A Powerful Illustration of the Gospel

Mark Driscoll writes to his friend Mary:

A friend of mine had been married to a woman he dearly loved for many years. Yet they were never as close and intimate as he desired, and he could not figure out why. It was because his wife was, like you, was filled with shame. She had been molested as a girl, raped as a young woman, and promiscuous throughout much of her teen years. She even cheated on her husband during their engagement and did not share these shameful, dark secrets with him. After many years, she finally told her husband who she truly was, what she had truly done, and what had been truly done to her.

The truth devastated her husband, who would have never married her had he known of her infidelity during their engagement and possibly would have walked away from her as damaged goods had he only known about the many times she was molested as a young girl, raped as a young woman, and promiscuous in her teens. At this point she feared that her husband would leave her and want nothing to do with her. Then he did the unthinkable: he left their home, and she did not know where he was going or if he would ever return.

Because he knew the gospel of Jesus Christ, though, he went to the store and purchased for her a new, clean white nightgown. He returned home and asked her to undress in front of him and clothe herself in white, which she did. He then said that he had chosen to see her not by what she had done or by what had been done to her, but instead solely by what Jesus had done for her to forgive her sin and cleanse her filth. He embraced her and prayed for her, and she wept tears that purified her soul as her sin was scorned by the love of Jesus and her husband, who was filled with the Spirit of God. This is what God the Father intends for you, his daughter. Because of Jesus, your husband will view you that way soon, as he learns to see you not by what you have done or what has been done to you, but rather solely by what Jesus has done for you. As an act of worship, I ask you to remember the expiating work of Jesus every time you wear white.

- Mark Driscoll, Death By Love, p. 157, 158