What is the best revealer of sin? The best revealer of sin is the Law of God. In fact, God has given us His Law of commandments and ordinances to allow us to see our own sin. “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God. For by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified in His sight, for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:19-20).” Our conscience can help us be aware of some of our sin, but it is the written Law that is the best instrument for revealing to us our inability to keep God’s commands and it is our failure to keep the Law that condemns us. So the Law is the best instrument for bringing to your awareness the presence of and the extent of your sin. Thus the Law is a gift from God that can bring to our conscious awareness our sin and our need for a Savior. “It is the kindness of God” as manifested in His giving us the Law “that leads you to repentance (Romans 2:4).”

And what is the best revealer of selfishness and “relational sins” like anger, impatience, judgmentalism, lack of grace and lack of forgiveness, pride, jealousy and so on? In my opinion the best revealer of my selfishness is the gift of marriage. I would say that in my life (and maybe in yours), it is God’s gift of a wife that has revealed to me my deep and wide selfishness and my abundant relational sins, like those listed above. It is only through the relationship to my wife that I have the necessary context to see all my flaws and sins. And this is God’s gift to me to help me in my sanctification and to help me overcome these sins.

As the Law is the God-given instrument for revealing the presence of my sin and the extent of my sin in my life, so marriage is the God-given context for revealing to me my selfishness and my relational sins. If I allow the Law to expose my sin and I then repent of my sin and believe in Jesus, I will be forgiven and will be saved. If I allow marriage to expose my selfishness and I then confess that to God and ask Him to give me the grace to love my wife more than myself, I will have the joy and delight of experiencing the deepest of human relationships.