“‘I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.’” (Matthew 18:19-20)

Jesus told His disciples that if two or three are gathered together as His followers that He would be there among them. Have you ever felt Jesus among you? Sometimes we can feel His presence during a church or worship service, sometimes we feel Him in times of focused prayer, but Jesus told us that where two or three gather as his followers, He is there among them. This means that if you are married to a believer then the two of you are together as Jesus’ followers all the time. Jesus is there among you, in your marriage all the time, and this is certainly what marriage was intended to be: a union between two people and God. 

“For the believing wife brings holiness to her marriage, and the believing husband brings holiness to his marriage. Otherwise, your children would not be holy, but now they are holy.” (1 Corinthians 7:14)

The holiness that a wife and husband bring to a marriage when they are both followers of Christ can lead to holiness in the marriage and holiness in the children from that marriage. The context in which Paul wrote that verse was concerning the believer married to the unbeliever and noting how the believer brings holiness to that union. The truth remains that if both parties are believers then you have two followers of Christ united in the most sacred of unions and Jesus is there among them. What if that doesn’t sound like your marriage? Perhaps the entire family goes to church but you don’t feel a holiness in your union or see it in your children.

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’” (Matthew 7:21-23)

Sin separates us from God. Jesus states very clearly that people have the capacity to look like believers; He even warns us about imposters and those who would lead us astray. In this example Jesus mentions people who prophesied, cast out demons, and performed many miracles in His name and yet, they broke God’s laws and Jesus never knew them. When we keep our sin struggles a secret, when we hide them in the darkness and refuse to confess them and repent of them, then we are choosing this separation from God. When we cling to our sin instead of letting it go and giving it over to God, we are choosing to be separated from God, and if we choose that up until judgment day, we may face the reality of being erased from the knowledge of Him who knows all. 

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.” (Romans 5:8-9)

“Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!” (Psalm 32:2)

This divide that sin has caused is bridged by the cross. Is there a secret sin that you are struggling with? Are you living in complete honesty with your spouse? Are you truly following Christ? Does Jesus know you? Remember that Jesus said where two or three gather as His followers, He is there with them. When it comes to your marriage, are both spouses gathered as His followers? If not, remember the encouragement from Paul that the believing spouse brings holiness to the marriage and that your example may lead your spouse to Christ. The most loving thing we can do for a person is fight for them for the Kingdom of God. Our lives are filled with great joy when we live in complete honesty and our record is cleared of guilt. Choose to follow Jesus in complete honesty and you can experience that holy union when two followers gather and Jesus is there among them and your marriage is filled with His holiness.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

—Redeemed