Last time we considered how the good news about Jesus can change our relationships. Today, I want to look, in particular, at how it can transform a marriage. The Bible’s teaching on marriage today is drowned out by so many other voices. A search for books on marriage at Amazon returns more than 50,000 titles. With all of these books on the subject, you’d think that marriages today must be better than ever. The reality is that the opposite is the case. The Bible holds out hope, but even as Christians turn to its teaching on marriage, they can forget the gospel as they read. They can stumble on God’s commands without leaning on any of His grace. One of the principles of gospel living that we looked at two weeks ago was starting with what God has done before moving on to what we do. Let’s see how that gets played out in the Bible’s teaching on marriage.
It’s easy to confuse Jesus with a guru, philosopher or self-help speaker. Even Christians can often read His teachings the way you would read a self-help book. They look for principles to follow or rules to obey. But when you reduce Jesus’ teachings to principles and rules, you empty them of their power. The heart of Jesus’ message was a message of good news – God’s gift to transform us. Someone once came to Jesus for help in dealing with a hard relationship. Examining Jesus’ response helps us to see how distinctive Jesus’ message is and how we can apply the good news to our own relationships.
The biggest difference between Christianity and other religions and philosophies is that the Bible declares that what God has done for us – not what we have done for Him – is the basis of our forgiveness, acceptance and salvation. By contrast, other religions teach what we have to do in order to go to heaven, be acceptable to God or achieve our potential. Many Christians bring a non-Christian mindset to how they live the Christian life. When they hear a sermon, they only hear what they have to do. When they open the Bible, they only see God’s commands. And, ironically, Christianity can become a non-Christian religion in the process. There’s a simple pattern that the Scriptures give for correcting this: start with DONE before you move to DO. Let me explain.
Culturally, it’s become more and more uncomfortable for people who follow Jesus. Christianity is called exclusive. Christians are called intolerant. Christian ethics are considered outdated. And, so, before we open our mouths to share the good news about Jesus many people have already made up their minds. Some Christians respond by retreating. We take a defensive posture toward society and assume that we should just focus on protecting ourselves and consoling one another. When we do, our faith becomes a shell of what the New Testament describes. Remember that Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). The true church is on the offensive, seeking to rescue those held in darkness, and nothing can prevail against it.
