Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
What's the difference between a New Covenant marriage and an Old Covenant marriage? Or are they the same?
Under the Old Covenant, you promise God faithfully that you will obey your marriage vows, come whatever. But maybe it doesn't go right; your spouse turns out to be ornery, happiness seems difficult or apparently impossible. Still, your marriage is "under the law." "The law" keeps you together which says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." You grit your teeth and hang on. You see somebody else who's nice; but you determine not to "fall" in love. Let's give the Old Covenant its credit, its due: it saves many marriages from going into divorce, and has done so for thousands of years.
Under the New Covenant, God's promise takes over. The seventh commandment which once was a stern prohibition becomes His happiness-filled promise: you shall not "fall" into an illicit love; you shall not become Satan's plaything. Your marriage shall not be poisoned with infidelity; you two shall not become alienated. Hearts are changed.
Husbands, the New Testament command, "love your wives," becomes fulfilled--you actually learn HOW to love them. HOW to make them happy. And how do you learn? You kneel at the cross of Christ and identify with Him "even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it" (see Eph. 5:25). Yes, it's not impossible theory; you see how it's truth.
And lo and behold, your wife is enabled to respond. Many a woman becomes irritable simply because she feels betrayed into a loveless bind, and then the worst impulses of a disappointed heart become manifest. Peter tells you the New Covenant Good News: "Ye husbands, dwell with [your wives] according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered" (1 Peter 3:7). There's a New Covenant marriage!
Wives, you too have some New Covenant promises which it becomes your job to believe. It's generally supposed that husbands are difficult to deal with. Verses 1-6 tell of the wit and wisdom that God's New Covenant promises impart to you--who otherwise are bewildered about what to do. Give them a good read--on your knees. You can learn.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.------------------------------
