Therefore, when each element has given back whatever was mixed with it of the human being, the resurrection is accomplished.

Oecumenius: Commentary on the Apocalypse (Rev. 21:1-2)

Even if after the fall a covenant of grace were not established, and Christ had borne only penal guilt and had again placed man there where Adam stood—even then, in order now to stand before God on his own account, man would have been in need of an ongoing active righteousness in order to continue sharing in the favor of God. How much more, then, now that there is a covenant!

Geerhardus Vos, Reformed Dogmatics, 601.

Sharing your joys also means sharing activities that you both enjoy and that glorify God. Look for areas of common interest and invest in them. If your spouse enjoys something that is not your favorite activity, learn to enjoy it, or learn to enjoy your spouse’s enjoyment. The more your lives overlap, the closer your friendship will become.

JOEL R. BEEKE, NURTURING INTIMATE COMMUNICATION WITH YOUR SPOUSE (PRJ 9, 1 [2017]), 274.

A sour and negative disposition discourages people and relationships. A sense of humor, smiles, warmth, and optimism are important ways to encourage each other. So develop a joyful spirit. “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones” (Prov. 17:22). Laughing together is a sweet way to refresh your spirits and draw closer together.

Your children and your own human foibles should provide plenty of material for humor. Of course, God, sin, heaven, and hell are not laughing matters; we must never respond to the truths of God with levity. But there is much in life that we should not take so seriously. Learn to laugh at situations that are not inherently weighty. It’s a way of saying, “The Lord is with us despite our idiosyncrasies.”

JOEL R. BEEKE, NURTURING INTIMATE COMMUNICATION WITH YOUR SPOUSE (PRJ 9, 1 [2017]), 273.

Trustworthiness nurtures trust. Trust develops over time as our relationship matures. You trust each other more and more as you learn to feel comfortable and confident with each other. . . . Over time you should be drawn together in a deeper sense of troth, which binds you in friendship. You will feel comfortable when you see each other. That is what happens in a good marriage.

JOEL R. BEEKE, NURTURING INTIMATE COMMUNICATION WITH YOUR SPOUSE (PRJ 9, 1 [2017]), 273.

If you are a Christian who is single, do not enter a romantic relationship with a person who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ and is not walking with God. Don’t settle for someone who goes to church but has a questionable profession of faith. The minimum standard for dating or courtship should be a faith that is producing good works through love.

Joel R. Beeke, Nurturing Intimate Communication with Your Spouse (PRJ 9, 1 [2017]), 271.

It is a sign, an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace; for such sacraments are designed to be. It is a parable to the eye; and in it God uses similitudes, as he did of old by his servants and prophets. In it Christ tells us earthly things, that thereby we may come to be more familiarly acquainted, and more warmly affected , with spiritual and heavenly things. In it Christ speaks to us in our own language, and accommodates himself to the capacitates of our present state.

The Communicant’s Companion by Rev. Matthew Henry, 37.

Life may exist in the infant as well as the robust man. Remember that all graces are not always developed in the same degree. Be not misled by the experience of others; there is infinite diversity in the operations of the Spirit.

James W. Alexander, Plain Words to a Young Communicant, 37.

Have I counted the cost of following Christ, or of being truly religious? Am I ready to be cut off from van amusements, from the indulgence of my lusts, and from a sinful conformity to the world? Can I face ridicule, contempt, and serious opposition? In the view of these things, am I willing to take up the cross, and to follow Christ withersoever he shall lead me? Is it my solemn purpose, in reliance on his gracious aid, to cleave to him and to his cause and people, to the end of life?

Do I love holiness? Do I earnestly desire to be more and more conformed to God and to his holy law, to bear more and more the likeness of my Redeemer? Am I resolved, in God’s strength, to endeavour conscientiously to perform my whole duty, to God, to my neighbour, and to myself?

James W. Alexander, Plain Words to a Young Communicant, 32.

That man bears God’s image means much more than that he is spirit and possesses understanding, will, etc. It means above all that he is disposed for communion with God, that all the capacities of his soul can act in a way that corresponds to their destiny only if they rest in God. This is the nature of man. That is to say, there is no sphere of life that lies outside his relationship to God and in which religion would not be the ruling principle.

Geerhardus Vos, Reformed Dogmatics, 269.