Why Grace is Essential in Your Marriage [Friday Favorite]

Friday, April 22, 2016

Why Grace is Essential in Your Marriage [Friday Favorite]

5:00 AM | Posted by Scott | Edit Post

Grace is ultimately an invitation to intimacy.

Grace and Love. I call these the bookends of marriage. Of all the ingredients that are important for a long-term passionate and intimate marriage, these two are absolutely essential, because they are what hold the whole thing together.

Coming in at number 5 on my all-time most viewed posts is the first post in my series on grace, which appears below in its entirety. It's a must-read Friday Favorite. Links to the other 3 posts in the series can be found at the bottom of this post.

(Originally posted June, 2012)

Today I’m kicking off a new series on grace in marriage.

I’m taking this deep dive into grace for several reasons. First of all, though grace is simple in concept, the implications of grace for marriage are enormous.

Second, even though I’ve touched on this topic in previous posts, I have never given grace the attention it deserves.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, grace is just as critical as love is to strengthening and sustaining your marriage. Grace and love are like the bookends that keep your marriage together.

What is Grace?

Grace is simply unmerited favor, mercy and kindness. Grace is at the core of the Gospel.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Rom 5:1-2

We know that God’s unbounded grace comes to us through faith in Jesus, and we know that He is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Grace is our way to forgiveness for all the wrongs we have done or that we will ever do against God, and thus our way to eternal life. Grace also brings us God’s favor and blessing, even when we don’t deserve it.

An Invitation to Intimacy

As true as all this is, I believe that grace actually has its deepest roots in intimacy.

God didn’t crush his Son simply to gain our forgiveness and eternal life or just to bless us. He did it because he desires intimacy with us, both now and for all eternity. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross gives us unprecedented face-to-face access to the Father.

Grace is God’s invitation to intimacy with him, because most of all, God is a zealous lover. He desires to have all of you and all of me for himself, for all time.

As we reflect on grace and marriage in this series, keep in mind that a grace-full marriage is really about a path to deeper intimacy between you and your husband or wife.

The rest of the Grace Series: