The Law and Gospel in Marriage

It was interesting to read these two posts side by side yesterday.  Athol Kay talked about what the law should be in marriage to make it successful and Sheila Wray Gregoire emphasized what the gospel should look like in marriage by deciding to love your spouse unconditionally like Christ loves us.  Athol Kay gives some very good rules for what makes a marriage successful; the problem is, is that most of his readers’ marriages have probably already failed that contract and they don’t want to divorce, but if they really did follow those rules, they would be required to divorce, so mercy is also necessary

The bible gives us both the law and the gospel, it isn’t one or the other, God makes it possible for both to work in our lives.   The law shows us what to do for the best possible life, it gives us a goal to try to attain, and it also shows us that we are going to fail and that we can’t do it on our own.

When we fail, we need to go to Christ, confess that we are dead and receive two things… first His forgiveness (if we confess… he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins) and then receive His perfect righteousness on our behalf. We have been selfish, but he was perfectly selfless on our behalf… loved perfectly on our behalf. Once our guilt is taken away and we receive His good works, then we are free to live the law… not out of trying to do it right again (not even try again with God’s help), but to live the law knowing that we’re equipped better than we were before and even though we’ll fail again- yet we’re forgiven, considered righteous, and free to love selflessly as Christ has done and His Spirit is working in us.

  We can keep trying  on our own, and some people might actually succeed at following all of the rules, but the bible has shown that this creates a proud and unmerciful heart, and pride was one of the more hated sins by Christ.  So pray to the Lord for strength to keep those marriage vows and when you fail (or your spouse is failing), go to Christ and depend on Him  and not yourself.  He is enough!  The purpose of marriage is to be a reflection of the relationship between Christ and the church, not to satisfy our needs or to make us happy.  Those are just side benefits that God blesses us with for obeying Him.

Zechariah 4:6
“Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit” says the Lord God Almighty

Related articles

• Nine Ways the Gospel Transforms Marriage / Desiring God (craigsturm.wordpress.com)
• Covenant Marriage (Sexy Christian Wife)