Why do divorce and conflict happen in marriage? How does the Bible explain the hardships of marital union? In this video, Pastor David Platt strives to look past common surface issues and instead identifies sin as the major problem in every marriage. We are not used to attending a wedding to hear the bride and groom confess that they are major sinners who will perpetuate enmity in the relationship. However, Pastor Platt explains that this is true of all marriages. When we truly grasp that marriage is the union of two sinners, we can begin to address sin as the root problem in the relationship.
- The Problem of Sin
- The Union of Sinners
- The War in Our Hearts
Watch Full Message of The Beauty of the Gospel in a World of Broken Marriages
If there was no sin in the world, no hardness of heart, there would be no divorce. But there is sin in the world. In fact, marriage is a uniting together of two sinners. People wonder why does so many marriages struggle, and experts point to all kinds of problems that hinder marital happiness, communication problems, compatibility problems, financial problems, sexual problems, personality problems.
What is the Major Problem in Every Marriage?
And I wouldn’t say those aren’t problems. They certainly can be. But I would submit, and I really don’t mean to be overly simplistic here, but I believe the major problem in every marriage according to scripture is clear. The major problem in every marriage is sin. The big problem in marriage is that every husband and wife in this room, at other campuses, is a sinner.
And that seems basic, but I think we overlook it. How many wedding vows start with, “Look into your wife or husband’s eyes and repeat after me. I am a major sinner and you are stuck with me for life.” Everybody’s in tears, but it’s true. I hate to break it to you, but according to the Bible, marriage is the uniting of two people whom Romans 3 says, “Have throats that are open graves, tongues that practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.”
Those lyrics don’t make for a great wedding song. And let’s pause while we reflect on the depravity of this man and this woman. And we joke, but here’s why this is so important. We go to all kinds of books and conferences and seminars and experts on marriage, and as long as we try externally to make things work, if the sin problem is not continually addressed in each of our hearts, then we will be putting Band-Aids on broken limbs.
We Need to Recognize Our Sin
We need to see the problems in marriage for what they are, a war that is going on in each one of our hearts. And that’s what Jesus is saying here, but we resist this because the last place we want to look when it comes to problems in our marriages is within ourselves. Jesus says it’s sin, it’s hardness of heart that ultimately leads to divorce.
In almost any marital conflict, there are obviously two sides to the story, and while there are situations, many of them, where clearly more fault lies in one side than another, the facts still remains. Both are sinners and any divorce is a result of sin.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
