We are wonderfully told in Romans, “for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” [Rom 11:29] Within “the great things of [God’s] law,” there are multitudes of “exceeding great and precious promises.” [Hos 8:12, 2 Pe 1:4] These promises, though varied in their form, are all exceeding great and valuable: the great things of God’s law. They are secured by the very person of God, who “cannot lie,” [Titus 1:2] and are “God-breathed;” [2 Tim 3:6] they are of a most sweet nature and are good for all occasions. Some of us take heart to one over another; to this one over that one. Some of us may be more inclined toward those promises regarding God’s truth, others for His ever-present help in distress; however, who cannot but humbly and joyfully offer up thanksgiving and praise when The Spirit says to us, even in our weakest and most miserable moments, “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” Praise be to God who has promised us salvation, inheritance in Christ, His presence, His listening ear, His grace, His mercy, and so on goes the list – yes, praise Him that these promised blessings are “without repentance” and so shall never be removed from us, for again, “all the promises of God in [Christ Jesus] are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” [2 Cor 1:20]
If this promise bears a sweet savor to our souls; if it is a refreshing drink from God’s holy fountain of truth, then let us take it and apply it more specifically to marriage and find yet another blessing. For if Jesus Christ acts in such a manner toward us, promising, “lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen;” [Mt 28:20] and if we as husbands are to “love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church,” [Eph 5:25] then surely we ought to act in like manner toward our wives. For if Jesus is so beneficent and loving as to never revoke His election, God even having “chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,” [Eph 1:4] and who is still yet choosing us unto this day and who will continue to choose us: for we are “being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in [us] will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ,” [Phil 1:6] then our response to our wives must be in kind. For if we have chosen our wives and vowed to them in God’s presence, we must continue to, for all of our days, choose them again and again. Just as God’s election is “without repentance,” so too the husband’s election of His bride.
Moreover, The Spirit encourages us with God’s character in Isaiah, saying,
“hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, The LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of His understanding.” [Isa 40:28]
The God who created everything never grows weary or faint. There is no lack, nor end, to God’s strength and endurance. In Psalms we are told of Him, “behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” [Psa 121:4] The God who created all things, sustains such indefinitely and without break. The God who saved us and loves us, watches over us continually, loves us continually, and prays for us continually (for Jesus “ever liveth to make intercession for [us]” [Heb 7:25]). It should bring us much encouragement, even eternally, for our God ever cares for us; and we know this to be true for it says of Jesus in John that He “loved His own which were in the world, [and] He loved them unto the end.” [Jn 13:1] And because “Jesus Christ [is] the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever,” [Heb 13:8] we can be confident this character of Jesus has not altered and just as Jesus loved those disciples to the end, so too shall He love and care for us. Therefore, seeing that Jesus did not grow weary, nor presently grows weary, in His love for us – the husband’s love must then be equally resilient and steadfast for His wife. For we are told, “but, ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.” [2 Th 3:13] As Jesus then, let us remain constant towards our wives, not growing weary in doing good to them. May we ever find the strength and endurance at the feet of our Lord. He is our glorious example and the source of such ability: so then let us abide in Him and request His help; let us ever look to Him to make us more like Him in marriage.