet here.
2. Like the cross of Christ, the role of Moses is that of God-given Mediator. In other words, he stands between God’s holy wrath and Israel’s rebellious sin. In this way, as he pleads for mercy, he foreshadows Christ. But lets not make the mistake that Moses or Christ change God’s mind; in both cases, the God who metes out perfect justice, also sends his a mediator to plead for pardon. In this, there is the beautiful mystery that God who seeks to destroy Israel, is first the God works to save them. He listens to Moses’ prayer, because he sent Moses to pray.
3. Like the cross of Christ, this episode shapes the rest of the OT (and NT). Exodus 34:6-7 is quoted throughout the rest of the Bible, and gives shape to all that follows.
This verse is picked up in places like Num 14:18. When Israel rebels against Moses, Moses quotes Exodus 34:6-7 in full as he pleads for Israel’s pardon. In the Psalms, it is often cited to remind Israel of God’s gracious character (cf. 86:15; 103:7). But in the prophets, Nahum stresses God’s wrath: “The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet” (1:2-3). Even Jonah quotes the verse, saying it was this reason that he did not go to Nineveh, because the reluctant prophet knew God would forgive them if they repented.
Exodus 34:6-7 is so programmatic because of the way it expresses God’s relationship with the world. YHWH is unchanging (Mal 3:6), yet people are not. Thus, God has made a world in covenant with him. Which means: Those who keep covenant will receive grace, mercy, and forgiveness (thru atonement). However, for those who reject or ignore him, he loathes. His anger burns red-hot. His patience is slow, but not infinite.
Finally, Exodus 34:6-7 is fulfilled in Christ himself. In John 1:14, the beloved disciple introduces Christ saying, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The connection with Exodus 34:6-7 is in the last phrase. The God who is abounding in steadfast love (hesed) and faithfulness (emeth) is fully revealed in Christ who is full of grace (charis) and truth (aletheia).
This is our God. Though, Scripture reveals him progressively over time, he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Old Testament God and the New Testament God are not juxtaposed, rather, as I recently heard D. A. Carson say, the New Testament vision of God is simply more clear and precise–this is true with God’s love and his justice.
May we this week, worship the God of Sinai and Calvary, and learn to know him in his faithfulness to forgiveness and judge.
Soli Deo Gloria, dss
What is the Law of Christ?
In Galatians, a letter that denounces the works of the law (see 2:16), Paul argues that Christians ought to fulfill the law by love (Gal 5:13-14) and to fulfill the law of Christ (Gal 6:2). However, a good investigative question in Galatians 6:2 is “What is the law of Christ?” and “What is it doing in Paul’s letter?” In other words, Why would Paul advocate the “law of Christ” when he has been fighting against the Judaizers and their radical use of the law?
Richard Longenecker in his Word Biblical Commentary on Galatians offers a helpful definition and sets on a good course to answer those questions.
He writes that the law of Christ are those “prescriptive principles stemming from the heart of the gospel (usually embodied in the example and teachings of Jesus), which are meant to be applied to specific situations by the direction and enablement of the Holy Spirit, begin always motivated and conditioned by love” (275-76).
Therefore, we see that Paul steers a third course that is different than nomism (Christ + law) and lawlessness (no law at all). It is not just a middle road, or a Hegelian synthesis, but a third way. On the one hand, he contests nomism with its advocacy that the covenant keepers must continue to do the works of the law. He does this by asserting a view of the law of Christ that is not based on law-keeping but on Christ’s fulfillment of the law for Christians. Accordingly, the law of Christ is a finished work, and one that requires faith not works. Moreover, the deciding factor between the two is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Fulfilling the law of Christ is not a human work, but the Spirit’s work in the life of the believer, because after all, the first fruit of the Spirit is love (cf. Gal 5:22-23).
At the same time, Paul avoids lawlessness, because in fulfilling the law of Christ he shows that the gospel has ethical implications and entailments. The law of Christ is accompanied by the life-giving and life-changing Holy Spirit and it is the love of the Spirit which fulfills the OT law. Therefore, the difference between the law and the gospel is that the gospel tells you what has been done and it gives you the Spirit to live a holy and loving life. The law had no such power.
So why does Paul use the term “law of Christ”? He is turning the Judaizers on their head, saying “You want to talk about law? Let’s talk about law! The law of the born again believer is the law of Christ! What Christ has done, what he is doing, and what he will one day complete. It is from him, through him, and to him. He is the one who fulfilled the law and who by his death destroyed the law. He has now put in place a greater law and it is the one written on human hearts by His Spirit. Walking by the power and direction of the Spirit is a far greater “law” than anything Moses ever recorded; it is an inside job and one that has a power that the Old Covenant never did.”
May we walk in the power of the Spirit and fulfill the law of Christ as we love, serve, and minister to others in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Soli Deo Gloria, dss
A Spiritual Fruit Inventory
Most church-going Christians have participated in a Spiritual Gifts Inventory (SGI). You know, the one where you sit down to fill out a paper-and-pencil test of things you like, don’t like, are good at, bad at, and don’t know.
Personally, I am not a fan. It is a fleshly way of discerning the Spirit’s work in your life. I believe these forms are well-intended and have catapulted many vibrant Christians into active church ministry, but they may have also wrongly directed people away from genuine gifts of the Spirit. Rather, I have found that the best SGI is found in the honest and loving people of God who are called to judge fellow believers with grace and truth. Serving in the church is the best Spiritual Gift Inventory.
With that caution in mind, what I offer below, may be just as fleshly and unhelpful…but I hope not.
In preparing for Sunday’s message, I found a Spiritual Fruit Inventory (SFI), that I tweaked and will hand out on Sunday. Unlike its cousin, the SGI, the SFI, is designed not to lead us down a path to ministry, but down a path to the cross, because it will either show the absolute deficiency of fruit in the life of the believer, in which a true believer has but one response: repentance and gratitude for Christ’s atoning blood. Or second, it will prompt overwhelming gratitude that the Spirit is at work. I suspect, as I see in my own life that it is both. (One other note: it could lead a “believer” to realize that by the conspicuous absence of the Spirit’s fruit that he is not in fact saved; see Matthew 13:1-23).
When I look at Galatians 5:22-23, I see 9 qualities that are present in my life, but oh how anemic is the fruit. Yet, I take heart that this is the Spirit’s work, not mine. The only imperative in Galatians regarding the Spirit is to “Walk in the Spirit” (Gal 5:16, 25). As we do that, fruit will come. It has to; born again believers bear fruit! So, as I contemplate the questions below, I go to the cross with sorrow and gladness, and I return to keep walking with the Spirit, praying to the Father to grow in me the life characteristics of Christ–love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
Here is the Spiritual Fruit Inventory. Feel free to use it for your personal devotion or for your corporate ministry.
Soli Deo Gloria, dss
SPIRITUAL FRUIT INVENTORY
On a scale of 1-5 (bad-good), rate your spiritual fruit. Then after you have done that, ask a friend, spouse, or family member to do the same. Compare notes. Go to God and thank him for the Cross, the Power of the Spirit, and the Promise of Progressive Sanctificaiton. Continue to walk in the Spirit, by Faith in Christ’s atoning work on Calvary and his sanctifying work in you.
Love: Are you obedient to God’s word? Do you delight in spending time with God? Does your love for God reflect in love for others? Would others describe you as loving? Do you love the unlovable? Or just the likeable?
Joy: Is your joy based on circumstances? Have you found joy in the midst of trials? When you are discouraged, is Scripture your source of joy? If not, why not?
Peace: Do you know the peace that passes understanding? When alone, are you at peace? When anxious, do you set your mind on God in Christ? If not, why not?
Patience: Do you accept interruptions and delays with grace and peace? Do you see God’s larger plan at work in your life? How do you view people: as hindrances to be avoided or hurting people to be loved?
Kindness: Would your family call you “kind”? Are your words refreshing & life-giving? Or sarcastic & mean? Do you seek ways to encourage others?
Goodness: Do you invent ways to help others? Or do you relish putting others down? Is your goodness forced or free? Are you ‘good’ to please others or God?
Faithfulness: Do you keep your word? Do you finish what you start? Are you a hard worker? Does your church attendance reflect faithfulness?
Gentleness: Are you quick to listen? Slow to speak? Slow to anger? Do your moods swing? Is your language abrasive or harsh? Do others confide in you?
Self-control: Are you free from addictions—illegal or legal? Do you have mastery over your thoughts, speech, actions? Do you think before you act? Are your decisions governed by Scripture? Is your discipline lawful or loving?
Wise Words on Pastoral Leadership
Tom Schreiner, New Testament professor at SBTS and prolific author, has some poignant words for young pastors. In his article on speaking the truth in love, he gives counsel to pastors on how to shepherd their flock with grace and truth. Pastors must speak the truth in love with Spirit-wrought patience, kindness, and endurance (cf Eph 4:15; 2 Tim 2:24). He writes,
Love recognizes that people are not changed in a day. Love takes people where they are and moves them slowly toward a deeper appreciation of truth. Love does not relish controversy, but longs to shepherd the flock so that it becomes more like Christ. Love never compromises the truth, but it does not burst onto the scene by teaching controversial doctrines. Love communicates that you want to be a pastor and a shepherd and healer and not just a teacher. Love never compels or constrains others to share your beliefs; it patiently teaches, remembering that truth dawned upon our hearts slowly and that our knowledge is still imperfect. Love does not tolerate error, but it stoops low to understand the person who is mistaken, for the one who understands why one believes a falsehood will be able to explain more deeply and sympathetically why such a view is wrong.
Well said. May I and all those who pastor be such loving servants!
Soli Deo Gloria, dss
Intimate Allies (pt. 1): Marriage Means War
Why does the bridegroom stand on the right side of the bride?
The legend goes:
Long ago, the right arm was considered the sword arm of most fighting men. If a man had to protect his bride, he would hold her with his left hand, and fight off attackers with his right arm. The reason that men may have had to fight off others was because quite often women were kidnapped. Family members naturally wanted to rescue the stolen brides. Sometimes even during the wedding ceremony, the grooms had to fight off other men who were desirous of their brides, along with the bride’s family members. So having his right arm free was an important strategy. This tradition is followed today by when facing the officiant, having the bride stand to the left, and the groom stand to the right. (HT: Wikianswer).
This kind of readiness to defend makes sense in a time and place when marriages were threatened by violent thieves. But what about today? In light of the Scriptures, it still makes sense. Such a posture illustrates the twin realities of love and war, and whether or not we consider marriage to be a violent affair, spiritually speaking, it is. Marriage is warfare!
In their book, Intimate Allies: Rediscovering God’s Design for Marriage and Becoming Soul Mates for Life, Dan Allender and Tremper Longman make this very important connection. Love is war! And for Christian marriages to be strong they must participate in cosmic conflict against the enemies that seek to destroy their marriage. Concerning marriage and warfare, they write:
The language of a battle may disturb many readers, but life is a war. And marriage, at times, requires war if the battle of life is to be fought well. But are our spouses non-combatants, people disengaged from the real battles of our life? Or worse, are our spouses enemies whom we fight daily?
God’s intention is for our spouses to be our allies–intimate friends, lovers, warriors in the spiritual war against the forces of the evil one. We are to draw strength, nourishment, and courage to fight well from that one person who most deeply supports and joins us in the war–our soulmate for life. Husbands and wives are intimate allies (Intimate Allies, xvi).
Clearly strong marriages are not engaged in internecine conflicts, but they are drawing battle lines and contending with external threats. From the foundation of the world, Satan has been seeking to kill, steal, and destroy (cf. Gen. 3; John 10:10). He is the accuser, the robber, the murderer, and the home-wrecker. He loves to pervert and destroy all things that God has created good, and he takes specific aim at marriage, sexuality, and the familial relations of the nuclear family. One aspect of redemptive history is to re-establish the home. This is evident in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, where the fruit of the Spirit-filled life results a properly functioning marriage, where husbands lovingly lead their wives and wives respectfully submit to their husbands (Eph. 5:22-33). In a return to the properly alligned marriage in the Garden, it seems evident from God’s Word that Spirit-led marriages are in cosmic conflict with the spirit of this age. Allender and Longman elucidate this point:
What is the basis of the war between the sexes? It is ultimately, of course, the war between God and his adversary, Satan. We ought never to be naive. The deepest struggles of life will occur in the most primary relationship affected by the Fall: marriage. No one on earth will have more potential to do harm or to do good than your spouse. Consequently, no relationship will be imbued with more desire and danger than your marriage. No wonder most couples soon settle down into a distant, parallel existence in which the pain and the joy are kept at a minimum (287).
Sadly, their point is too often the case. Couples, young and old, settle into patterns of coexistence rather than mutual edification. Instead of conforming themselves into God’s intimate ideal for marriage, couples accept the luke-warm tensions of marriage, and make it up as they go. In so doing, they ignore the marriage-transforming power of the gospel, and allow Satan to strip away the joys of marriage. Yet, it does not have to be that way. Allender and Longman contend that married is an environment for sanctification, spiritual growth, and gospel-empowered grace. The battle that closes in on the home provides incentive and opportunity for the God’s power to be made manifest within the marriage, so that the flaming arrows of the enemy become refining fires that illumine and eradicate sin as Christ’s atoning work is applied to each act of sin. They continue with optimism:
Our marriages are the ground for change. It is the place where exposure of our need for the gospel is most profound; therefore, it is the relationship where depravity is best exposed and where our dignity is best lived out. Marriage is the battleground of sin and the place where the Cross is revealed as the only hope for life and joy. In the midst of the Curse, God promises that redemption will come as the seed of the woman crushes the head of the serpent. [Therefore], the curse is a friend that drives us to the hope of redemption. Marriage is the sweet wine and rich meat that heralds the final day and the wedding feast of the Lamb (288).
The first marriage was ruined by the slithering voice of the serpent, yet it was restored by the promise found within the curse: “the seed of the woman will crush the head of the seed of the serpent.” Adam believed the promise and named his wife Eve, the mother of all living, and thus marital hope was restored, if only partially. The same kind of redemptive hope is available for every marriage today, and in even greater ways since we know the rest of the story. Sin still tears at marriage, but through the gospel of Jesus Christ, as depicted in marriage itself (Eph. 5:32), we know that the power of God can restore and reinforce every marriage under threat from sin and Satanic attack. “Where sin has increased, grace has increased all the more” (Romans 5:21); and “the Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Consequently, the attacks of the enemy can in turn become the God’s means for mutual sanctification, as husband and wife humbly cry out to Jesus to come and work wonders in their marriage.
This is not a civilian’s work (cf. 2 Tim. 2:4). Picking up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and believing the promises of God takes courage and tenacity. Putting to death the deeds of the flesh by the power of the Spirit is an act of war against the one to whom we were once held captive. It is war, and it is the kind of war that is fueled by love (for God and for our spouse). Perhaps it is counter-intuitive, but it is absolutely essential that every strong Christian marriage must employ a constant patrol on enemy activity encroaching against their marriage. Every husband must stand guard, ready to go to war to protect their marriage by destroying every argument and [knocking down] every lofty opinion rasied agsint the knowledge of Christ; just as, every wife must combat Satan through prayers intercession for her home and for her husband. Marriage is war!
Married people confront life as a battle. As intimate allies, they push back the chaos. With the power of God, marriage is an awesome calling and at times a delightful prelude of heaven. But no matter what joy of what sense of meaning is found in marriage, it is always involved in a war. At times marriage itself is part of the war… A successful marriage is one in which two broken and forgiving people stay committed to one another in a sacrificial relationship in the face of life’s chaos. We are intimate allies in the war. We rejoice together in our victories and cry together as we ecnounter setbacks. But even in the setbacks, we can have joy because we know that the final victory is ours. We look forward to the ultimate Wedding, which our own weddings only faintly reflect (346-47).
The pervading thesis of Intimate Allies is that marriage means war. Once we realize this truth, it will re-adjust how we think of our own marital commitments. It will re-allign the patterns of our daily interaction. Our marriages require the daily posture of a pugilist–always ready to embrace our spouse with grace and forgiveness so that the devil does not get a foothold (Eph. 4:26-27). Simultaneously, we are ever-ready to fight all those who would rend asunder what God has joined together. Intimate Allies alerts us to the biblical reality of spiritual warfare attacking our marriages, and it implores us to put on our armor because the devil is coming to kill, steal, and destroy.
May the Lord grant us courage to fight sin, Satan, and the spirits of this age that would love to undo our marriages.
Sola Deo Gloria, dss
Via Emmaus 