You see, righteousness does not come by keeping the law.
It comes by putting our faith in Jesus Christ, okay?
So the purpose of Jesus dying on the cross was to forgive us of our sins.
Because if He had not died on the cross, we would not have the forgiveness of sins because
we have redemption through His blood, the Bible says, the forgiveness of sins.
And if we didn't need the forgiveness of sins, then Jesus Christ died in vain if we were
righteous enough by keeping the law.
So do you see how the main reason why Jesus Christ came to this earth was to die on the
cross to pay for our sins and to forgive our sins and to offer us redemption and to reconcile
mankind unto Himself, okay?
So if God is giving that as a model for the husband to love his wife as Christ loved the
church and gave Himself for it, and when it says He gave Himself for it, it's talking
about the fact that He suffered and bled and died for our sins to forgive our sins.
And the Bible sums all this up in one sentence over in Colossians by saying, "Husbands, love
your wives and be not bitter against them."
Well, what's bitterness?
It's the opposite of forgiveness, the exact opposite.
Forgiveness is when I let it go, when I do not hold someone accountable and continue
to hold them accountable for something.
You know, forgiveness is where it's done.
It's over.
It's forgotten.
We forgive and forget.
Well, what's bitterness?
The opposite.
Bitterness is where I look at past offenses, okay, and I look at past sins and I retain
them, and I hang on to those sins.
And then I become bitter, you know, as I'm angry or brooding over those sins.
Now, those, think about this now, those who do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, their
sins are not forgiven.
Isn't that right?
Because the Bible says, "He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth
not is condemned already."
And God's wrath and the fire of God's wrath will continue to burn for all eternity toward
those who have rejected the gift of eternal life, won't it?
I mean, the Bible says, "The smoke of their torment ascended up forever and ever.
They have no rest day or night."
He said, "Depart from me, you cursed into everlasting fire."
He said, "These shall go into everlasting punishment, prepared for the devil and his
cage."
That's bitterness, that's anger, that's wrath, that is not forgiveness.
But to those who believe on Jesus Christ, they have that forgiveness.
He will not burn with his wrath toward them.
He will not be bitter against them.
He will forgive and forget.
And as far as the east is from the west, praise God, God has separated us from our sins.
So now, let's apply that to marriage here.
The Bible is saying that the primary thing that we need to do as husbands is to love
our wives, and in order for us to love our wife as we should, we can't be bitter against
our wife or unforgiving of offenses.
Now, even though the primary, and there's another aspect to love that I'm going to get
to, but this is the first aspect of love that I want to show, not being bitter, forgiving
as Christ forgave.
Even the ones who spat in His face, buffeted Him, whipped Him, and nailed Him to the cross,
what did He say?
"Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."
So He was the ultimate in forgiveness, the ultimate in giving people another chance,
the ultimate in forgetting and moving on and loving in spite of negative things that had
happened in the past, right?
Jesus Christ loved the apostle Paul even after Paul had persecuted him.
He said, "Why persecutest thou, mesal?
It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks."
He said, "I'm Jesus whom thou persecutest."
Yet he loved Paul, yet he reached out to Paul, yet he gave Paul a chance to receive the Lord
Jesus Christ as Savior, even after he had rejected him, okay?
So we see here that the primary thing wives are supposed to do is submit to their husband.
The primary thing that husbands are supposed to do is love their wives, and in one aspect
of that is forgiving.
Now, obviously it's a two-way street.
Obviously the Bible does also command wives to love their husbands, and obviously the
Bible does also command, you know, just like it commands husbands to love their wives,
it commands wives to love their husbands and forgive them and not be bitter against them.
And you know, obviously we, you know, we can see that those go both ways.
We both need to forgive.
We both need to love each other.
But I'm saying the primary thing that God's telling husbands is to love their wives.