Transcript
It's impossible for you to talk about the existence of God, the existence of sin, the existence of God's grace, the existence of eternity without those having an impact on the way you live. If God exists, everything changes in life because life is not about me, it's about Him. It's about knowing Him, serving Him. His will, His way, not mine.
If Sin Exists, I Need Rescue
If sin exists, then my greatest problem in life is inside of me and not outside of me and I can run from a location, I can run from a situation, but I can't run from myself, so I need rescue. You just begin to think of all of these doctrines and they set a culture for the way you think about yourself, the way you think about life, the way you think about making decisions.
The truths of the word of God, the core truths of the word of God that form Christian belief were never, ever meant to be separate from our lives. They're meant to form the way that we live. So every doctrine is itself a welcome to a lifestyle that flows out of what it actually means to believe in that particular truth.
Let me just say something about marriage. I think one of the places where we don't believe what the Bible says is in marriage when we don't take the doctrine of sin as a major interpreter of the struggle of every couple, that every couple will face in their marriage.
A Warning for Your Marriage
That doctrine is a warning that your marriage is going to be a bit of a battleground because you have two sinners there and sin makes me want things that I shouldn't want, and be entitled and demanding and unforgiving and critical and impatient, and those are all the struggles of marriage.
If you take the doctrine of sin seriously, you got major help and preparation for what you're going to face in marriage. But the average couple doesn't say to them, "Well, you know you're marrying a sinner." It just doesn't mean anything to them because they don't understand the practical implications of that doctrine, how helpful it is to understand that as I'm moving into this comprehensive human relationship.
