GET THESE F INE BOOKS By Lehman Strains, Litt.D.
No. 1 Regeneration and the Christian Gospel 35c No. 2 Justification and Assurance ...»............35c No. 3 Faith ..............35c No. 4 Repentance ...,35c No. 5 The Doctrine of Man ....... No. 6 The Atonement of Christ ................. 35c Also The Prophetic Signifi- cance of Pope John's
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* Appeal for Church Unity .................... 35c COMMUNISM AND RUSSIA IN BIBLE PROPHECY— The Man of Sin ...............35c D U N H A M PU BLISHING CO M P A N Y Findlay/ Ohio
P e r h a p s the best statements ever written about marriage are found in Ephesians chapter 5. Through the centuries this “ Christian view of mar riage” has come to be generally ac cepted as a fine, ideal standard. But when this was written, it exploded as a bombshell in the pagan world. Nothing had ever been presented like it before. Historically, the nations that accepted this new concept of mar riage survived and the others are buried in the forgotten past. When this holy view of love and marriage was presented to the early Christian church, the contemporary world boasted a contrasting standard. For instance, the Hebrews had a very low view of womanhood and marriage. One Jewish prayer included the statement, “ I thank Thee, O God, that I am not a Gentile, a slave, or a woman.” The Hebrew wife had no legal rights and by the time of Christ the Jewish domestic scene was in peril. The situation was even worse in the Greek world. Prostitution was an es sential part of their culture. Compan ionship in the Greek marriage was a rare thing. The husband expected his wife to care for the family and home which were important to him, but he found his romantic and sexual experi ences outside the home. The Greek wife led a life of seclusion in her own apartment. She was treated with dignity and reverence, but she was denied pleasure and companionship. In Rome, conditions were still worse. By Paul’s time, Roman family life was wrecked and ruined. Divorce and remarriage were expected. Jerome wrote of a Roman woman who had 23 husbands; she was his twenty-first wife. Perhaps this was extreme, yet it was indicative of general trends that were popular at that time. The Christian concept of marital love contains ingredients that make it both superior and unique. It con tains the element of submissiveness for the wife, balanced with sacrificial, giving love on the husband’s part. By nature, women will give more in mar riage. They give their lives to the marriage. They sacrifice a measure of self-confidence and freedom during pregnancy and child-raising. Mar riage is never 50-50, and we do an
injustice to brides in letting them expect to find this complete equality in freedom to balance this, however, God requires and enables the Chris tian husband to give and to love sac- rificially, as Christ loves the Church. Christian love in marriage ennobles and purifies, as does Christ’s love for the Church. Our love is not redemp tive, but it must uplift. Any love that degrades or coarsens the lover or the loved one is less than the Christian definition. These facts indicate that Christian love is an art that needs to be learned and cultivated. But who thinks of love as an art? Most Americans feel that love is a pleasant sensation that lucky people fall into, with nothing impor tant to be learned from it. The popular approach to love is subjective and shallow. We are much more- concerned about being loved than we are about loving. We imagine that love is simple, but to find the right object to love and to be loved by is the problem. Christian young people are far more concerned about knowing the Lord’s will in selecting a mate than they are in developing their own capacity to love. They feel, “ If I can just find the right person, love will come easily and naturally.” In the meantime, little is being done towards making them selves a “ right” person by growing in love. The Word of God portrays a com plete picture of love. In early child hood we develop our love for parents and family. Soon we learn to love God and fellow Christians. God leads us on to develop love for the lost. We cultivate compassion and understand ing for the ill and underprivileged. We learn to put our love into action. Spiritual maturity enables us to feel love for our enemies and for those more privileged than ourselves. Mari tal love is an extension of this basic love which is the principle of success ful living. The New Testament teaches us that love is an art! We cannot “ fall” into it. We must begin by loving God and receiving His love through Christ. We must daily pattern our love to imitate His unselfish and patient love. Let us appreciate more than ever this Christian view of marriage.
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