Review: When Sinners Say “I Do”: Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage
When Sinners Say “I Do”: Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage by Dave Harvey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wow. Outstanding. Five stars doesn’t mean perfection without any weakness, but a great book. Of the writing and printing of books on marriage there is no end, and much reading of them is weariness to the flesh. So many of them are naught more than manipulation manuals and “how does that make you feel?” therapy sessions. The problem is that those kind of books never get to the root of the problems and end up only trying to control the symptoms. A good way to be miserable.
Dave Harvey understands the root of the problem and it is the theme of this book. The sin problem in marriage is not referring to the sins spouses commit against each other, but it is an acknowledgement that both spouses are sinners and houses of indwelling sin. This is what the Bible teaches about the true nature of man–we are not sinners because we sin, rather we sin because we are sinners. When you bring two such sinners together to live in the same house and share the same space day after day, you multiply the opportunity for sin to manifest and offense to abound.
This book is a good mix of doctrinal and practical instruction. It provokes to self-examination and teaches. Rooting these things in God’s Word means that it gives a strong foundation and reason to hope for sinners who say “I do.” I highly recommend it.