The argument was used on me in the south of our country that "these are our traditions" when we challenged a church on false doctrine. Their response was, "this is our tradition."
When told this my response was "then your tradition needs to change to come in line with God's commands."
When any tradition is out of sync with God's commands then it is man's traditions that need to change not God's commands ignored.
John 14:15-16 "15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—…"
What are God's commands? They are everything written in the word of God. Not everything in the Word was written to us but everything was written for our learning and understanding.
The commands given to the Jews are for our learning but not for the Gentile to follow. However, everything written in the New Testament were written to all born again believers and should be taken seriously.
The Old Testament brings understanding to the purpose of the New Testament. We must read everything to understand the heart of God.
In the Old Testament is concealed what the New Testament reveals. Christ's death, burial and resurrection are in the Old Testament as a prophesy to come. The New Testament reveals exactly the timing of the fulfillment of that OT prophesy.
The Jewish marriage covenant brings understanding to the union between Christ and His church, revealing the permanency of that betrothal, the promise kept and the going home to the Father's house.
Gentiles do not have the custom of betrothal or going home to the Father's house and were not commanded to do so. However, the picture of marriage according to the Jewish custom helps us understand our relationship with our spouse in marriage and with Christ when we become a new creation and are indwelt by Him. One day soon He will take us home to His Father's house, our Father too.
When we become one with our spouse, when God makes us one, we do not lose our personalities or individual gifts but those things are now melded with our spouse to become a part of the equation in the life of the couple.
One person does not marry and lose their identity, they bring to the marriage their identity to combine with the identity of the spouse to become a new identity with two components. No one loses who they are in marriage, two come together to blend their traits for a greater and better couple than when there was only one of you.
Any man who dominates to control a wife is acting disrespectfully and negating God's purpose in marriage. Each one has a role to play and each one brings their own talents and personalities to enhance the other so there is no lack.
No man or woman is an island, they need one another's perspective, talents and personalities to make a whole oneness out of two.
Bottom Line: there is a melding and blending not a disintegration of one to enhance the other.
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