Marriage is a cosmic friendship, a spiritual friendship, a friendship with eternal dimensions. Marriage is not romance garnished with friendship. Rather, biblically, marriage is friendship garnished with romance.

If you’re going to marry somebody, you should marry someone who is now or has the potential to be your very best friend. But friendship is not just a feeling of affection. Friendship is a particular form of love, and it has a structure.

The structure of friendship is a deep oneness that comes from two people journeying together toward a common horizon. Let’s look now at 1) the common horizon, 2) how you get to that horizon, and 3) the implications of journeying together toward that horizon.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 15, 1991. Series: Marriage. Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33.

To receive the devo offer in this episode of "The Meaning of Marriage: A Couple's Devotional," visit https://gospelinlife.com/devo

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

I’m tired of listening to sentimental, slurpy talks on marriage during weddings and in Sunday school and in sermons. They have about as much depth and reality to them as a Hallmark card. The fact is, marriage is many things—in fact, it’s everything except slurpy and sentimental.

Marriage is glorious: it’s a burning strength and joy. Marriage is hard: it’s blood, and it’s sweat, and it’s tears. It’s defeats, and it’s victories. It’s almost everything except sweet.

We’re in a series on the Bible’s view of marriage. We’ve already looked at the power, the definition, and the priority of marriage. We look now at 1) the great purpose of marriage, and 2) what this purpose means in practicality.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 8, 1991. Series: Marriage. Scripture: Ephesians 5:21–33.

To receive the devo offer in this episode of "The Meaning of Marriage: A Couple's Devotional," visit https://gospelinlife.com/devo

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The purpose of marriage is friendship, companionship. Your spouse has to be your best friend, or you don’t have a marriage. I know that’s not traditional, but it’s biblical.

We’re in a series looking at marriage: at its power, its definition, its priority, its purpose, its structure, and its mystery. So far, we’ve looked at the power of marriage and the definition of marriage. Now we’ll look more into the definition of marriage and then at the priority marriage.

We’ll look now at 1) three critical aspects without which a marriage will not run, 2) the definition of marriage, and 3) the priority of marriage.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 1, 1991. Series: Marriage. Scripture: Ephesians 5:22–33.

To receive the devo offer in this episode of "The Meaning of Marriage: A Couple's Devotional," visit https://gospelinlife.com/devo

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Ephesians 5 is the most detailed and famous of New Testament passages about marriage. It shows us the power, the definition, the priority, the purpose, the structure, and the mystery of marriage.

In this series, we’ve already looked at the power of marriage, though we’ll talk a little more about it now. Then the next aspect to discuss is the definition of marriage: that marriage is a covenant.

We’ll look at 1) what it means that marriage is a covenant and 2) the amazing and practical ramifications of marital commitment.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 25, 1991. Series: Marriage. Scripture: Ephesians 5:21–33.

To receive the devo offer in this episode of "The Meaning of Marriage: A Couple's Devotional," visit https://gospelinlife.com/devo

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Whether you’re single, married, widowed, or divorced, you can immediately apply Scripture’s teachings about marriage to your life.

According to the Scripture, marriage is a divine invention. It stands apart from other human institutions because it didn’t evolve out of human thinking. And the basic principles for marriage that are laid out in Ephesians 5 are critical to our understanding of what God says marriage is.

We’ll look now at the first of these basic principles: Self-centeredness is the main enemy of any marriage.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 18, 1991. Series: Marriage. Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33.

To receive the devo offer in this episode of "The Meaning of Marriage: A Couple's Devotional," visit https://gospelinlife.com/devo

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The Cultivating a Healthy Marriage with Tim Keller podcast series is a great resource for anyone wanting to have more loving relationships, someone considering marriage, or any couple who wants to make their marriage stronger. In this series, listeners will work through tough questions like:

- How can I honestly address my self-centeredness? - How can we learn to serve each other out of love? - What do we need to reconcile when we hit rough patches in our relationship?

Preached in 1991, this series was the basis for the bestselling book by Tim and Kathy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage. Whether you’re single, married, widowed, or divorced, through this podcast you’ll learn new ways to apply God’s wisdom about marriage to your life.