ReSTORY https://www.tpccorinth.org Mon, 18 Mar 2024 22:17:10 -0500 http://churchplantmedia.com/ The Gospel Changes Everything https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/the-gospel-changes-everything https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/the-gospel-changes-everything#comments Tue, 27 Jun 2017 08:00:00 -0500 https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/the-gospel-changes-everything

THE CENTRALITY OF THE GOSPEL

In Galatians 2:14, Paul lays down a powerful principle. He deals with Peter’s racial pride and cowardice by declaring that he was not living “in line with the truth of the gospel”. From this we see that the Christian life is a process of renewing every dimension of our life-- spiritual, psychological, corporate, social--by thinking, hoping, and living out the “lines” or ramifications of the gospel. The gospel is to be applied to every area of thinking, feeling, relating, working, and behaving. The implications and applications of Galatians 2:14 are vast.

Part I - IMPLICATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

IMPLICATIONS

Implication #1 - The power of the gospel.

First, Paul is showing us that that bringing the gospel truth to bear on every area of life is the way to be changed by the power of God. The gospel is described in the Bible in the most astounding terms. Angels long to look into it all the time. (I Peter 1:12). It does not simply bring us power, but it is the power of God itself, for Paul says "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation" (Rom.1:16). It is also the blessing of God with benefits, which accrue to anyone who comes near (I Cor.9:23). It is even called the very light of the glory of God itself--"they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ...for God...has made his light shine into our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (II Cor.4:4,6)

It has the life of God. Paul said to the Corinthians, "I gave you birth through the gospel"! And then, after it has regenerated us, it is the instrument of all continual growth and spiritual progress after we are converted. "All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth." (Col. 1:6). Here we learn: 1) That the gospel is a living thing (cf. Romans 1:16) which is like a seed or a tree that brings more and more new life--bearing fruit and growing. 2) That the gospel is only "planted" in us so as to bear fruit as we understand its greatness and implications deeply--understood God's grace in all its truth. 3) That the gospel continues to grow in us and renew us throughout our lives--as it has been doing since the day you heard it. This text helps us avoid either an exclusively rationalistic or mystical approach to renewal. On the one hand, the gospel has a content--it is profound doctrine. It is truth, and specifically, it is the truth about God's grace. But on the other hand, this truth is a living power that continually expands its influence in our lives, just as a crop or a tree would grow and spread and dominate more and more of an area with roots and fruit.

Implication #2- The sufficiency of the gospel.

Second, Paul is showing that we never “get beyond the gospel” in our Christian life to something more “advanced”. The gospel is not the first “step” in a “stairway” of truths, rather, it is more like the “hub” in a “wheel” of truth. The gospel is not just the A-B-C’s

Tim Keller

but the A to Z of Christianity. The gospel is not just the minimum required doctrine necessary to enter the kingdom, but the way we make all progress in the kingdom.

We are not justified by the gospel and then sanctified by obedience, but the gospel is the way we grow (Gal.3:1-3) and are renewed (Col.1:6). It is the solution to each problem, the key to each closed door, the power through every barrier (Rom.1:16-17). It is very common in the church to think as follows. "The gospel is for non-Christians. One needs it to be saved. But once saved, you grow through hard work and obedience." But Col.1:6 shows that this is a mistake. Both confession and "hard work" that is not arising from and "in line" with the gospel will not sanctify you--it will strangle you. All our problems come from a failure to apply the gospel. Thus when Paul left the Ephesians he committed them "to the word of his grace, which can build you up" (Acts 20:32)

The main problem, then, in the Christian life is that we have not thought out the deep implications of the gospel, we have not “used” the gospel in and on all parts of our life. Richard Lovelace says that most people’s problems are just a failure to be oriented to the gospel--a failure to grasp and believe it through and through. Luther says, "The truth of the Gospel is the principle article of all Christian doctrine....Most necessary is it that we know this article well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads

continually." (on Gal.2:14f) The gospel is not easily comprehended. Paul says that the gospel only does its renewing work in us as we understand it in all its truth. All of us, to some degree live around the truth of the gospel but do not "get" it. So the key to continual and deeper spiritual renewal and revival is the continual re-discovery of the gospel. A stage of renewal is always the discovery of a new implication or application of the gospel--seeing more of its truth. This is true for either an individual or a church.

APPLICATIONS

The two “thieves” of the gospel.

Since Paul uses a metaphor for being “in line” with the gospel, we can consider that gospel renewal occurs when we keep from walking “off-line” either to the right or to the left. The key for thinking out the implications of the gospel is to consider the gospel a “third” way between two mistaken opposites. However, before we start we must realize that the gospel is not a half-way compromise between the two poles--it does not produce “something in the middle”, but something different from both. The gospel critiques both religion and irreligion (Matt.21:31; 22:10).

Tertullian said, "Just as Christ was crucified between two thieves, so this doctrine of justification is ever crucified between two opposite errors." Tertullian meant that there were two basic false ways of thinking, each of which "steals" the power and the distinctiveness of the gospel from us by pulling us “off the gospel line” to one side or the other. These two errors are very powerful, because they represent the natural tendency of the human heart and mind. (The gospel is “revealed” by God (Rom.1:17)-- the unaided human mind cannot conceive it.) These “thieves” can be called moralism or legalism on the one hand, and hedonism or relativism on the other hand. Another way to put it is: the gospel opposes both religion and irreligion. On the one hand, "moralism/religion" stresses truth without grace, for it says that we must obey the truth in order to be saved. On the other hand, "relativists/irreligion" stresses grace

without truth, for they say that we are all accepted by God (if there is a God) and we have to decide what is true for us. But "truth" without grace is not really truth, and "grace" without truth is not really grace. Jesus was "full of grace and truth". Any religion or philosophy of life that de-emphasizes or lose one or the other of these truths, falls into legalism or into license and either way, the joy and power and "release" of the gospel is stolen by one thief or the other.

"I am more sinful and flawed than I ever dared believe" (vs. antinomianism) "I am more accepted and loved than I ever dared hope" (vs. legalism)

The moralism-religion thief. How does moralism/religion steal joy and power?

Moralism is the view that you are acceptable (to God, the world, others, yourself) through your attainments. (Moralists do not have to be religious, but often are.) When they are, their religion if pretty conservative and filled with rules. Sometimes moralists have views of God as very holy and just. This view will lead either to a) self-hatred (because you can't live up to the standards), or b) self-inflation (because you think you have lived up to the standards). It is ironic to realize that inferiority and superiority complexes have the very same root. Whether the moralist ends up smug and superior or crushed and guilty just depends on how high the standards are and on a person's natural advantages (such as family, intelligence, looks, willpower). Moralistic people can be deeply religious--but there is no transforming joy or power.

The relativism-irreligion thief. How does relativism steal joy and power?

Relativists are usually irreligious, or else prefer what is called "liberal" religion. On the surface, they are more happy and tolerant than moralist/religious people. Though they may be highly idealistic in some areas (such as politics), they believe that everyone needs to determine what is right and wrong for them. They are not convinced that God is just and must punish sinners. Their beliefs in God will tend to see Him as loving or as an impersonal force. They may talk a great deal about God's love, but since they do not think of themselves as sinners, God's love for us costs him nothing. If God accepts us, it is because he is so welcoming, or because we are not so bad. The concept of God's love in the gospel is far more rich and deep and electrifying.

What do both religious and irreligious people have in common? They seem so different, but from the viewpoint of the gospel, they are really the same.

They are both ways to avoid Jesus as Savior and keep control of their lives. Irreligious people seek to be their own saviors and lords through irreligion, "worldly" pride. ("No one tells me how to live or what to do, so I determine what is right and wrong for me!") But moral and religious people seek to be their own saviors and lords through religion, "religious" pride. ("I am more moral and spiritual than other people, so God owes me to listen to my prayers and take me to heaven. God cannot let just anything happen to me--he owes me a happy life. I’ve earned it!") The irreligious person rejects Jesus entirely, but the religious person only uses Jesus as an example and helper and teacher--but not as a Savior. (Flannery O'Connor wrote that religious people think "that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin...") These are two different ways to do the same thing--control our own lives. (Note: Ironically, Moralists, despite all the emphasis on traditional standards, are in the end self-centered and individualistic,

because they have set themselves up as their own Saviour. Relativists, despite all their emphasis on freedom and acceptance, are in the end moralistic because they still have to attain and live up to (their own) standards or become desperate. And often, they take great pride in their own open-mindedness and judge others who are not.)

They are both based on distorted views of the real God.

The irreligious person loses sight of the law and holiness of God and the religious person loses sight of the love and grace of God, in the end they both lose the gospel entirely. For the gospel is that on the cross Jesus fulfilled the law of God out of love for us. Without a full understanding of the work of Christ, the reality of God’s holiness will make his grace unreal, or the reality of his love will make his holiness unreal. Only the gospel--that we are so sinful that we need to be saved utterly by grace--allows a person to see God as he really is. The gospel shows us a God far more holy than the legalist can bear (he had to die because we could not satisfy his holy demands) and yet far more merciful than a humanist can conceive (he had to die because he loved us).

They both deny our sin--so lose the joy and power of grace.

It is obvious that relativistic, irreligious people deny the depth of sin, and therefore the message “God loves you” has no power for them. But though religious persons may be extremely penitent and sorry for their sins, they see sins as simply the failure to live up to standards by which they are saving themselves. They do not see sin as the deeper self-righteousness and self-centeredness through which they are trying to live lives independent of God. So when they go to Jesus for forgiveness, they only as a way to "cover over the gaps" in their project of self-salvation. And when people say, "I know God is forgiving, but I cannot forgive myself", they mean that they reject God's grace and insist that they be worthy of his favor. So even religious people with “low self- esteem” are really in their funk because they will not see the depth of sin. They see it only as rules breaking, not as rebellion and self-salvation.

A whole new way of seeing God.

But Christians are those who have adopted a whole new system of approach to God. They may have had both religious phases and irreligious phases in their lives. But they have come to see that their entire reason for both their irreligion and their religion was essentially the same and essentially wrong! Christians come to see that both their sins and their best deeds have all really been ways of avoiding Jesus as savior. They come to see that Christianity is not fundamentally an invitation to get more religious. A Christian comes to say: "though I have often failed to obey the moral law, the deeper problem was why I was trying to obey it! Even my efforts to obey it has been just a way of seeking to be my own savior. In that mindset, even if I obey or ask for forgiveness, I am really resisting the gospel and setting myself up as Savior." To "get the gospel" is turn from self-justification and rely on Jesus' record for a relationship with God. The irreligious don't repent at all, and the religious only repent of sins. But Christians also repent of their righteousness. That is the distinction between the three groups--Christian, moralists (religious), and pragmatists (irreligious).

Summary. Without a knowledge of our extreme sin, the payment of the cross seems trivial and does not electrify or transform. But without a knowledge of Christ's completely satisfying life and death, the knowledge of sin would crush us or move us to deny and repress it. Take away either the knowledge of sin or the knowledge of

grace and people's lives not changed. They will be crushed by the moral law or run from it angrily. So the gospel is not that we go from being irreligious to being religious, but that we realize that our reasons for both our religiosity and our irreligiosity were essentially the same and essentially wrong. We were seeking to be our own Saviors and thereby keep control of our own life. When we trust in Christ as our Redeemer, we turn from trusting either self-determination or self-denial for our salvation--from either moralism or hedonism.

A whole new way of seeing life

Paul shows us, then, that we must not just simply ask in every area of life: “what is the moral way to act?” but “what is the way that is in-line with the gospel?” The gospel must be continually “thought out” to keep us from moving into our habitual moralistic or individualistic directions. We must bring everything into line with the gospel.

The example of racism.

Since Paul used the gospel on racism, let’s use it as an example:

The moralistic approach to race. Moralists/legalists would tend to be very proud of their culture. They would fall into cultural imperialism.They would try to attach spiritual significance to their cultural styles, to make themselves feel morally superior to other peoples. This happens because moralistic people are very insecure, since they look a lot at the eternal law, and they know deep down that they cannot keep it. So they use cultural differences to buttress their sense of righteousness.

The relativistic/hedonist approach to race. But the opposite error from cultural imperialism would be cultural relativism. This approach would say, “yes, traditional people were racists because they believed in absolute truth. But truth is relative. Every culture is beautiful in itself. Every culture must be accepted on its own terms.” The gospel approach to race. Christians know that racism does not stem so much from a belief in truth, but from a lack of belief in grace. The gospel leads us to be: a) on the one hand, somewhat critical of all cultures, including our own (since there is truth), but b) on the other hand, we can feel morally superior to no one. After all, we are saved by grace alone, and therefore a non-Christian neighbor may be more moral and wise than you. This gives the Christian a radically different posture than either moralists or relativists.

Note: Relativists (as we said above) are ultimately moralistic. And therefore they can be respectful only of other people who believe everything is relative! But Christians cannot feel morally superior to relativists.

The example of a physical handicap.

Let’s come down from something sociological (racism) to something psychological. Imagine that through disease or an accident, you lost your eyesight--you became blind. How would you bring the gospel to bear on this pain and grief?
The moralistic person will either a) despair, because the handicap takes away something which was his/her “righteousness” or b) deny, refusing to admit the new permanent limitation. The hedonistic person will also either a) despair, because the handicap takes away their ability to live a pleasure-oriented life, or b) deny, because his/her philosophy cannot bear it. But the gospel will lead to a) resist the handicap, yet b) accept it too. Too much resistance is denial and too much acceptance

is despair. The gospel is real about both sin and grace, and thus can give the handicapped person the same balance.)

GROUP DISCUSSION

1. Share a) what helped you most, and b) what puzzled you.

2. Now try to think through the following three subjects to come to a gospel-based position. In each case, distinguish the moralist view, the hedonist/relativist view, and a gospel view:

How/whether to evangelize non-Christians.
How to relate (as adults) to difficult parents.
How to regard the poor.
(After you are done, check the appendix. See A.6, A.9, B.3)

3. If there is time, choose other issues or subjects that the group wants to work on, using the same schema for thinking the through.

4. Before concluding, select one personal problem or issue in your life. During the next week, pray and reflect and fill out the following form:

a. The moralistic way to handle this:

b. The hedonistic way to handle this:

c. The gospel way to handle this:

Part II. - THE KEY TO EVERYTHING

We have seen that the gospel is the way that anything is renewed and transformed by Christ--whether a heart, a relationship, a church, or a community. It is the key to all doctrine and our view of our lives in this world. Therefore, all our problems come from a lack of orientation to the gospel. Put positively, the gospel transforms our hearts and thinking and approaches to absolutely everything.

A. The Gospel and the individual.

1. Approach to discouragement. When a person is depressed, the moralist says, "you are breaking the rules--repent." On the other hand, the relativist says, "you just need to love and accept yourself". But (assuming there is no physiological base of the depression!) the gospel leads us to examine ourselves and say: "something in my life has become more important than God, a pseudo-savior, a form of works- righteousness". The gospel leads us to repentance, but not to merely setting our will against superficialities. It is without the gospel that superficialities will be addressed instead of the heart. The moralist will work on behavior and the relativist will work on the emotions themselves.

2. Approach to the physical world. Some moralists are indifferent to the physical world--they see it as "unimportant", while many others are downright afraid of physical pleasure. Since they are seeking to earn their salvation, they prefer to focus on sins of the physical like sex and the other appetites. These are easier to avoid than sins of the spirit like pride. Therefore, they prefer to see sins of the body as worse than other kinds. As a result, legalism usually leads to a distaste of pleasure. On the other hand, the relativist is often a hedonist, someone who is controlled by pleasure, and who makes it an idol. The gospel leads us to see that God has invented both body and soul and so will redeem both body and soul, though under sin both body and soul are broken. Thus the gospel leads us to enjoy the physical (and to fight against physical brokenness, such as sickness and poverty), yet to be moderate in our use of material things.

3. Approach to love and relationships. Moralism often makes relationships into a "blame-game". This is because a moralist is traumatized by criticism that is too severe, and maintains a self-image as a good person by blaming others. On the other hand, moralism can use the procuring of love as the way to "earn our salvation" and convince ourselves we are worthy persons. That often creates what is called "co- dependency"--a form of self-salvation through needing people or needing people to need you (i.e. saving yourself by saving others). On the other hand, much relativism/liberalism reduces love to a negotiated partnership for mutual benefit. You only relate as long as it is not costing you anything. So the choice (without the gospel) is to selfishly use others or to selfishly let yourself be used by others. But the gospel leads us to do neither. We do sacrifice and commit, but not out of a need to convince ourselves or others we are acceptable. So we can love the person enough to confront, yet stay with the person when it does not benefit us.

4. Approach to suffering. Moralism takes the "Job's friends" approach, laying guilt on yourself. You simply assume: "I must be bad to be suffering". Under the guilt, though, there is always anger toward God. Why? Because moralists believe that God owes them. The whole point of moralism is to put God in one's debt. Because you have been so moral, you feel you don't really deserve suffering. So moralism tears you up, for at one level you think, "what did I do to deserve this?" but on another level you think, "I probably did everything to deserve this!" So, if the moralist suffers, he or she must either feel mad at God (because I have been performing well) or mad at self (because I have not been performing well) or both. On the other hand, relativism/pragmatism feels justified in avoiding suffering at all costs--lying, cheating, and broken promises are OK. But when suffering does come, the pragmatist also lays the fault at God's doorstep, claiming that he must be either unjust or impotent. But the cross shows us that God redeemed us through suffering. That he suffered not that we might not suffer, but that in our suffering we could become like him. Since both the moralist and the pragmatist ignore the cross in different ways, they will both be confused and devastated by suffering.

5. Approach to sexuality. The secularist/pragmatist sees sex as merely biological and physical appetite. The moralist tends to see sex as dirty or at least a dangerous impulse that leads constantly to sin. But the gospel shows us that sexuality is to reflect the self-giving of Christ. He gave himself completely without conditions. So we are not to seek intimacy but hold back control of our lives. If we give ourselves sexually we are to give ourselves legally, socially, personally--utterly. Sex only is to happened in a totally committed, permanent relationship of marriage.

6. Approach to one's family. Moralism can make you a slave to parental expectations, while pragmatism sees no need for family loyalty or the keeping of promises and covenants if they do not "meet my needs". The gospel frees you from making parental approval an absolute or psychological salvation, pointing how God becomes the ultimate father. Then you will neither be too dependent or too hostile to your parents.

7. Approach to self-control. Moralists tell us to control our passions out of fear of punishment. This is a volition-based approach. Liberalism tells us to express ourselves and find out what is right for us. This is an emotion-based approach. The gospel tells us that the free, unloseable grace of God "teaches" us to "say no" to our passions (Titus 2:13) if we listen to it. This is a whole-person based approach, starting with the truth descending into the heart.

8. Approach to other races and cultures. The liberal approach is to relativize all cultures. ("We can all get along because there is no truth".) The conservatives believe there is truth for evaluation of cultures, and so they choose some culture as superior and then they idolize it, feeling superior to others in the impulse of self-justifying pride. The gospel leads us to be: a) on the one hand, somewhat critical of all cultures, including our own (since there is truth), but b) on the other hand, we are morally superior to no one. After all, we are saved by grace alone. Christians will exhibit both moral conviction yet compassion and flexibility. For example, gays are used to being "bashed" and hated or completely accepted. They never see anything else.

9. Approach to witness to non-Christians. The liberal/pragmatist approach is to deny the legitimacy of evangelism altogether. The conservative/moralist person does believe in proselytizing, because "we are right and they are wrong". Such proselyzing is almost always offensive. But the gospel produces a constellation of traits in us. a) First, we are compelled to share the gospel out of generosity and love, not guilt. b) Second, we are freed from fear of being ridiculed or hurt by others, since we already have the favor of God by grace. c) Third, there is a humility in our dealings with others, because we know we are saved only by grace alone, not because of our superior insight or character. d) Fourth, we are hopeful about anyone, even the "hard cases", because we were saved only because of grace, not because we were likely people to be Christians. d) Fifth, we are courteous and careful with people. We don't have to push or coerce them, for it is only God's grace that opens hearts, not our eloquence or persistence or even their openness. All these traits not only create a winsome evangelist but an excellent neighbor in a multi-cultural society.

10. Approach to human authority. Moralists will tend to obey human authorities (family, tribe, government, cultural customs) too much, since they rely so heavily on their self-image of being moral and decent. Pragmatists will either obey human authority too much (since they have no higher authority by which they can judge their culture) or else too little (since they may only obey when they know they won't get caught). That mean either authoritarianism or anarchy. But the gospel gives you both a standard by which to oppose human authority (if it contradicts the gospel), but on the other hand, gives you incentive to obey the civil authorities from the heart, even when you could get away with disobedience.

11. Approach to human dignity. Moralists often have a pretty low view of human nature--they mainly see human sin and depravity. Pragmatists, on the other hand, have no good basis for treating people with dignity. Usually they have no religious beliefs about what human beings are. (If they are just chance products of evolution, how do we know they are more valuable than a rock?) But the gospel shows us that every human being is infinitely fallen (lost in sin) and infinitely exalted (in the image of God). So we treat every human being as precious, yet dangerous!

12. Approach to guilt. When someone says, "I can't forgive myself", it means there is some standard or condition or person that is more central to your identity than the grace of God. God is the only God who forgives--no other "god" will. If you cannot forgive yourself, it is because you have failed your real God, your real righteousness, and it is holding you captive. The moralist's false god is usually a God of their imagination which is holy and demanding but not gracious. The pragmatist's false god is usually some achievement or relationship.

13. Approach to self-image. Without the gospel, your self-image is based upon living up to some standards--whether yours or someone's imposed upon you. If you live up to those standards, you will be confident but not humble. If you don't live up to them, you will be humble but not confident. Only in the gospel can you be both enormously bold and utterly sensitive and humble. For you are both perfect and a sinner!

14. Approach to joy and humor. Moralism has to eat away at real joy and humor-- because the system of legalism forces you to take yourself (your image, your

appearance, your reputation) very seriously. Pragmatism on the other hand will tend toward cynicism as life goes on because of the inevitable cynicism that grows. This cynicism grows from a lack of hope for the world. In the end, evil will triumph--there is no judgment or divine justice. But is we are saved by grace alone, then the very fact of our being Christians is a constant source of amazed delight. There is nothing matter- of-fact about our lives, no "of course" to our lives. It is a miracle we are Christians, and we have hope. So the gospel which creates bold humility should give us a far deeper sense of humor. We don't have to take ourselves seriously, and we are full of hope for the world.

15. Approach to "right living". Jonathan Edwards points out that "true virtue" is only possible for those who have experienced the grace of the gospel. Any person who is trying to earn their salvation does "the right thing" in order to get into heaven, or in order to better their self-esteeem (etc.). In other words, the ultimate motive is self- interest. But persons who know they are totally accepted already do "the right thing" out of sheer delight in righteousness for its own sake. Only in the gospel do you obey God for God's sake, and not for what God will give you. Only in the gospel do you love people for their sake (not yours), do good for its own sake (not yours), and obey God for his sake (not yours). Only the gospel makes "doing the right thing" a joy and delight, not a burden or a means to an end.

B. The Gospel and the church.

1. Approach to ministry in the world. Legalism tends to place all the emphasis on the individual human soul. Legalistic religion will insist on converting others to their faith and church, but will ignore social needs of the broader community. On the other hand, "liberalism" will tend to emphasize only amelioration of social conditions and minimize the need for repentance and conversion. The gospel leads to love which in turn moves us to give our neighbor whatever is needed--conversion or a cup of cold water, evangelism and social concern.

2. Approach to worship. Moralism leads to a dour and somber worship which may be long on dignity but short on joy. A shallow understanding of "acceptance" without a sense of God's holiness can lead to frothy or casual worship. (A sense of neither God's love nor his holiness leads to a worship service that feels like a committee meeting.) But the gospel leads us to see that God is both transcendent yet immanent. His immanence makes his transcendence comforting, while his transcendence makes his immanence amazing. The gospel leads to both awe and intimacy in worship, for the Holy One is now our Father.

3. Approach to the poor. The liberal/pragmatist tend to scorn the religion of the poor and see them as helpless victims needing expertise. This is born out of a disbelief in God's common grace or special grace to all. Ironically, the secular mindset also disbelieves in sin, and thus anyone who is poor must be oppressed, a helpless victim. The conservative/moralists on the other hand tend to scorn the poor as failures and weaklings. They see them as somehow to blame for their situation. But the gospel leads us to be: a) humble, without moral superiority knowing you were "spiritually bankrupt" but saved by Christ's free generosity, and b) gracious, not worried too much about "deservingness", since you didn't deserve Christ's grace, c) respectful of believing

poor Christians as brothers and sisters from whom to learn. The gospel alone can bring "knowledge workers" into a sense of humble respect for and solidarity with the poor.

4. Approach to doctrinal distinctives. The "already" of the New Testament means more boldness in proclamation. We can most definitely be sure of the central doctrines that support the gospel. But, the "not yet" means charity and humility in non-essentials beliefs. In other words, we must be moderate about what we teach except when it comes to the cross, grace and sin. In our views, especially those that Christians cannot agree on, we must be less unbending and triumphalistic ("believing we have arrived intellectually"). It also means that our discernment of God's call and his "will" for us and other must not be propagated with overweening assurance that your insight cannot be wrong. Vs. pragmatism, we must be willing to die for our belief in the gospel; vs. moralism, we must not fight to the death over every one of our beliefs.

5. Approach to holiness. The "already" means we should not tolerate sin. The presence of the kingdom includes that we are made "partakers of the divine nature" (II Pet. 1:3). The gospel brings us the confidence that anyone can be changed, that any enslaving habit can be overcome. But the "not yet" our sin which remains in us and will never be eliminated until the fullness of the kingdom comes in. So we must avoid pat answers, and we must not expect "quick fixes". Unlike the moralists, we must be patient with slow growth or lapses and realize the complexity of change and growth in grace. Unlike the pragmatists and cynics, we must insist that miraculous change is possible.

6. Approach to miracles. The "already" of the kingdom means power for miracles and healing is available. Jesus showed the kingdom by healing the sick and raising the dead. But the "not yet" means nature (including us) is still subject to decay (Rom.8:22- 23) and thus sickness and death is still inevitable until the final consummation. We cannot expect miracles and the elimination of suffering to be such a normal part of the Christian life that pain and suffering will be eliminated from the lives of faithful people. Vs. moralists, we know that God can heal and do miracles. Vs. pragmatists, we do not aim to press God into eliminating suffering.

7. Approach to church health. The "already" of the kingdom means that the church is the community now of kingdom power. It therefore is capable of mightily transforming its community. Evangelism that adds "daily to the number of those being saved" (Acts 2:47) is possible! Loving fellowship which "destroyed...the dividing wall of hostility" between different races and classes is possible! But the "not yet" of sin means Jesus has not yet presented his bride, the church "as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish" (Eph.5:27). We must not then be harshly critical of imperfect congregations, nor jump impatiently from church to church over perceived blemishes. Error will never be completely eradicated from the church. The "not yet" means to avoid the overly severe use of church discipline and other means to seek to bring about a perfect church today.

8. Approach to social change. We must not forget that Christ is even now ruling in a sense over history (Eph.1:22ff). The "already" of grace means that Christians can expect to use God's power to change social conditions and communities. But the "not yet" of sin means there will be "wars and rumors of wars". Selfishness, cruelty,

terrorism, oppression will continue. Christians harbor no illusions about politics nor expect utopian conditions. The "not yet" means that Christians will not trust any political or social agenda to bring about righteousness here on earth. So the gospel keeps us from the over-pessimism of fundamentalism (moralism) about social change, and also from the over-optimism of liberalism (pragmatism).

Sum: All problems, personal or social come from a failure to use the gospel in a radical way, to get "in line with the truth of the gospel" (Gal.2:14). All pathologies in the church and all its ineffectiveness comes from a failure to use the gospel in a radical way. We believe that if the gospel is expounded and applied in its fullness in any church, that church will look very unique. People will find both moral conviction yet compassion and flexibility. For example, gays are used to being "bashed" and hated or completely accepted. They never see anything else. The cultural elites of either liberal or conservative sides are alike in their unwillingness to befriend or live with or respect or worship with the poor. They are alike in separating themselves increasingly from the rest of society.

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THE CENTRALITY OF THE GOSPEL

In Galatians 2:14, Paul lays down a powerful principle. He deals with Peter’s racial pride and cowardice by declaring that he was not living “in line with the truth of the gospel”. From this we see that the Christian life is a process of renewing every dimension of our life-- spiritual, psychological, corporate, social--by thinking, hoping, and living out the “lines” or ramifications of the gospel. The gospel is to be applied to every area of thinking, feeling, relating, working, and behaving. The implications and applications of Galatians 2:14 are vast.

Part I - IMPLICATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

IMPLICATIONS

Implication #1 - The power of the gospel.

First, Paul is showing us that that bringing the gospel truth to bear on every area of life is the way to be changed by the power of God. The gospel is described in the Bible in the most astounding terms. Angels long to look into it all the time. (I Peter 1:12). It does not simply bring us power, but it is the power of God itself, for Paul says "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation" (Rom.1:16). It is also the blessing of God with benefits, which accrue to anyone who comes near (I Cor.9:23). It is even called the very light of the glory of God itself--"they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ...for God...has made his light shine into our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (II Cor.4:4,6)

It has the life of God. Paul said to the Corinthians, "I gave you birth through the gospel"! And then, after it has regenerated us, it is the instrument of all continual growth and spiritual progress after we are converted. "All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth." (Col. 1:6). Here we learn: 1) That the gospel is a living thing (cf. Romans 1:16) which is like a seed or a tree that brings more and more new life--bearing fruit and growing. 2) That the gospel is only "planted" in us so as to bear fruit as we understand its greatness and implications deeply--understood God's grace in all its truth. 3) That the gospel continues to grow in us and renew us throughout our lives--as it has been doing since the day you heard it. This text helps us avoid either an exclusively rationalistic or mystical approach to renewal. On the one hand, the gospel has a content--it is profound doctrine. It is truth, and specifically, it is the truth about God's grace. But on the other hand, this truth is a living power that continually expands its influence in our lives, just as a crop or a tree would grow and spread and dominate more and more of an area with roots and fruit.

Implication #2- The sufficiency of the gospel.

Second, Paul is showing that we never “get beyond the gospel” in our Christian life to something more “advanced”. The gospel is not the first “step” in a “stairway” of truths, rather, it is more like the “hub” in a “wheel” of truth. The gospel is not just the A-B-C’s

Tim Keller

but the A to Z of Christianity. The gospel is not just the minimum required doctrine necessary to enter the kingdom, but the way we make all progress in the kingdom.

We are not justified by the gospel and then sanctified by obedience, but the gospel is the way we grow (Gal.3:1-3) and are renewed (Col.1:6). It is the solution to each problem, the key to each closed door, the power through every barrier (Rom.1:16-17). It is very common in the church to think as follows. "The gospel is for non-Christians. One needs it to be saved. But once saved, you grow through hard work and obedience." But Col.1:6 shows that this is a mistake. Both confession and "hard work" that is not arising from and "in line" with the gospel will not sanctify you--it will strangle you. All our problems come from a failure to apply the gospel. Thus when Paul left the Ephesians he committed them "to the word of his grace, which can build you up" (Acts 20:32)

The main problem, then, in the Christian life is that we have not thought out the deep implications of the gospel, we have not “used” the gospel in and on all parts of our life. Richard Lovelace says that most people’s problems are just a failure to be oriented to the gospel--a failure to grasp and believe it through and through. Luther says, "The truth of the Gospel is the principle article of all Christian doctrine....Most necessary is it that we know this article well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads

continually." (on Gal.2:14f) The gospel is not easily comprehended. Paul says that the gospel only does its renewing work in us as we understand it in all its truth. All of us, to some degree live around the truth of the gospel but do not "get" it. So the key to continual and deeper spiritual renewal and revival is the continual re-discovery of the gospel. A stage of renewal is always the discovery of a new implication or application of the gospel--seeing more of its truth. This is true for either an individual or a church.

APPLICATIONS

The two “thieves” of the gospel.

Since Paul uses a metaphor for being “in line” with the gospel, we can consider that gospel renewal occurs when we keep from walking “off-line” either to the right or to the left. The key for thinking out the implications of the gospel is to consider the gospel a “third” way between two mistaken opposites. However, before we start we must realize that the gospel is not a half-way compromise between the two poles--it does not produce “something in the middle”, but something different from both. The gospel critiques both religion and irreligion (Matt.21:31; 22:10).

Tertullian said, "Just as Christ was crucified between two thieves, so this doctrine of justification is ever crucified between two opposite errors." Tertullian meant that there were two basic false ways of thinking, each of which "steals" the power and the distinctiveness of the gospel from us by pulling us “off the gospel line” to one side or the other. These two errors are very powerful, because they represent the natural tendency of the human heart and mind. (The gospel is “revealed” by God (Rom.1:17)-- the unaided human mind cannot conceive it.) These “thieves” can be called moralism or legalism on the one hand, and hedonism or relativism on the other hand. Another way to put it is: the gospel opposes both religion and irreligion. On the one hand, "moralism/religion" stresses truth without grace, for it says that we must obey the truth in order to be saved. On the other hand, "relativists/irreligion" stresses grace

without truth, for they say that we are all accepted by God (if there is a God) and we have to decide what is true for us. But "truth" without grace is not really truth, and "grace" without truth is not really grace. Jesus was "full of grace and truth". Any religion or philosophy of life that de-emphasizes or lose one or the other of these truths, falls into legalism or into license and either way, the joy and power and "release" of the gospel is stolen by one thief or the other.

"I am more sinful and flawed than I ever dared believe" (vs. antinomianism) "I am more accepted and loved than I ever dared hope" (vs. legalism)

The moralism-religion thief. How does moralism/religion steal joy and power?

Moralism is the view that you are acceptable (to God, the world, others, yourself) through your attainments. (Moralists do not have to be religious, but often are.) When they are, their religion if pretty conservative and filled with rules. Sometimes moralists have views of God as very holy and just. This view will lead either to a) self-hatred (because you can't live up to the standards), or b) self-inflation (because you think you have lived up to the standards). It is ironic to realize that inferiority and superiority complexes have the very same root. Whether the moralist ends up smug and superior or crushed and guilty just depends on how high the standards are and on a person's natural advantages (such as family, intelligence, looks, willpower). Moralistic people can be deeply religious--but there is no transforming joy or power.

The relativism-irreligion thief. How does relativism steal joy and power?

Relativists are usually irreligious, or else prefer what is called "liberal" religion. On the surface, they are more happy and tolerant than moralist/religious people. Though they may be highly idealistic in some areas (such as politics), they believe that everyone needs to determine what is right and wrong for them. They are not convinced that God is just and must punish sinners. Their beliefs in God will tend to see Him as loving or as an impersonal force. They may talk a great deal about God's love, but since they do not think of themselves as sinners, God's love for us costs him nothing. If God accepts us, it is because he is so welcoming, or because we are not so bad. The concept of God's love in the gospel is far more rich and deep and electrifying.

What do both religious and irreligious people have in common? They seem so different, but from the viewpoint of the gospel, they are really the same.

They are both ways to avoid Jesus as Savior and keep control of their lives. Irreligious people seek to be their own saviors and lords through irreligion, "worldly" pride. ("No one tells me how to live or what to do, so I determine what is right and wrong for me!") But moral and religious people seek to be their own saviors and lords through religion, "religious" pride. ("I am more moral and spiritual than other people, so God owes me to listen to my prayers and take me to heaven. God cannot let just anything happen to me--he owes me a happy life. I’ve earned it!") The irreligious person rejects Jesus entirely, but the religious person only uses Jesus as an example and helper and teacher--but not as a Savior. (Flannery O'Connor wrote that religious people think "that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin...") These are two different ways to do the same thing--control our own lives. (Note: Ironically, Moralists, despite all the emphasis on traditional standards, are in the end self-centered and individualistic,

because they have set themselves up as their own Saviour. Relativists, despite all their emphasis on freedom and acceptance, are in the end moralistic because they still have to attain and live up to (their own) standards or become desperate. And often, they take great pride in their own open-mindedness and judge others who are not.)

They are both based on distorted views of the real God.

The irreligious person loses sight of the law and holiness of God and the religious person loses sight of the love and grace of God, in the end they both lose the gospel entirely. For the gospel is that on the cross Jesus fulfilled the law of God out of love for us. Without a full understanding of the work of Christ, the reality of God’s holiness will make his grace unreal, or the reality of his love will make his holiness unreal. Only the gospel--that we are so sinful that we need to be saved utterly by grace--allows a person to see God as he really is. The gospel shows us a God far more holy than the legalist can bear (he had to die because we could not satisfy his holy demands) and yet far more merciful than a humanist can conceive (he had to die because he loved us).

They both deny our sin--so lose the joy and power of grace.

It is obvious that relativistic, irreligious people deny the depth of sin, and therefore the message “God loves you” has no power for them. But though religious persons may be extremely penitent and sorry for their sins, they see sins as simply the failure to live up to standards by which they are saving themselves. They do not see sin as the deeper self-righteousness and self-centeredness through which they are trying to live lives independent of God. So when they go to Jesus for forgiveness, they only as a way to "cover over the gaps" in their project of self-salvation. And when people say, "I know God is forgiving, but I cannot forgive myself", they mean that they reject God's grace and insist that they be worthy of his favor. So even religious people with “low self- esteem” are really in their funk because they will not see the depth of sin. They see it only as rules breaking, not as rebellion and self-salvation.

A whole new way of seeing God.

But Christians are those who have adopted a whole new system of approach to God. They may have had both religious phases and irreligious phases in their lives. But they have come to see that their entire reason for both their irreligion and their religion was essentially the same and essentially wrong! Christians come to see that both their sins and their best deeds have all really been ways of avoiding Jesus as savior. They come to see that Christianity is not fundamentally an invitation to get more religious. A Christian comes to say: "though I have often failed to obey the moral law, the deeper problem was why I was trying to obey it! Even my efforts to obey it has been just a way of seeking to be my own savior. In that mindset, even if I obey or ask for forgiveness, I am really resisting the gospel and setting myself up as Savior." To "get the gospel" is turn from self-justification and rely on Jesus' record for a relationship with God. The irreligious don't repent at all, and the religious only repent of sins. But Christians also repent of their righteousness. That is the distinction between the three groups--Christian, moralists (religious), and pragmatists (irreligious).

Summary. Without a knowledge of our extreme sin, the payment of the cross seems trivial and does not electrify or transform. But without a knowledge of Christ's completely satisfying life and death, the knowledge of sin would crush us or move us to deny and repress it. Take away either the knowledge of sin or the knowledge of

grace and people's lives not changed. They will be crushed by the moral law or run from it angrily. So the gospel is not that we go from being irreligious to being religious, but that we realize that our reasons for both our religiosity and our irreligiosity were essentially the same and essentially wrong. We were seeking to be our own Saviors and thereby keep control of our own life. When we trust in Christ as our Redeemer, we turn from trusting either self-determination or self-denial for our salvation--from either moralism or hedonism.

A whole new way of seeing life

Paul shows us, then, that we must not just simply ask in every area of life: “what is the moral way to act?” but “what is the way that is in-line with the gospel?” The gospel must be continually “thought out” to keep us from moving into our habitual moralistic or individualistic directions. We must bring everything into line with the gospel.

The example of racism.

Since Paul used the gospel on racism, let’s use it as an example:

The moralistic approach to race. Moralists/legalists would tend to be very proud of their culture. They would fall into cultural imperialism.They would try to attach spiritual significance to their cultural styles, to make themselves feel morally superior to other peoples. This happens because moralistic people are very insecure, since they look a lot at the eternal law, and they know deep down that they cannot keep it. So they use cultural differences to buttress their sense of righteousness.

The relativistic/hedonist approach to race. But the opposite error from cultural imperialism would be cultural relativism. This approach would say, “yes, traditional people were racists because they believed in absolute truth. But truth is relative. Every culture is beautiful in itself. Every culture must be accepted on its own terms.” The gospel approach to race. Christians know that racism does not stem so much from a belief in truth, but from a lack of belief in grace. The gospel leads us to be: a) on the one hand, somewhat critical of all cultures, including our own (since there is truth), but b) on the other hand, we can feel morally superior to no one. After all, we are saved by grace alone, and therefore a non-Christian neighbor may be more moral and wise than you. This gives the Christian a radically different posture than either moralists or relativists.

Note: Relativists (as we said above) are ultimately moralistic. And therefore they can be respectful only of other people who believe everything is relative! But Christians cannot feel morally superior to relativists.

The example of a physical handicap.

Let’s come down from something sociological (racism) to something psychological. Imagine that through disease or an accident, you lost your eyesight--you became blind. How would you bring the gospel to bear on this pain and grief?
The moralistic person will either a) despair, because the handicap takes away something which was his/her “righteousness” or b) deny, refusing to admit the new permanent limitation. The hedonistic person will also either a) despair, because the handicap takes away their ability to live a pleasure-oriented life, or b) deny, because his/her philosophy cannot bear it. But the gospel will lead to a) resist the handicap, yet b) accept it too. Too much resistance is denial and too much acceptance

is despair. The gospel is real about both sin and grace, and thus can give the handicapped person the same balance.)

GROUP DISCUSSION

1. Share a) what helped you most, and b) what puzzled you.

2. Now try to think through the following three subjects to come to a gospel-based position. In each case, distinguish the moralist view, the hedonist/relativist view, and a gospel view:

How/whether to evangelize non-Christians.
How to relate (as adults) to difficult parents.
How to regard the poor.
(After you are done, check the appendix. See A.6, A.9, B.3)

3. If there is time, choose other issues or subjects that the group wants to work on, using the same schema for thinking the through.

4. Before concluding, select one personal problem or issue in your life. During the next week, pray and reflect and fill out the following form:

a. The moralistic way to handle this:

b. The hedonistic way to handle this:

c. The gospel way to handle this:

Part II. - THE KEY TO EVERYTHING

We have seen that the gospel is the way that anything is renewed and transformed by Christ--whether a heart, a relationship, a church, or a community. It is the key to all doctrine and our view of our lives in this world. Therefore, all our problems come from a lack of orientation to the gospel. Put positively, the gospel transforms our hearts and thinking and approaches to absolutely everything.

A. The Gospel and the individual.

1. Approach to discouragement. When a person is depressed, the moralist says, "you are breaking the rules--repent." On the other hand, the relativist says, "you just need to love and accept yourself". But (assuming there is no physiological base of the depression!) the gospel leads us to examine ourselves and say: "something in my life has become more important than God, a pseudo-savior, a form of works- righteousness". The gospel leads us to repentance, but not to merely setting our will against superficialities. It is without the gospel that superficialities will be addressed instead of the heart. The moralist will work on behavior and the relativist will work on the emotions themselves.

2. Approach to the physical world. Some moralists are indifferent to the physical world--they see it as "unimportant", while many others are downright afraid of physical pleasure. Since they are seeking to earn their salvation, they prefer to focus on sins of the physical like sex and the other appetites. These are easier to avoid than sins of the spirit like pride. Therefore, they prefer to see sins of the body as worse than other kinds. As a result, legalism usually leads to a distaste of pleasure. On the other hand, the relativist is often a hedonist, someone who is controlled by pleasure, and who makes it an idol. The gospel leads us to see that God has invented both body and soul and so will redeem both body and soul, though under sin both body and soul are broken. Thus the gospel leads us to enjoy the physical (and to fight against physical brokenness, such as sickness and poverty), yet to be moderate in our use of material things.

3. Approach to love and relationships. Moralism often makes relationships into a "blame-game". This is because a moralist is traumatized by criticism that is too severe, and maintains a self-image as a good person by blaming others. On the other hand, moralism can use the procuring of love as the way to "earn our salvation" and convince ourselves we are worthy persons. That often creates what is called "co- dependency"--a form of self-salvation through needing people or needing people to need you (i.e. saving yourself by saving others). On the other hand, much relativism/liberalism reduces love to a negotiated partnership for mutual benefit. You only relate as long as it is not costing you anything. So the choice (without the gospel) is to selfishly use others or to selfishly let yourself be used by others. But the gospel leads us to do neither. We do sacrifice and commit, but not out of a need to convince ourselves or others we are acceptable. So we can love the person enough to confront, yet stay with the person when it does not benefit us.

4. Approach to suffering. Moralism takes the "Job's friends" approach, laying guilt on yourself. You simply assume: "I must be bad to be suffering". Under the guilt, though, there is always anger toward God. Why? Because moralists believe that God owes them. The whole point of moralism is to put God in one's debt. Because you have been so moral, you feel you don't really deserve suffering. So moralism tears you up, for at one level you think, "what did I do to deserve this?" but on another level you think, "I probably did everything to deserve this!" So, if the moralist suffers, he or she must either feel mad at God (because I have been performing well) or mad at self (because I have not been performing well) or both. On the other hand, relativism/pragmatism feels justified in avoiding suffering at all costs--lying, cheating, and broken promises are OK. But when suffering does come, the pragmatist also lays the fault at God's doorstep, claiming that he must be either unjust or impotent. But the cross shows us that God redeemed us through suffering. That he suffered not that we might not suffer, but that in our suffering we could become like him. Since both the moralist and the pragmatist ignore the cross in different ways, they will both be confused and devastated by suffering.

5. Approach to sexuality. The secularist/pragmatist sees sex as merely biological and physical appetite. The moralist tends to see sex as dirty or at least a dangerous impulse that leads constantly to sin. But the gospel shows us that sexuality is to reflect the self-giving of Christ. He gave himself completely without conditions. So we are not to seek intimacy but hold back control of our lives. If we give ourselves sexually we are to give ourselves legally, socially, personally--utterly. Sex only is to happened in a totally committed, permanent relationship of marriage.

6. Approach to one's family. Moralism can make you a slave to parental expectations, while pragmatism sees no need for family loyalty or the keeping of promises and covenants if they do not "meet my needs". The gospel frees you from making parental approval an absolute or psychological salvation, pointing how God becomes the ultimate father. Then you will neither be too dependent or too hostile to your parents.

7. Approach to self-control. Moralists tell us to control our passions out of fear of punishment. This is a volition-based approach. Liberalism tells us to express ourselves and find out what is right for us. This is an emotion-based approach. The gospel tells us that the free, unloseable grace of God "teaches" us to "say no" to our passions (Titus 2:13) if we listen to it. This is a whole-person based approach, starting with the truth descending into the heart.

8. Approach to other races and cultures. The liberal approach is to relativize all cultures. ("We can all get along because there is no truth".) The conservatives believe there is truth for evaluation of cultures, and so they choose some culture as superior and then they idolize it, feeling superior to others in the impulse of self-justifying pride. The gospel leads us to be: a) on the one hand, somewhat critical of all cultures, including our own (since there is truth), but b) on the other hand, we are morally superior to no one. After all, we are saved by grace alone. Christians will exhibit both moral conviction yet compassion and flexibility. For example, gays are used to being "bashed" and hated or completely accepted. They never see anything else.

9. Approach to witness to non-Christians. The liberal/pragmatist approach is to deny the legitimacy of evangelism altogether. The conservative/moralist person does believe in proselytizing, because "we are right and they are wrong". Such proselyzing is almost always offensive. But the gospel produces a constellation of traits in us. a) First, we are compelled to share the gospel out of generosity and love, not guilt. b) Second, we are freed from fear of being ridiculed or hurt by others, since we already have the favor of God by grace. c) Third, there is a humility in our dealings with others, because we know we are saved only by grace alone, not because of our superior insight or character. d) Fourth, we are hopeful about anyone, even the "hard cases", because we were saved only because of grace, not because we were likely people to be Christians. d) Fifth, we are courteous and careful with people. We don't have to push or coerce them, for it is only God's grace that opens hearts, not our eloquence or persistence or even their openness. All these traits not only create a winsome evangelist but an excellent neighbor in a multi-cultural society.

10. Approach to human authority. Moralists will tend to obey human authorities (family, tribe, government, cultural customs) too much, since they rely so heavily on their self-image of being moral and decent. Pragmatists will either obey human authority too much (since they have no higher authority by which they can judge their culture) or else too little (since they may only obey when they know they won't get caught). That mean either authoritarianism or anarchy. But the gospel gives you both a standard by which to oppose human authority (if it contradicts the gospel), but on the other hand, gives you incentive to obey the civil authorities from the heart, even when you could get away with disobedience.

11. Approach to human dignity. Moralists often have a pretty low view of human nature--they mainly see human sin and depravity. Pragmatists, on the other hand, have no good basis for treating people with dignity. Usually they have no religious beliefs about what human beings are. (If they are just chance products of evolution, how do we know they are more valuable than a rock?) But the gospel shows us that every human being is infinitely fallen (lost in sin) and infinitely exalted (in the image of God). So we treat every human being as precious, yet dangerous!

12. Approach to guilt. When someone says, "I can't forgive myself", it means there is some standard or condition or person that is more central to your identity than the grace of God. God is the only God who forgives--no other "god" will. If you cannot forgive yourself, it is because you have failed your real God, your real righteousness, and it is holding you captive. The moralist's false god is usually a God of their imagination which is holy and demanding but not gracious. The pragmatist's false god is usually some achievement or relationship.

13. Approach to self-image. Without the gospel, your self-image is based upon living up to some standards--whether yours or someone's imposed upon you. If you live up to those standards, you will be confident but not humble. If you don't live up to them, you will be humble but not confident. Only in the gospel can you be both enormously bold and utterly sensitive and humble. For you are both perfect and a sinner!

14. Approach to joy and humor. Moralism has to eat away at real joy and humor-- because the system of legalism forces you to take yourself (your image, your

appearance, your reputation) very seriously. Pragmatism on the other hand will tend toward cynicism as life goes on because of the inevitable cynicism that grows. This cynicism grows from a lack of hope for the world. In the end, evil will triumph--there is no judgment or divine justice. But is we are saved by grace alone, then the very fact of our being Christians is a constant source of amazed delight. There is nothing matter- of-fact about our lives, no "of course" to our lives. It is a miracle we are Christians, and we have hope. So the gospel which creates bold humility should give us a far deeper sense of humor. We don't have to take ourselves seriously, and we are full of hope for the world.

15. Approach to "right living". Jonathan Edwards points out that "true virtue" is only possible for those who have experienced the grace of the gospel. Any person who is trying to earn their salvation does "the right thing" in order to get into heaven, or in order to better their self-esteeem (etc.). In other words, the ultimate motive is self- interest. But persons who know they are totally accepted already do "the right thing" out of sheer delight in righteousness for its own sake. Only in the gospel do you obey God for God's sake, and not for what God will give you. Only in the gospel do you love people for their sake (not yours), do good for its own sake (not yours), and obey God for his sake (not yours). Only the gospel makes "doing the right thing" a joy and delight, not a burden or a means to an end.

B. The Gospel and the church.

1. Approach to ministry in the world. Legalism tends to place all the emphasis on the individual human soul. Legalistic religion will insist on converting others to their faith and church, but will ignore social needs of the broader community. On the other hand, "liberalism" will tend to emphasize only amelioration of social conditions and minimize the need for repentance and conversion. The gospel leads to love which in turn moves us to give our neighbor whatever is needed--conversion or a cup of cold water, evangelism and social concern.

2. Approach to worship. Moralism leads to a dour and somber worship which may be long on dignity but short on joy. A shallow understanding of "acceptance" without a sense of God's holiness can lead to frothy or casual worship. (A sense of neither God's love nor his holiness leads to a worship service that feels like a committee meeting.) But the gospel leads us to see that God is both transcendent yet immanent. His immanence makes his transcendence comforting, while his transcendence makes his immanence amazing. The gospel leads to both awe and intimacy in worship, for the Holy One is now our Father.

3. Approach to the poor. The liberal/pragmatist tend to scorn the religion of the poor and see them as helpless victims needing expertise. This is born out of a disbelief in God's common grace or special grace to all. Ironically, the secular mindset also disbelieves in sin, and thus anyone who is poor must be oppressed, a helpless victim. The conservative/moralists on the other hand tend to scorn the poor as failures and weaklings. They see them as somehow to blame for their situation. But the gospel leads us to be: a) humble, without moral superiority knowing you were "spiritually bankrupt" but saved by Christ's free generosity, and b) gracious, not worried too much about "deservingness", since you didn't deserve Christ's grace, c) respectful of believing

poor Christians as brothers and sisters from whom to learn. The gospel alone can bring "knowledge workers" into a sense of humble respect for and solidarity with the poor.

4. Approach to doctrinal distinctives. The "already" of the New Testament means more boldness in proclamation. We can most definitely be sure of the central doctrines that support the gospel. But, the "not yet" means charity and humility in non-essentials beliefs. In other words, we must be moderate about what we teach except when it comes to the cross, grace and sin. In our views, especially those that Christians cannot agree on, we must be less unbending and triumphalistic ("believing we have arrived intellectually"). It also means that our discernment of God's call and his "will" for us and other must not be propagated with overweening assurance that your insight cannot be wrong. Vs. pragmatism, we must be willing to die for our belief in the gospel; vs. moralism, we must not fight to the death over every one of our beliefs.

5. Approach to holiness. The "already" means we should not tolerate sin. The presence of the kingdom includes that we are made "partakers of the divine nature" (II Pet. 1:3). The gospel brings us the confidence that anyone can be changed, that any enslaving habit can be overcome. But the "not yet" our sin which remains in us and will never be eliminated until the fullness of the kingdom comes in. So we must avoid pat answers, and we must not expect "quick fixes". Unlike the moralists, we must be patient with slow growth or lapses and realize the complexity of change and growth in grace. Unlike the pragmatists and cynics, we must insist that miraculous change is possible.

6. Approach to miracles. The "already" of the kingdom means power for miracles and healing is available. Jesus showed the kingdom by healing the sick and raising the dead. But the "not yet" means nature (including us) is still subject to decay (Rom.8:22- 23) and thus sickness and death is still inevitable until the final consummation. We cannot expect miracles and the elimination of suffering to be such a normal part of the Christian life that pain and suffering will be eliminated from the lives of faithful people. Vs. moralists, we know that God can heal and do miracles. Vs. pragmatists, we do not aim to press God into eliminating suffering.

7. Approach to church health. The "already" of the kingdom means that the church is the community now of kingdom power. It therefore is capable of mightily transforming its community. Evangelism that adds "daily to the number of those being saved" (Acts 2:47) is possible! Loving fellowship which "destroyed...the dividing wall of hostility" between different races and classes is possible! But the "not yet" of sin means Jesus has not yet presented his bride, the church "as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish" (Eph.5:27). We must not then be harshly critical of imperfect congregations, nor jump impatiently from church to church over perceived blemishes. Error will never be completely eradicated from the church. The "not yet" means to avoid the overly severe use of church discipline and other means to seek to bring about a perfect church today.

8. Approach to social change. We must not forget that Christ is even now ruling in a sense over history (Eph.1:22ff). The "already" of grace means that Christians can expect to use God's power to change social conditions and communities. But the "not yet" of sin means there will be "wars and rumors of wars". Selfishness, cruelty,

terrorism, oppression will continue. Christians harbor no illusions about politics nor expect utopian conditions. The "not yet" means that Christians will not trust any political or social agenda to bring about righteousness here on earth. So the gospel keeps us from the over-pessimism of fundamentalism (moralism) about social change, and also from the over-optimism of liberalism (pragmatism).

Sum: All problems, personal or social come from a failure to use the gospel in a radical way, to get "in line with the truth of the gospel" (Gal.2:14). All pathologies in the church and all its ineffectiveness comes from a failure to use the gospel in a radical way. We believe that if the gospel is expounded and applied in its fullness in any church, that church will look very unique. People will find both moral conviction yet compassion and flexibility. For example, gays are used to being "bashed" and hated or completely accepted. They never see anything else. The cultural elites of either liberal or conservative sides are alike in their unwillingness to befriend or live with or respect or worship with the poor. They are alike in separating themselves increasingly from the rest of society.

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True Spirituality: The Transforming Power of the Gospel https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/true-spirituality-the-transforming-power-of-the-gospel https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/true-spirituality-the-transforming-power-of-the-gospel#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2017 08:00:00 -0600 https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/true-spirituality-the-transforming-power-of-the-gospel In the preface to his book, True Spirituality, the late Christian leader and author Francis Schaeffer referred to a problem that led him to a point of great spiritual crisis in his life. He called it the “problem of reality” (1971:i).

After being in the gospel ministry for many years, he said the problem came to him in two parts. First, he observed that among many of those who had fought hard to uphold orthodox theology in his generation, he saw lots of correct doctrine, but very little true spiritual reality. Second, as he dared to take an inside look at his own heart, he had to admit that although he had all the doctrines and ministry activities down quite well, he, too, seemed to be experiencing little or no true spiritual transformation. Schaeffer came to realize that true spirituality is not only a matter of the mind and will; it also a matter of the heart. It’s a painfully common story. The heart passion we once had for God has somehow grown cold. Even though we may keep learning truths and practicing spiritual disciplines, we sense something is wrong, but we’re not sure what it is. If we are able to take an honest inside look, many of us have to admit that there is very little true spirituality.

The frightening thing is that we can have lots of good theology and even remarkable “ministry success,” but still have very little true spirituality. There are certain warning signs to which we always need to pay close attention, things like a weak prayer life, frequent struggles with feeling slighted by others, often being critical of other people and ministries, recurring bouts of self-pity, as well as anxiety and joylessness in both your life and work (Keller 1999:58).

The problem is you can have these kinds of internal struggles and still have significant external ministry success. If this is the case, you must know you are probably doomed to a shallow life and an eventual breakdown. The long-term impact of your life and ministry for Christ and His kingdom is in question. When the apostle Paul faced these kinds of problems in his day, he dared to pose the question, “What happened to all your joy?” (Gal 4:15).

I’m concerned that we have unknowingly lowered the biblical standard of transformation and accepted as normative a level of experience and change that God never meant for us to accept. What is the remedy to the spiritual coldness and hardness of our hearts? How are we to respond to the lack of authentic joy and power in our lives?

Three Counterfeit Remedies

Before we look into God’s Word to see what to do, let us first be clear about what not to do. I want to encourage you to be on your guard against three counterfeit remedies. Intellectualism The intellectualist reduces Christianity to a set of doctrinal beliefs you simply need to affirm with your mind. The focus of the intellectualist is on the mind, not the heart. Such a person believes that spiritual transformation is nice, but it is optional. His response to the lack of spiritual transformation in the life of a Christian is often to justify it, to say “Don’t worry about it.” His creed is: “Freed from the law, O blessed condition, I can sin as I please, And still have remission!” The only thing that is really important to the intellectualist is what you believe. In Edwards' work, Religious Affections, he presents us with a radically different perspective. “To Edwards, the heart of the matter was always a matter of the heart” (Childers 1995:7).

Edwards was deeply burdened for those in his day whose minds were filled with correct theological beliefs but had a mere external form of godliness, one that had very little transforming power. He writes, “[H]e that has doctrinal knowledge and speculation only, without affection, never is engaged in the business of religion” (1984, I:238). Edwards teaches that true spirituality is always powerful, and its power first appears in a transformed heart. When describing the difference between a Christianity of the mind and one of the heart he writes, “There is a difference between having an opinion that God is holy and gracious and having a sense of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace . . . just as there is a difference between having a rational judgment that honey is sweet and having a sense of its sweetness” (1984, II:14). He makes the point that there is a big difference between simply knowing that the Lord is good and obeying God’s command in the Bible “to taste and see that the Lord is good” (1984, II:14).

J.I. Packer drives home this same point to our generation when he writes in his contemporary classic, Knowing God, “A little knowledge of God is worth more than a great deal of knowledge about Him” (1973:21).

Passivism

A second counterfeit remedy we must avoid is what we will call passivism or emotionalism. The inordinate focus of the passivist is on the emotions. The passivist believes that he can make no real contribution to his spiritual transformation except to relinquish control of his life to God. The way the passivist believes he must deal with his unchanged heart is just to “let go and let God.” Passivism teaches that the Christian’s secret of a happy life is to “let Jesus live His life through you” or have a spiritual experience thatwillsomehowcatapultyouinto a higher or deeper plane of spiritual maturity. This understanding of the Christian life can easily lead you to spend your entire life chasing one false hope or experience after another in search of “something more” to make your faith more fulfilling. The result is almost always an ankle-deep emotionalism. The Bible teaches that God has made us in his image with a “trinity of faculties” (Owen 1976, VI:213, 216, 254, VII:397) which include the mind, the will, and the heart or the affections. Our emotions play a very important role in that human heart.

The heart is presented in Scripture as the very core of our being, the seat of our mind, will, and emotions. However, the human heart is not portrayed in Scripture as being the same thing as the emotions. In fact, Edwards’ word for what we now call emotions is actually “animal instincts” (1984, I:245- 261). While we must learn to affirm the legitimacy of human emotions in our worship and walk with the Lord, we must be cautious to avoid the error of the passivist, allowing our emotions to have an inordinate influence on our walk with God.

Moralism

The third, and probably the most dangerous, counterfeit remedy we must reject is moralism. The moralist does not focus his attention on the mind or emotions, but rather on the will. The moralist’s motto is “Just try harder!” Just try harder to spend more time in Bible reading, meditation and prayer. Just try harder not to be angry or not to worry, not to lust. Just try harder to be a better witness, a more loving spouse, or a better parent. The problem with this approach is that a believer can hear only so many pulpit pep talks on trying harder before he finds himself lapsing into either denial, despair, or worst of all, the adoption of evangelical self-help plans and programs by which he thinks he really is going to change himself, if he just keeps trying harder. This is a very old and very dangerous teaching. It’s the gospel of works righteousness. It is the strong proclamation of justification by grace through faith alone, quickly followed up by the subtle teaching that your Christian growth is going to be achieved primarily through the power of your own flesh. In Galatians, Paul addresses a group of first-century moralists with strong words.

In Galatians 3:3 he writes, “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” To Paul the error of the moralist is no small matter. Paul saw such a position as a direct attack on the very nature of the gospel itself. What is missing in the message of the moralist, as well as the message of the passivist and the nominalist, is the cross--the transforming power of the gospel. So where can we learn the proper way that God means for our hearts to be transformed into the image of Christ? What is the answer to Schaeffer’s earlier stated “problem of reality?” Schaeffer gives us a glimpse into the biblical solution by writing about the results of his search for greater spiritual reality. “I searched through what the Bible said concerning reality as a Christian. Gradually I saw that the problem was that with all the teaching I had received after I was a Christian, I had heard very little about what the Bible says about the meaning of the finished work of Christ for our present lives” (1971:ii).

To Schaeffer the essence of true spirituality must be linked to the ongoing appropriation of the work of Christ to the Christian. He writes, “Because of any of theseignorances,theChristianmay not “possess his possessions” in this present life. But when a man does learn the meaning of the work of Christ in the present life, a new door is open to him. And this new door then seems to be so wonderful that often it gives the Christian, as he begins to act upon the knowledge of faith, the sense of something that is as new as was his conversion” (1971:84).

To understand better what it means to be transformed by the power of the gospel, two simple questions must be asked and answered: 1) “What is this gospel?” and 2) “How does this gospel change our lives?” What is the Gospel? In seeking an answer from Scripture concerning this question, I invite you to revisit the simple but deeply profound words that Jesus used to begin His public ministry in Mark 1:14b-15. “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”

Good News of a Kingdom

In these verses we find that Jesus begins His public ministry by announcing the good news that the kingdom of God was at hand. To his original Jewish listeners this was an especially meaningful announcement. The Old Testament prophets foretold the day when a great Messiah King would come and deliver them from their oppression. As Jesus made this announcement, the Jews had been greatly oppressed by the Roman government for many years. They longed for Messiah to come, set up His kingdom, and save them from their oppression (Ridderbos 1975:48).

However, the Jews soon learned that the kingdom Jesus was inaugurating was not what they expected. The nature of the kingdom was more spiritual than political, as was the oppression from which Jesus came to deliver His people. They would later learn that the enemies this king came to engage in battle were not political enemies, but spiritual enemies. The Bible calls these enemies the world, the flesh, the devil, and even death itself. As king, Jesus came to wage war with these spiritual enemies in order to set his people free from their captivity. Although Jesus as king was fully present at this time, note that verse fourteen shows us that the kingdom “was near.” This means the kingdom was not yet fully in their midst. Jesus was beginning to set in motion all that would eventually bring about the universal rule and reign of God over not just Rome, but over all the nations of the earth. Centuries earlier, God made very clear through the prophets that the ultimate goal of this coming kingdom was that God would be glorified, worshipped, and enjoyed by a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation of the earth.

However, there were certain critical events that had to take place during this time in history for this kingdom to come in its fullness. Good News of a King First, the king had to come. Approximately thirty years before Jesus made this announcement, he, as the eternal Son of God, broke into human history and took on humanity (Jn 1:1-14). That is good news, but the good news is about more than his birth. The Scriptures also tell us the good news of his life. From infancy Jesus entered into personal battle with every spiritual enemy that had defeated his people and held them captive. As a warrior-king, he lived the life we should have lived. He faced every temptation known to man from the world, the flesh, and the devil.

The good news is that, unlike you and me, he never sinned. In so doing he earned a perfect righteousness before God, completely obeying all of God’s commands in thought, word, and deed. However, the good news is more than about his birth and life. The good news is that as our king, Jesus offered himself up as more than our life substitute. He also became our substitute in death. When he died on the cross, he did not simply experience the pain of physical suffering and death. He also suffered the full wrath and punishment of God that we deserve because of our sin. The Bible says, “[T]he Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa 53:6).

The good news is that he not only lived the life we should have lived, he also died the death we deserved to die. However, the good news is about even more than his birth, life, and death. The good news is also that God raised him from the dead and has now seated him on the throne of heaven and thereby given him the sole authority and power to deliver his people from sin’s captivity. Because of Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection almost two thousand years ago, God has now made him Savior and Lord.

Therefore Jesus’ lordship must be seen as a direct result of His death and resurrection. When the apostle Peter first preached the good news, he said that Jesus had been “raised from the dead and . . . exalted to the right hand of God” (Acts 2:32-33). This symbolic statement that Jesus is now at the right hand of God is meant to teach us that Jesus is presently reigning and ruling in heaven as both Savior and Lord. As Savior, he alone has the authority and power to deliver people from sin’s penalty and power over their lives. As Lord, he alone has the authority to demand that everyone, everywhere, submit to his rule over their lives (Acts 17:30). The apostle Paul said, “[N]ow he [God] commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed” (Acts 17:31). The good news is that this exalted Christ is coming again (Matt 24:30; 25:19, 31; 26:64; John 14:3), and he is going to bring all things under his rule. When he comes again, it will not be like the first time, as a humble, suffering servant. He will return as a sovereign king, executing judgment and establishing righteousness in all the earth. Paul writes, “[A]t the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10-11). 

Good News of Pardon and Power

The climax of this good news is not simply that Jesus is Savior and Lord, but that as Savior and Lord he has made certain promises to all who believe in him and submit to him. These gospel promises include not only God’s promise to save us from sin’s penalty, but also God’s promise to save us from sin’s domineering power over our lives. It is the good news that Jesus Christ not only died two thousand years ago to deliver us from sin’s penalty, but he also lives today to deliver us from sin’s reigning power. Mankind’s fundamental spiritual problem is not simply a status problem, but also a human nature problem. When we are outside of Christ, we are not only guilty before the heavenly court. We are also standing there morally corrupt, with a terminal disease called sin. Therefore, we need not only a new status before God, but also a new nature. This is why Peter concluded his first sermon at Pentecost by promising his listeners two free gifts from God to all who would turn to Christ: 1) the forgiveness of sins and 2) the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).

The good news is not only that our status can be changed before God the Judge but also that our corrupt nature can be healed by God the Physician. The Psalmist praises God for both benefits when he writes, “He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases” (Ps 103:3). Good News for the Lost and Found Therefore, the gospel message should be seen as not only a message of good news for lost people to be saved from sin’s penalty, but also as a message of good news for Christian people to be saved from sin’s domineering power.

The goal of the gospel is not merely to forgive us, but to change us into true worshippers of God and authentic lovers of people. We often reduce the gospel to “God’s plan of salvation” for lost people to be saved from sin’s penalty, not realizing that it is also “God’s plan of salvation” for Christians to be saved from sin’s power. The same gospel message that saves sinners also sanctifies saints. A few years ago, a major leader in the Navigators ministry revealed to a gathering of hundreds of Christians that he had discovered his own view of the gospel had been truncated for most of his ministry. He said, “Imagine drawing a time line of your life. A dot on the extreme left represents your birth; a dot on the extreme right represents your death. Picture a cross in the center, signifying your conversion. What one word would summarize your greatest need from birth to conversion?” Most of the group replied, “The gospel.” He continued, “Now give me just one word summarizing your greatest need from your conversion to your death.” Some said growth, others said sanctification. The leader confessed that for most of his ministry he would have agreed with those choices. Being a Navigator, he said his choice would probably have been “discipleship”. “But today,” he confessed, “that word would be ‘gospel.’”

After decades of active discipleship, he realized that his view of the gospel had been virtually disconnected from living the Christian life. Now he is convinced that the gospel is needed just as much after conversion as it is before (Childers 1995:6). So the gospel is not just the ABC’s but the A to Z of Christianity (Keller 1999:36). The gospel is not just a gate we pass through one time but a path we are to walk each day of our lives. This gospel is God’s solution not merely to our guilt, but also our moral corruption—as well as the ultimate solution to all the problems of life both personal and social. The gospel is not merely a set of propositions to be believed and defended, but it is also a supernatural power to be released in and through our lives and churches for a broken world.

So the question arises, “How can I be transformed by this power of the gospel?” How Does the Gospel Change a Christian? Notice again the simple, but deeply profound, words of Jesus found in Mark 1:14b-15. “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”

Repentance and faith have been called the two dynamics of a “spiritual combustion cycle” that God means to be at work in our hearts at all times, changing us into the image of his Son. In order for us to experience the transforming power of the gospel in our lives, we must continually be repenting and believing in the gospel. When this “spiritual combustion cycle” of ongoing repentance and faith is at work in the heart, there will be change. The reverse is also true. When there is no true change in the heart and life, it is certain that this cycle of ongoing repentance and faith is not taking place. Since these two dynamics of repentance and faith are so misunderstood, yet so critical for spiritual transformation, we will now take a closer look at each one in more detail. 


Repentance: Turning Heart Affections Away From Idols

There is a lot of confusion today about repentance. Many people see repentance as morbid self- flagellation, leading the repenter into despair. Repentance is seen as a kind of evangelical penance reserved only for those special times when you’ve been really bad and need to humble yourself before God. This view of repentance reflects how so few Christians today seem to have grasped the first thesis of Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses, which he nailed to the door of the Wittenberg church, giving birth to the Protestant Reformation. In the first thesis, Luther writes, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent’ [Matt. 4:17], he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance” (1957:25). This understanding of repentance as an ongoing, way-of-life experience for the believer seems to be almost unknown today.

What we must rediscover is that true repentance does not lead us to despair but to joy. The more we learn to see the depth of our sin, the more we’ll see the depth of God’s grace. The cross of Christ is only deeply precious, it is only “electric,” to daily repenters who see the depth of their sin. When Jesus calls us to repent, he is not calling us to beat up on ourselves or merely to clean up our lives. Instead, he is calling us to a radical change of heart. According to Scripture our root problem is not an external, behavioral problem--it’s a problem of the heart. This is why all the counterfeit remedies inevitably leave us unchanged and in either denial or despair, because they all bypass the heart. The reason our hearts are not more transformed is because we have allowed what the Puritans call “the affections of our hearts” to be captured by idols that steal our heart affection away from God. The apostle John makes this point in the very last verse of 1 John. Here the apostle purposefully concludes his masterful 105-verse letter on how to live in vital fellowship with Christ with these words, “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 Jn 5:21). Here we learn that repenting of our idolatry actually sums up what true spirituality really is. Because God has created man to be a worshipper, we are always worshipping something, whether we realize it or not. This is why we should always see the essential character of our sin as heart idolatry.

The first and second commandments, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex 20:3) and “You shall not make for yourself an idol” (Ex 20:4a), are meant to remind us of the very dangerous and natural tendency we all have to worship idols. The modern idols that capture our hearts’ affection today are not the graven images of the ancient world. An idol is something from which we get our identity. An idol is making something or someone other than Jesus Christ our true source of happiness or fulfillment. It has been said that Rocky Balboa revealed one of the idols of his heart in the best line of the famous “Rocky” movie, when he said, “If I can just go the distance, then I’ll know I’m not a bum.” The truth is everyone has something or someone we can easily put in that place. “If I can only have- -you fill in the blank--then I’ll know I’m somebody.” We all have to live for something. We all have a “personal center,” an ultimate value through which we see all of life (Keller 1998:46). For some of us it is approval, reputation, or success. For others it is comfort or control, pleasure or power. For some it is possessions or sex or money or a relationship. Idols can be good causes such as making an impact, having a happy home or a good marriage or obedient children. Whatever it is, without this bottom line we believe our lives are meaningless. Whatever we live for has great power over us. If someone blocks our idol from us, we can be enraged with anger. If our idols are threatened, we can be paralyzed with fear. If we lose our idol, we can be driven into utter despair. That is because the idols we worship give us our sense of worth or righteousness. When we allow the affections of our hearts to be captured by such idols, the outcome is always the same--a lack of God’s transforming power and presence in our lives. So repentance should not be seen as merely changing our external behavior but primarily as a willingness to pull our heart affections and our heart trust away from our idols.

The great English theologian, Owen, teaches that one of the reasons we don’t experience more of God’s power and presence in our lives is because we have not sufficiently studied the idolatries of our own hearts. This is why we should learn to ask ourselves hard questions such as: “What is my greatest fear in life?” and “What other than Christ has taken title to my heart’s functional trust?” For years I confessed to God my recurring sin of anxiety that was destroying me physically. But I saw very little change until I began to see and repent of the internal sin of idolatry that was the root of the external sin of worry. To my surprise, I discovered that my core problem was not primarily the external sin of worry but the internal, idolatrous sin of seeking the approval of others as the source of my righteousness or worth. The great evangelist, George Whitefield, taught that to know God’s power, we must learn not only what it means to repent of our sins but also to repent of our righteousness (1993).

The late John Gerstner is reported to have said, “It is not so much our sins that keep us from God as our damnable good works.” Once we have identified a heart idol, repentance involves not only confessing it, but also taking radical action against it, sapping the life- dominating power it has over us. In Romans 13:14 Paul writes, “[M]ake no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” All that is idolatrous to us must have its vivid appeal drained away.

The Puritans call this mortification, a concept seldom heard today. Repentance is only half of our responsibility in transformation. It’s the negative, defensive side of the equation. We turn now to the positive, offensive strategy--faith in the gospel. Faith: Turning Heart Affections to Jesus Christ The reason Jesus commands us in this text to “repent and believe the gospel” is because he knew that faith in the gospel is the mysterious means God ordains through which the power of his victory as our king is meant to flow in and through our lives and our churches. The good news of the kingdom is that our king has won a marvelous victory for us. Through his sinless life, sacrificial death as our substitute, resurrection, and ascension, he has not only conquered death for us, removing its penalty, but he has also conquered sin’s power over us. As our warrior-king, he has entered into battle against all the enemy forces (the world, the flesh, and the devil) that wage war against our souls, and he has conquered their reigning power over us forever.

Now, through repentance and faith, God means for us to tap into the powerful victory of our king, so that we might be transformed into true worshippers of God and more authentic lovers of people. The reason God calls us to pull our affections off our heart idols through repentance is so that we can place those same affections on Jesus Christ through faith. The apostle Paul has this positive side of the change equation in mind when he writes in Colossians 3:1-2, “[S]et your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” In Paul’s thought the process of gospel transformation always involves this ongoing, two-fold dynamic of repentance and faith. Through repentance we are always to be pulling our affections off of our idols. Through faith we are always to be placing our affections on Christ. The Puritans describe this concept of setting our affections on Christ as developing spiritual-mindedness. They teach that we must be even more radical about setting our affections on Christ than we are about removing our affections from our idols. As we think of the proper priority of our focus, Robert Murray McCheyne puts it well when he says, “Do not take up your time so much with studying your own heart as with studying Christ’s heart. ‘For one look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ’” (1947:93). In Galatians 6:14, Paul gives us a fascinating glimpse into how his faith in the gospel transformed him when he writes, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.” John Stott writes, “Paul’s whole world was in orbit around the cross. It filled his vision, illumined his life, warmed his spirit. He “gloried” in it. It meant more to him than anything else. . . . This Greek word translated here as “boast” has no exact equivalent in English. It means to glory in, trust in, rejoice in, revel in, live for. In a word, our glory is our obsession” (1986:349).

Some of us are obsessed with gaining approval or recognition. Others are obsessed with experiencing comfort or pleasure or happiness. Some are obsessed with gaining control or power or possessions or building a reputation or gaining success as the world defines it. The apostle Paul was also obsessed. But his obsession was with Christ and the cross. In his obsession with the cross, Paul experienced the transforming power of the gospel to crucify the dominating power of his sinful nature and the idolatrous lure of the world. Only when we learn how to glory in the cross and not in our idols will we ever experience the true liberating power of the gospel. Only when Jesus Christ becomes more attractive to us than the pleasures of sin will our hearts ever be set free. The enslaving power of sin will never dissipate until a greater affection of the heart replaces it. This is why we must learn to pray like the old hymn writer William Cowper: “The dearest idol I have known / Whate’er that idol be / Help me to tear it from Thy throne / And worship only Thee” (1990:534). Obedience: Nurturing Faith by the Means of Grace There is a strong link between our obedience to God’s will and our personal experience of God’s ministry power.

Jesus says, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (Jn 14:23). He also says, “If anyone wishes to come 
after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mk 8:34-35). God means for our radical obedience to his will and his purposes in the world to be a vital part of our experience of truly knowing him and experiencing his power in and through our lives. God loves to pour out his Spirit with power on those individuals and churches who will dare to align themselves radically and joyfully with his will for their lives and for his world.

God’s primary plan by which he means for us to nurture our union with Christ is through the devoted use of the means of grace he provides. The book of Acts shows us that the early Christians devoted themselves to “the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42b). Paul establishes the primacy of the church in leading Christians to spiritual maturity when he writes, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:11–13). The Holy Spirit ordinarily does his work in our lives as we learn to fix our hearts and minds on the Lord Jesus Christ through the corporate means of grace. The Westminster Shorter Catechism states, “The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption are his ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments, and prayer all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.” (WSC 88).

Conclusion

To draw near to God in repentance and faith demands that we first humble ourselves. The Scriptures tell us that “God is opposed to the proud but he gives grace to the humble” (Jas 4:6). The paradox of grace is that the way up is the way down. God’s grace and power, like water, always flow down to the lowest place--the foot of the cross. The cross has been called the sinner’s place. It is at the cross that we cast away all our pride and self-sufficiency and admit to God what idolaters we really are. It is at the cross that we stop covering up our lack of spiritual reality. It is at the cross that we humbly admit to God that our hearts are spiritually cold and hard. It is at the cross that we find rest for our souls. I am not presenting just one more plan or program for spiritual self-development. Instead, I am presenting a person, Jesus Christ, who says not only “repent and believe the gospel” (Mk 1:14b-15), but also ‘“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28-30).

The good news is that in Jesus Christ we finally find what our hearts truly long for and thirst after, that which our idols can promise only in vain. It is the good news that we do not have to live in fear of God’s condemnation anymore. No matter how great our sins may be, God promises we can now be completely forgiven through Christ’s shed blood in our place. It is the good news that we do not need to be crippled by the fear of rejection anymore, always building and defending our reputation, for we can know the riches of God’s eternal acceptance through Christ’s perfect righteousness, counted to be ours through faith. It is the good news that we don’t need to go on living and feeling like unloved spiritual orphans anymore, for we can now know the comfort of Jesus Christ as our compassionate older brother, the one “who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin” (Heb 4:15). It is the good news that, although we can grieve and displease God because of our sin, there is nothing we can do to cause our Heavenly Father to love us any less, and there is nothing we can do to cause him to love us any more.

God’s love for us in Christ is the same eternal love he has always had for his one and only Son. Because we are his children, God promises to use all the trials of our lives not for our punishment but for our good, to help us grow and mature to be all he designed us to be (Heb 12:10). It is the good news that no matter how alone we may find ourselves in this life, no matter how many people may leave us, we can always know the intimate communion of God’s Holy Spirit who promises never to leave us or forsake us (Heb 13:5). His love for us is eternal; he chose us to be in Christ before the creation of the world, and he promises that the work he began in us, he will bring to completion on that final day in heaven (Phil 1:6). In the meantime, he promises to come alongside us to comfort, encourage and transform us through all our trials. He promises always to be near to the brokenhearted (Ps 34:18). It is the good news that no matter how intense or enslaving our present struggle with sin may be, we no longer need to be in bondage to sin’s dominion over our lives. Although sin’s influence will always be with us, sin’s dominion over our lives has been broken through the cross (Rom 6). It is the good news that we can now finally be free from that sin which has held us in bondage for so long. 


It is the good news that one day all of our struggles will be over and God will bring us home to heaven. We are now pilgrims passing through a land that is not our own, on our way to our home, the Celestial City (Bunyan 1872a)--a place where God promises he will wipe away every tear from our eyes. He promises that he will make all things new. We will be made new in both soul and body. All creation will be made new. He promises that in the new heavens and the new earth there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things will pass away (Rev 21:4). All God requires is that we draw (1990:304). near to him in repentance and faith through the cross of Jesus Christ. For it’s here, at this low sinner’s place, that God has chosen to lift us up and change us into the likeness of Steve Childers is Christ.

 

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In the preface to his book, True Spirituality, the late Christian leader and author Francis Schaeffer referred to a problem that led him to a point of great spiritual crisis in his life. He called it the “problem of reality” (1971:i).

After being in the gospel ministry for many years, he said the problem came to him in two parts. First, he observed that among many of those who had fought hard to uphold orthodox theology in his generation, he saw lots of correct doctrine, but very little true spiritual reality. Second, as he dared to take an inside look at his own heart, he had to admit that although he had all the doctrines and ministry activities down quite well, he, too, seemed to be experiencing little or no true spiritual transformation. Schaeffer came to realize that true spirituality is not only a matter of the mind and will; it also a matter of the heart. It’s a painfully common story. The heart passion we once had for God has somehow grown cold. Even though we may keep learning truths and practicing spiritual disciplines, we sense something is wrong, but we’re not sure what it is. If we are able to take an honest inside look, many of us have to admit that there is very little true spirituality.

The frightening thing is that we can have lots of good theology and even remarkable “ministry success,” but still have very little true spirituality. There are certain warning signs to which we always need to pay close attention, things like a weak prayer life, frequent struggles with feeling slighted by others, often being critical of other people and ministries, recurring bouts of self-pity, as well as anxiety and joylessness in both your life and work (Keller 1999:58).

The problem is you can have these kinds of internal struggles and still have significant external ministry success. If this is the case, you must know you are probably doomed to a shallow life and an eventual breakdown. The long-term impact of your life and ministry for Christ and His kingdom is in question. When the apostle Paul faced these kinds of problems in his day, he dared to pose the question, “What happened to all your joy?” (Gal 4:15).

I’m concerned that we have unknowingly lowered the biblical standard of transformation and accepted as normative a level of experience and change that God never meant for us to accept. What is the remedy to the spiritual coldness and hardness of our hearts? How are we to respond to the lack of authentic joy and power in our lives?

Three Counterfeit Remedies

Before we look into God’s Word to see what to do, let us first be clear about what not to do. I want to encourage you to be on your guard against three counterfeit remedies. Intellectualism The intellectualist reduces Christianity to a set of doctrinal beliefs you simply need to affirm with your mind. The focus of the intellectualist is on the mind, not the heart. Such a person believes that spiritual transformation is nice, but it is optional. His response to the lack of spiritual transformation in the life of a Christian is often to justify it, to say “Don’t worry about it.” His creed is: “Freed from the law, O blessed condition, I can sin as I please, And still have remission!” The only thing that is really important to the intellectualist is what you believe. In Edwards' work, Religious Affections, he presents us with a radically different perspective. “To Edwards, the heart of the matter was always a matter of the heart” (Childers 1995:7).

Edwards was deeply burdened for those in his day whose minds were filled with correct theological beliefs but had a mere external form of godliness, one that had very little transforming power. He writes, “[H]e that has doctrinal knowledge and speculation only, without affection, never is engaged in the business of religion” (1984, I:238). Edwards teaches that true spirituality is always powerful, and its power first appears in a transformed heart. When describing the difference between a Christianity of the mind and one of the heart he writes, “There is a difference between having an opinion that God is holy and gracious and having a sense of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace . . . just as there is a difference between having a rational judgment that honey is sweet and having a sense of its sweetness” (1984, II:14). He makes the point that there is a big difference between simply knowing that the Lord is good and obeying God’s command in the Bible “to taste and see that the Lord is good” (1984, II:14).

J.I. Packer drives home this same point to our generation when he writes in his contemporary classic, Knowing God, “A little knowledge of God is worth more than a great deal of knowledge about Him” (1973:21).

Passivism

A second counterfeit remedy we must avoid is what we will call passivism or emotionalism. The inordinate focus of the passivist is on the emotions. The passivist believes that he can make no real contribution to his spiritual transformation except to relinquish control of his life to God. The way the passivist believes he must deal with his unchanged heart is just to “let go and let God.” Passivism teaches that the Christian’s secret of a happy life is to “let Jesus live His life through you” or have a spiritual experience thatwillsomehowcatapultyouinto a higher or deeper plane of spiritual maturity. This understanding of the Christian life can easily lead you to spend your entire life chasing one false hope or experience after another in search of “something more” to make your faith more fulfilling. The result is almost always an ankle-deep emotionalism. The Bible teaches that God has made us in his image with a “trinity of faculties” (Owen 1976, VI:213, 216, 254, VII:397) which include the mind, the will, and the heart or the affections. Our emotions play a very important role in that human heart.

The heart is presented in Scripture as the very core of our being, the seat of our mind, will, and emotions. However, the human heart is not portrayed in Scripture as being the same thing as the emotions. In fact, Edwards’ word for what we now call emotions is actually “animal instincts” (1984, I:245- 261). While we must learn to affirm the legitimacy of human emotions in our worship and walk with the Lord, we must be cautious to avoid the error of the passivist, allowing our emotions to have an inordinate influence on our walk with God.

Moralism

The third, and probably the most dangerous, counterfeit remedy we must reject is moralism. The moralist does not focus his attention on the mind or emotions, but rather on the will. The moralist’s motto is “Just try harder!” Just try harder to spend more time in Bible reading, meditation and prayer. Just try harder not to be angry or not to worry, not to lust. Just try harder to be a better witness, a more loving spouse, or a better parent. The problem with this approach is that a believer can hear only so many pulpit pep talks on trying harder before he finds himself lapsing into either denial, despair, or worst of all, the adoption of evangelical self-help plans and programs by which he thinks he really is going to change himself, if he just keeps trying harder. This is a very old and very dangerous teaching. It’s the gospel of works righteousness. It is the strong proclamation of justification by grace through faith alone, quickly followed up by the subtle teaching that your Christian growth is going to be achieved primarily through the power of your own flesh. In Galatians, Paul addresses a group of first-century moralists with strong words.

In Galatians 3:3 he writes, “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” To Paul the error of the moralist is no small matter. Paul saw such a position as a direct attack on the very nature of the gospel itself. What is missing in the message of the moralist, as well as the message of the passivist and the nominalist, is the cross--the transforming power of the gospel. So where can we learn the proper way that God means for our hearts to be transformed into the image of Christ? What is the answer to Schaeffer’s earlier stated “problem of reality?” Schaeffer gives us a glimpse into the biblical solution by writing about the results of his search for greater spiritual reality. “I searched through what the Bible said concerning reality as a Christian. Gradually I saw that the problem was that with all the teaching I had received after I was a Christian, I had heard very little about what the Bible says about the meaning of the finished work of Christ for our present lives” (1971:ii).

To Schaeffer the essence of true spirituality must be linked to the ongoing appropriation of the work of Christ to the Christian. He writes, “Because of any of theseignorances,theChristianmay not “possess his possessions” in this present life. But when a man does learn the meaning of the work of Christ in the present life, a new door is open to him. And this new door then seems to be so wonderful that often it gives the Christian, as he begins to act upon the knowledge of faith, the sense of something that is as new as was his conversion” (1971:84).

To understand better what it means to be transformed by the power of the gospel, two simple questions must be asked and answered: 1) “What is this gospel?” and 2) “How does this gospel change our lives?” What is the Gospel? In seeking an answer from Scripture concerning this question, I invite you to revisit the simple but deeply profound words that Jesus used to begin His public ministry in Mark 1:14b-15. “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”

Good News of a Kingdom

In these verses we find that Jesus begins His public ministry by announcing the good news that the kingdom of God was at hand. To his original Jewish listeners this was an especially meaningful announcement. The Old Testament prophets foretold the day when a great Messiah King would come and deliver them from their oppression. As Jesus made this announcement, the Jews had been greatly oppressed by the Roman government for many years. They longed for Messiah to come, set up His kingdom, and save them from their oppression (Ridderbos 1975:48).

However, the Jews soon learned that the kingdom Jesus was inaugurating was not what they expected. The nature of the kingdom was more spiritual than political, as was the oppression from which Jesus came to deliver His people. They would later learn that the enemies this king came to engage in battle were not political enemies, but spiritual enemies. The Bible calls these enemies the world, the flesh, the devil, and even death itself. As king, Jesus came to wage war with these spiritual enemies in order to set his people free from their captivity. Although Jesus as king was fully present at this time, note that verse fourteen shows us that the kingdom “was near.” This means the kingdom was not yet fully in their midst. Jesus was beginning to set in motion all that would eventually bring about the universal rule and reign of God over not just Rome, but over all the nations of the earth. Centuries earlier, God made very clear through the prophets that the ultimate goal of this coming kingdom was that God would be glorified, worshipped, and enjoyed by a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation of the earth.

However, there were certain critical events that had to take place during this time in history for this kingdom to come in its fullness. Good News of a King First, the king had to come. Approximately thirty years before Jesus made this announcement, he, as the eternal Son of God, broke into human history and took on humanity (Jn 1:1-14). That is good news, but the good news is about more than his birth. The Scriptures also tell us the good news of his life. From infancy Jesus entered into personal battle with every spiritual enemy that had defeated his people and held them captive. As a warrior-king, he lived the life we should have lived. He faced every temptation known to man from the world, the flesh, and the devil.

The good news is that, unlike you and me, he never sinned. In so doing he earned a perfect righteousness before God, completely obeying all of God’s commands in thought, word, and deed. However, the good news is more than about his birth and life. The good news is that as our king, Jesus offered himself up as more than our life substitute. He also became our substitute in death. When he died on the cross, he did not simply experience the pain of physical suffering and death. He also suffered the full wrath and punishment of God that we deserve because of our sin. The Bible says, “[T]he Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa 53:6).

The good news is that he not only lived the life we should have lived, he also died the death we deserved to die. However, the good news is about even more than his birth, life, and death. The good news is also that God raised him from the dead and has now seated him on the throne of heaven and thereby given him the sole authority and power to deliver his people from sin’s captivity. Because of Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection almost two thousand years ago, God has now made him Savior and Lord.

Therefore Jesus’ lordship must be seen as a direct result of His death and resurrection. When the apostle Peter first preached the good news, he said that Jesus had been “raised from the dead and . . . exalted to the right hand of God” (Acts 2:32-33). This symbolic statement that Jesus is now at the right hand of God is meant to teach us that Jesus is presently reigning and ruling in heaven as both Savior and Lord. As Savior, he alone has the authority and power to deliver people from sin’s penalty and power over their lives. As Lord, he alone has the authority to demand that everyone, everywhere, submit to his rule over their lives (Acts 17:30). The apostle Paul said, “[N]ow he [God] commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed” (Acts 17:31). The good news is that this exalted Christ is coming again (Matt 24:30; 25:19, 31; 26:64; John 14:3), and he is going to bring all things under his rule. When he comes again, it will not be like the first time, as a humble, suffering servant. He will return as a sovereign king, executing judgment and establishing righteousness in all the earth. Paul writes, “[A]t the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10-11). 

Good News of Pardon and Power

The climax of this good news is not simply that Jesus is Savior and Lord, but that as Savior and Lord he has made certain promises to all who believe in him and submit to him. These gospel promises include not only God’s promise to save us from sin’s penalty, but also God’s promise to save us from sin’s domineering power over our lives. It is the good news that Jesus Christ not only died two thousand years ago to deliver us from sin’s penalty, but he also lives today to deliver us from sin’s reigning power. Mankind’s fundamental spiritual problem is not simply a status problem, but also a human nature problem. When we are outside of Christ, we are not only guilty before the heavenly court. We are also standing there morally corrupt, with a terminal disease called sin. Therefore, we need not only a new status before God, but also a new nature. This is why Peter concluded his first sermon at Pentecost by promising his listeners two free gifts from God to all who would turn to Christ: 1) the forgiveness of sins and 2) the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).

The good news is not only that our status can be changed before God the Judge but also that our corrupt nature can be healed by God the Physician. The Psalmist praises God for both benefits when he writes, “He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases” (Ps 103:3). Good News for the Lost and Found Therefore, the gospel message should be seen as not only a message of good news for lost people to be saved from sin’s penalty, but also as a message of good news for Christian people to be saved from sin’s domineering power.

The goal of the gospel is not merely to forgive us, but to change us into true worshippers of God and authentic lovers of people. We often reduce the gospel to “God’s plan of salvation” for lost people to be saved from sin’s penalty, not realizing that it is also “God’s plan of salvation” for Christians to be saved from sin’s power. The same gospel message that saves sinners also sanctifies saints. A few years ago, a major leader in the Navigators ministry revealed to a gathering of hundreds of Christians that he had discovered his own view of the gospel had been truncated for most of his ministry. He said, “Imagine drawing a time line of your life. A dot on the extreme left represents your birth; a dot on the extreme right represents your death. Picture a cross in the center, signifying your conversion. What one word would summarize your greatest need from birth to conversion?” Most of the group replied, “The gospel.” He continued, “Now give me just one word summarizing your greatest need from your conversion to your death.” Some said growth, others said sanctification. The leader confessed that for most of his ministry he would have agreed with those choices. Being a Navigator, he said his choice would probably have been “discipleship”. “But today,” he confessed, “that word would be ‘gospel.’”

After decades of active discipleship, he realized that his view of the gospel had been virtually disconnected from living the Christian life. Now he is convinced that the gospel is needed just as much after conversion as it is before (Childers 1995:6). So the gospel is not just the ABC’s but the A to Z of Christianity (Keller 1999:36). The gospel is not just a gate we pass through one time but a path we are to walk each day of our lives. This gospel is God’s solution not merely to our guilt, but also our moral corruption—as well as the ultimate solution to all the problems of life both personal and social. The gospel is not merely a set of propositions to be believed and defended, but it is also a supernatural power to be released in and through our lives and churches for a broken world.

So the question arises, “How can I be transformed by this power of the gospel?” How Does the Gospel Change a Christian? Notice again the simple, but deeply profound, words of Jesus found in Mark 1:14b-15. “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”

Repentance and faith have been called the two dynamics of a “spiritual combustion cycle” that God means to be at work in our hearts at all times, changing us into the image of his Son. In order for us to experience the transforming power of the gospel in our lives, we must continually be repenting and believing in the gospel. When this “spiritual combustion cycle” of ongoing repentance and faith is at work in the heart, there will be change. The reverse is also true. When there is no true change in the heart and life, it is certain that this cycle of ongoing repentance and faith is not taking place. Since these two dynamics of repentance and faith are so misunderstood, yet so critical for spiritual transformation, we will now take a closer look at each one in more detail. 


Repentance: Turning Heart Affections Away From Idols

There is a lot of confusion today about repentance. Many people see repentance as morbid self- flagellation, leading the repenter into despair. Repentance is seen as a kind of evangelical penance reserved only for those special times when you’ve been really bad and need to humble yourself before God. This view of repentance reflects how so few Christians today seem to have grasped the first thesis of Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses, which he nailed to the door of the Wittenberg church, giving birth to the Protestant Reformation. In the first thesis, Luther writes, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent’ [Matt. 4:17], he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance” (1957:25). This understanding of repentance as an ongoing, way-of-life experience for the believer seems to be almost unknown today.

What we must rediscover is that true repentance does not lead us to despair but to joy. The more we learn to see the depth of our sin, the more we’ll see the depth of God’s grace. The cross of Christ is only deeply precious, it is only “electric,” to daily repenters who see the depth of their sin. When Jesus calls us to repent, he is not calling us to beat up on ourselves or merely to clean up our lives. Instead, he is calling us to a radical change of heart. According to Scripture our root problem is not an external, behavioral problem--it’s a problem of the heart. This is why all the counterfeit remedies inevitably leave us unchanged and in either denial or despair, because they all bypass the heart. The reason our hearts are not more transformed is because we have allowed what the Puritans call “the affections of our hearts” to be captured by idols that steal our heart affection away from God. The apostle John makes this point in the very last verse of 1 John. Here the apostle purposefully concludes his masterful 105-verse letter on how to live in vital fellowship with Christ with these words, “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 Jn 5:21). Here we learn that repenting of our idolatry actually sums up what true spirituality really is. Because God has created man to be a worshipper, we are always worshipping something, whether we realize it or not. This is why we should always see the essential character of our sin as heart idolatry.

The first and second commandments, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex 20:3) and “You shall not make for yourself an idol” (Ex 20:4a), are meant to remind us of the very dangerous and natural tendency we all have to worship idols. The modern idols that capture our hearts’ affection today are not the graven images of the ancient world. An idol is something from which we get our identity. An idol is making something or someone other than Jesus Christ our true source of happiness or fulfillment. It has been said that Rocky Balboa revealed one of the idols of his heart in the best line of the famous “Rocky” movie, when he said, “If I can just go the distance, then I’ll know I’m not a bum.” The truth is everyone has something or someone we can easily put in that place. “If I can only have- -you fill in the blank--then I’ll know I’m somebody.” We all have to live for something. We all have a “personal center,” an ultimate value through which we see all of life (Keller 1998:46). For some of us it is approval, reputation, or success. For others it is comfort or control, pleasure or power. For some it is possessions or sex or money or a relationship. Idols can be good causes such as making an impact, having a happy home or a good marriage or obedient children. Whatever it is, without this bottom line we believe our lives are meaningless. Whatever we live for has great power over us. If someone blocks our idol from us, we can be enraged with anger. If our idols are threatened, we can be paralyzed with fear. If we lose our idol, we can be driven into utter despair. That is because the idols we worship give us our sense of worth or righteousness. When we allow the affections of our hearts to be captured by such idols, the outcome is always the same--a lack of God’s transforming power and presence in our lives. So repentance should not be seen as merely changing our external behavior but primarily as a willingness to pull our heart affections and our heart trust away from our idols.

The great English theologian, Owen, teaches that one of the reasons we don’t experience more of God’s power and presence in our lives is because we have not sufficiently studied the idolatries of our own hearts. This is why we should learn to ask ourselves hard questions such as: “What is my greatest fear in life?” and “What other than Christ has taken title to my heart’s functional trust?” For years I confessed to God my recurring sin of anxiety that was destroying me physically. But I saw very little change until I began to see and repent of the internal sin of idolatry that was the root of the external sin of worry. To my surprise, I discovered that my core problem was not primarily the external sin of worry but the internal, idolatrous sin of seeking the approval of others as the source of my righteousness or worth. The great evangelist, George Whitefield, taught that to know God’s power, we must learn not only what it means to repent of our sins but also to repent of our righteousness (1993).

The late John Gerstner is reported to have said, “It is not so much our sins that keep us from God as our damnable good works.” Once we have identified a heart idol, repentance involves not only confessing it, but also taking radical action against it, sapping the life- dominating power it has over us. In Romans 13:14 Paul writes, “[M]ake no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” All that is idolatrous to us must have its vivid appeal drained away.

The Puritans call this mortification, a concept seldom heard today. Repentance is only half of our responsibility in transformation. It’s the negative, defensive side of the equation. We turn now to the positive, offensive strategy--faith in the gospel. Faith: Turning Heart Affections to Jesus Christ The reason Jesus commands us in this text to “repent and believe the gospel” is because he knew that faith in the gospel is the mysterious means God ordains through which the power of his victory as our king is meant to flow in and through our lives and our churches. The good news of the kingdom is that our king has won a marvelous victory for us. Through his sinless life, sacrificial death as our substitute, resurrection, and ascension, he has not only conquered death for us, removing its penalty, but he has also conquered sin’s power over us. As our warrior-king, he has entered into battle against all the enemy forces (the world, the flesh, and the devil) that wage war against our souls, and he has conquered their reigning power over us forever.

Now, through repentance and faith, God means for us to tap into the powerful victory of our king, so that we might be transformed into true worshippers of God and more authentic lovers of people. The reason God calls us to pull our affections off our heart idols through repentance is so that we can place those same affections on Jesus Christ through faith. The apostle Paul has this positive side of the change equation in mind when he writes in Colossians 3:1-2, “[S]et your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” In Paul’s thought the process of gospel transformation always involves this ongoing, two-fold dynamic of repentance and faith. Through repentance we are always to be pulling our affections off of our idols. Through faith we are always to be placing our affections on Christ. The Puritans describe this concept of setting our affections on Christ as developing spiritual-mindedness. They teach that we must be even more radical about setting our affections on Christ than we are about removing our affections from our idols. As we think of the proper priority of our focus, Robert Murray McCheyne puts it well when he says, “Do not take up your time so much with studying your own heart as with studying Christ’s heart. ‘For one look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ’” (1947:93). In Galatians 6:14, Paul gives us a fascinating glimpse into how his faith in the gospel transformed him when he writes, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.” John Stott writes, “Paul’s whole world was in orbit around the cross. It filled his vision, illumined his life, warmed his spirit. He “gloried” in it. It meant more to him than anything else. . . . This Greek word translated here as “boast” has no exact equivalent in English. It means to glory in, trust in, rejoice in, revel in, live for. In a word, our glory is our obsession” (1986:349).

Some of us are obsessed with gaining approval or recognition. Others are obsessed with experiencing comfort or pleasure or happiness. Some are obsessed with gaining control or power or possessions or building a reputation or gaining success as the world defines it. The apostle Paul was also obsessed. But his obsession was with Christ and the cross. In his obsession with the cross, Paul experienced the transforming power of the gospel to crucify the dominating power of his sinful nature and the idolatrous lure of the world. Only when we learn how to glory in the cross and not in our idols will we ever experience the true liberating power of the gospel. Only when Jesus Christ becomes more attractive to us than the pleasures of sin will our hearts ever be set free. The enslaving power of sin will never dissipate until a greater affection of the heart replaces it. This is why we must learn to pray like the old hymn writer William Cowper: “The dearest idol I have known / Whate’er that idol be / Help me to tear it from Thy throne / And worship only Thee” (1990:534). Obedience: Nurturing Faith by the Means of Grace There is a strong link between our obedience to God’s will and our personal experience of God’s ministry power.

Jesus says, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (Jn 14:23). He also says, “If anyone wishes to come 
after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mk 8:34-35). God means for our radical obedience to his will and his purposes in the world to be a vital part of our experience of truly knowing him and experiencing his power in and through our lives. God loves to pour out his Spirit with power on those individuals and churches who will dare to align themselves radically and joyfully with his will for their lives and for his world.

God’s primary plan by which he means for us to nurture our union with Christ is through the devoted use of the means of grace he provides. The book of Acts shows us that the early Christians devoted themselves to “the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42b). Paul establishes the primacy of the church in leading Christians to spiritual maturity when he writes, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:11–13). The Holy Spirit ordinarily does his work in our lives as we learn to fix our hearts and minds on the Lord Jesus Christ through the corporate means of grace. The Westminster Shorter Catechism states, “The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption are his ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments, and prayer all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.” (WSC 88).

Conclusion

To draw near to God in repentance and faith demands that we first humble ourselves. The Scriptures tell us that “God is opposed to the proud but he gives grace to the humble” (Jas 4:6). The paradox of grace is that the way up is the way down. God’s grace and power, like water, always flow down to the lowest place--the foot of the cross. The cross has been called the sinner’s place. It is at the cross that we cast away all our pride and self-sufficiency and admit to God what idolaters we really are. It is at the cross that we stop covering up our lack of spiritual reality. It is at the cross that we humbly admit to God that our hearts are spiritually cold and hard. It is at the cross that we find rest for our souls. I am not presenting just one more plan or program for spiritual self-development. Instead, I am presenting a person, Jesus Christ, who says not only “repent and believe the gospel” (Mk 1:14b-15), but also ‘“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28-30).

The good news is that in Jesus Christ we finally find what our hearts truly long for and thirst after, that which our idols can promise only in vain. It is the good news that we do not have to live in fear of God’s condemnation anymore. No matter how great our sins may be, God promises we can now be completely forgiven through Christ’s shed blood in our place. It is the good news that we do not need to be crippled by the fear of rejection anymore, always building and defending our reputation, for we can know the riches of God’s eternal acceptance through Christ’s perfect righteousness, counted to be ours through faith. It is the good news that we don’t need to go on living and feeling like unloved spiritual orphans anymore, for we can now know the comfort of Jesus Christ as our compassionate older brother, the one “who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin” (Heb 4:15). It is the good news that, although we can grieve and displease God because of our sin, there is nothing we can do to cause our Heavenly Father to love us any less, and there is nothing we can do to cause him to love us any more.

God’s love for us in Christ is the same eternal love he has always had for his one and only Son. Because we are his children, God promises to use all the trials of our lives not for our punishment but for our good, to help us grow and mature to be all he designed us to be (Heb 12:10). It is the good news that no matter how alone we may find ourselves in this life, no matter how many people may leave us, we can always know the intimate communion of God’s Holy Spirit who promises never to leave us or forsake us (Heb 13:5). His love for us is eternal; he chose us to be in Christ before the creation of the world, and he promises that the work he began in us, he will bring to completion on that final day in heaven (Phil 1:6). In the meantime, he promises to come alongside us to comfort, encourage and transform us through all our trials. He promises always to be near to the brokenhearted (Ps 34:18). It is the good news that no matter how intense or enslaving our present struggle with sin may be, we no longer need to be in bondage to sin’s dominion over our lives. Although sin’s influence will always be with us, sin’s dominion over our lives has been broken through the cross (Rom 6). It is the good news that we can now finally be free from that sin which has held us in bondage for so long. 


It is the good news that one day all of our struggles will be over and God will bring us home to heaven. We are now pilgrims passing through a land that is not our own, on our way to our home, the Celestial City (Bunyan 1872a)--a place where God promises he will wipe away every tear from our eyes. He promises that he will make all things new. We will be made new in both soul and body. All creation will be made new. He promises that in the new heavens and the new earth there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things will pass away (Rev 21:4). All God requires is that we draw (1990:304). near to him in repentance and faith through the cross of Jesus Christ. For it’s here, at this low sinner’s place, that God has chosen to lift us up and change us into the likeness of Steve Childers is Christ.

 

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Finding Happiness In The New Year https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/finding-happiness-in-the-new-year https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/finding-happiness-in-the-new-year#comments Mon, 02 Jan 2017 13:00:00 -0600 https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/finding-happiness-in-the-new-year Once a friend asked me a simple, yet haunting question. He asked, “Sam, are you happy?”

My impulse was to answer with nervous certainty, “Of course. Things are well. What do you mean? Yes, I’m happy.”

After he left, though, I sat in silence and began to wrestle with my insecurities that his snooping question stirred: “What does he mean, ‘Are you happy?’ What kind of question is that? Just who does he think he is anyway? He needs to mind his own business.”

Isn’t it funny that the one quality all humans seek - happiness - can also be such a disturbing topic to consider. This irony has its reasons.

First, we are the most privileged people to have ever lived. Our ancestors knew nothing of vacations, medical care, education, central air and heat, mobility, opportunity, safety, freedom, material wealth in the same ways we do. Even compared to most of the world today, we own more, know more, and experience more than most of them can dream.

Yet, studies repeatedly tell us that we are also the most medicated, anxious, bored, despairing, and self-pitying people group to have ever inhabited earth. Why are we that way?

The Bible says we are that way because we don’t know how to define happiness. In our personal dictionaries, happiness is when good things happen to us. In other words, we define happiness by circumstances, -- what we own, what we know, and what we experience.

But the Bible says true happiness — the kind we seem to never find — is found in our allegiances, not our circumstances.

Psalm 1 says, “Blessed (happy, fulfilled, satisfied) is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of mockers, BUT his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law, he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither; whatever he does prospers.”

The happy (or Blessed) person challenges the things that shape his or her mind (what counsels me), his or her influences (who am I standing with), and her sense of belonging or purpose (with whom do I sit, or consider “my group"). You see the wicked, sinners, and mockers are not “bad people to avoid,” but ideas, values, and commitments that shape us, and are shaping us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They all define happiness by how life goes, how others regard you, how you regard yourself, how you get your way, how things work out; that is, circumstances.

But the Bible is clear throughout: Happiness will never be found in a pursuit of happiness; happiness will only be found in the pursuit of God.

Jesus said something similar in a lesson on worry and anxiety. Rather than offering tips to cure the circumstances of anxiety (which there are always many) he told listeners to, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.”

So, do you want to be happy this year? Then stop pursuing happiness. You will never find it.
Do you want happy children? Stop trying to make them happy. You can’t do it.
Do you want a happier experience of work? Stop making happiness at work your priority.
Do you want a happy marriage? Stop making your spouse the center of your attention.
Do you want a happy experience of church or friends? Forget about it. They weren’t designed to provide it.

Rather, “meditate on the law of the Lord, day and night.” That is, repeat, make use of, and apply to your heart the gospel - that God has chosen you, Christ has redeemed you, and the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in you. That’s who you are.
And if you know who you are, “like a tree planted by streams of water,” then no circumstance - no fading leaf, no withering drought, no dry season, no peeling bark can ever completely undo you.

Happy New Year!

]]>
Once a friend asked me a simple, yet haunting question. He asked, “Sam, are you happy?”

My impulse was to answer with nervous certainty, “Of course. Things are well. What do you mean? Yes, I’m happy.”

After he left, though, I sat in silence and began to wrestle with my insecurities that his snooping question stirred: “What does he mean, ‘Are you happy?’ What kind of question is that? Just who does he think he is anyway? He needs to mind his own business.”

Isn’t it funny that the one quality all humans seek - happiness - can also be such a disturbing topic to consider. This irony has its reasons.

First, we are the most privileged people to have ever lived. Our ancestors knew nothing of vacations, medical care, education, central air and heat, mobility, opportunity, safety, freedom, material wealth in the same ways we do. Even compared to most of the world today, we own more, know more, and experience more than most of them can dream.

Yet, studies repeatedly tell us that we are also the most medicated, anxious, bored, despairing, and self-pitying people group to have ever inhabited earth. Why are we that way?

The Bible says we are that way because we don’t know how to define happiness. In our personal dictionaries, happiness is when good things happen to us. In other words, we define happiness by circumstances, -- what we own, what we know, and what we experience.

But the Bible says true happiness — the kind we seem to never find — is found in our allegiances, not our circumstances.

Psalm 1 says, “Blessed (happy, fulfilled, satisfied) is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of mockers, BUT his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law, he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither; whatever he does prospers.”

The happy (or Blessed) person challenges the things that shape his or her mind (what counsels me), his or her influences (who am I standing with), and her sense of belonging or purpose (with whom do I sit, or consider “my group"). You see the wicked, sinners, and mockers are not “bad people to avoid,” but ideas, values, and commitments that shape us, and are shaping us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They all define happiness by how life goes, how others regard you, how you regard yourself, how you get your way, how things work out; that is, circumstances.

But the Bible is clear throughout: Happiness will never be found in a pursuit of happiness; happiness will only be found in the pursuit of God.

Jesus said something similar in a lesson on worry and anxiety. Rather than offering tips to cure the circumstances of anxiety (which there are always many) he told listeners to, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.”

So, do you want to be happy this year? Then stop pursuing happiness. You will never find it.
Do you want happy children? Stop trying to make them happy. You can’t do it.
Do you want a happier experience of work? Stop making happiness at work your priority.
Do you want a happy marriage? Stop making your spouse the center of your attention.
Do you want a happy experience of church or friends? Forget about it. They weren’t designed to provide it.

Rather, “meditate on the law of the Lord, day and night.” That is, repeat, make use of, and apply to your heart the gospel - that God has chosen you, Christ has redeemed you, and the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in you. That’s who you are.
And if you know who you are, “like a tree planted by streams of water,” then no circumstance - no fading leaf, no withering drought, no dry season, no peeling bark can ever completely undo you.

Happy New Year!

]]>
Christmas Gloom and the Wonderful Counselor https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/christmas-gloom-and-the-wonderful-counselor https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/christmas-gloom-and-the-wonderful-counselor#comments Fri, 09 Dec 2016 10:00:00 -0600 https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/christmas-gloom-and-the-wonderful-counselor But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish . . . The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone . . . For to us a child is born . . . and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor . . . (Isaiah)

“Gloom.” Not exactly the first word that comes to mind at Christmas time, is it?
But, it was for the prophet Isaiah. And frankly, I’m glad.

For many souls (and many more than will admit it), Christmas can often be more gloom than sparkle. Memories of lost loved ones, hurts from the past year, broken friendships, and exhausting obligations seem to be sharper, and painful, this time of year.

I think I began to experience how much I needed this perspective on the Christmas story in 1995.

My mom asked me to set the dinner table Christmas day. It was a rare duty, but she was busy with cornish hens, and cornbread dressing, and green bean casseroles. So, I obliged.

In our home, Christmas had its own dishes for some reason - white, bone China in swirling golden trim and perfect little Christmas trees etched in the center of each plate. A satin, red table-runner held down by two silver candlesticks divided the table; green, quilted placemats completed our festive ensemble.

It had been eight months since my older brother had died in a car wreck.

Somehow, I’d forgotten - not in the amnesiac, or indifferent sense of forgetting - but in the sense that life had returned to normal after months of agonizing heartbreak, pain, grief, and bitterness.

Our family was finally breathing again.

And then it happened. Without realizing, I’d placed a plate on the table for my deceased brother — at “his seat,” in “his place,” where we’d grown accustomed seeing him struggle to eat our grandma’s English peas and pearl onions, and the seat where he’d always ask for another one of Sister Schubert’s rolls; where from his “spot,” he’d figured out the exact striking distance between the toe of his shoe and my shin.

And that’s when it hit me — and by “it,” I mean the tear-bursting, falling to the knees, uncontrollable, groan of angry pain that alarmed everyone in the house and drew them into the dining room.

I finally realized the unavoidable — my brother was not coming home for Christmas - ever!

We carried on with our family meal. Mama had labored, and it was Christmas after all. But everyone at our table ate with dazed glares, each swept away from the shore of the moment by swirling currents of reflection, and battered by cataracts of disbelief and numbness.

I love Christmas; but I have loved it less ever since.

If you’ve made it this far into my story, chances are you too share similar experiences of Christmas. For those of us who grieve at Christmas, seasonal festivities can often stir our hurts deeper.

Of course we know that Christmas is about the light of the world, Jesus, coming into the darkness. We know the darkness cannot overcome it. But some of us can forget, and often feel the darkness is having its way.

If you, or if you know someone, walking in “gloom” this Christmas, please remember two things: (1) You are not alone. There are many of us. (2) Christmas is always the perfect season to recall that Jesus at least put “himself on the hook” of loss and suffering. We can never accuse God of “not getting us” by taking the easy way out.

One of the titles Jesus is given in Isaiah’s masterful work is “Wonderful Counselor,” or “Counselor of wonders.” As you would share your grief, pain, hurt, and loneliness with a counselor, consider this year sharing it with THE one counselor who requires no referral, no insurance, and no medication.

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But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish . . . The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone . . . For to us a child is born . . . and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor . . . (Isaiah)

“Gloom.” Not exactly the first word that comes to mind at Christmas time, is it?
But, it was for the prophet Isaiah. And frankly, I’m glad.

For many souls (and many more than will admit it), Christmas can often be more gloom than sparkle. Memories of lost loved ones, hurts from the past year, broken friendships, and exhausting obligations seem to be sharper, and painful, this time of year.

I think I began to experience how much I needed this perspective on the Christmas story in 1995.

My mom asked me to set the dinner table Christmas day. It was a rare duty, but she was busy with cornish hens, and cornbread dressing, and green bean casseroles. So, I obliged.

In our home, Christmas had its own dishes for some reason - white, bone China in swirling golden trim and perfect little Christmas trees etched in the center of each plate. A satin, red table-runner held down by two silver candlesticks divided the table; green, quilted placemats completed our festive ensemble.

It had been eight months since my older brother had died in a car wreck.

Somehow, I’d forgotten - not in the amnesiac, or indifferent sense of forgetting - but in the sense that life had returned to normal after months of agonizing heartbreak, pain, grief, and bitterness.

Our family was finally breathing again.

And then it happened. Without realizing, I’d placed a plate on the table for my deceased brother — at “his seat,” in “his place,” where we’d grown accustomed seeing him struggle to eat our grandma’s English peas and pearl onions, and the seat where he’d always ask for another one of Sister Schubert’s rolls; where from his “spot,” he’d figured out the exact striking distance between the toe of his shoe and my shin.

And that’s when it hit me — and by “it,” I mean the tear-bursting, falling to the knees, uncontrollable, groan of angry pain that alarmed everyone in the house and drew them into the dining room.

I finally realized the unavoidable — my brother was not coming home for Christmas - ever!

We carried on with our family meal. Mama had labored, and it was Christmas after all. But everyone at our table ate with dazed glares, each swept away from the shore of the moment by swirling currents of reflection, and battered by cataracts of disbelief and numbness.

I love Christmas; but I have loved it less ever since.

If you’ve made it this far into my story, chances are you too share similar experiences of Christmas. For those of us who grieve at Christmas, seasonal festivities can often stir our hurts deeper.

Of course we know that Christmas is about the light of the world, Jesus, coming into the darkness. We know the darkness cannot overcome it. But some of us can forget, and often feel the darkness is having its way.

If you, or if you know someone, walking in “gloom” this Christmas, please remember two things: (1) You are not alone. There are many of us. (2) Christmas is always the perfect season to recall that Jesus at least put “himself on the hook” of loss and suffering. We can never accuse God of “not getting us” by taking the easy way out.

One of the titles Jesus is given in Isaiah’s masterful work is “Wonderful Counselor,” or “Counselor of wonders.” As you would share your grief, pain, hurt, and loneliness with a counselor, consider this year sharing it with THE one counselor who requires no referral, no insurance, and no medication.

]]>
Fleeing Idols In Corinth -- Mississippi, That Is https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/idolatry https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/idolatry#comments Mon, 05 Dec 2016 14:00:00 -0600 https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/idolatry "You shall have no other gods before me . . ." 

In his old age, the apostle John wrote a letter to churches in Asia Minor. It described genuine faith, the dangers of heresy, and encouragement to live as followers of Christ. Strangely, though, John concluded the letter abruptly with the words, "Flee idolatry."

To our modern ears, it sounds as if John offers an anachronistic admonition, a practical warning to the people of his day about a danger to which only they were exposed. Idols, you know, are not exactly at the top of our contemporary list of struggles.

Or, are they? Idols are anything to which a person looks to for identity, security, comfort, acceptance, and intimacy. In that sense, an idol is anything God meant for good we twist into gods.

Christians are told to "FLEE" noting the urgency, danger, and allure of idols. Therefore, we are compelled to test ourselves. Below are some great questions to use to help us discover that we are not only capable of having idols; we are, in fact, already consumed by them. The hope of such an exercise is not depression, but repentance -- realizing that Christ is the only object of worship that offers the fullness of the security, identity, comfort, prestige, acceptance, etc. that we obviusly desperately seek in good, but inadequate, substitutes.

 

“Life only has meaning/I only have worth if…

I have power and influence over others.” (Power Idolatry)
I am loved and respected by _____.” (Approval Idolatry)
I have this kind of pleasure experience, a particular quality of life.” (Comfort idolatry)
I am able to get mastery over my life in the area of _____.” (Control idolatry)
people are dependent on me and need me.” (Helping Idolatry)
someone is there to protect me and keep me safe.” (Dependence idolatry)
I am completely free from obligations or responsibilities to take care of someone.” (Independence idolatry)
I am highly productive and getting a lot done.” (Work idolatry)
I am being recognized for my accomplishments, and I am excelling in my work.” (Achievement idolatry)
I have a certain level of wealth, financial freedom, and very nice possessions.” (Materialism idolatry)
I am adhering to my religion’s moral codes and accomplished in its activities.” (Religion idolatry)
This one person is in my life and happy to be there, and/or happy with me.” (Individual person idolatry)
I feel I am totally independent of organized religion and am living by a self-made morality.” (Irreligion idolatry)
My race and culture is ascendant and recognized as superior.” (Racial/cultural idolatry)
A particular social grouping or professional grouping or other group lets me in.” (Inner ring idolatry)
My children and/or my parents are happy and happy with me.” (Family idolatry)
Mr. or Ms. “Right” is in love with me.” (Relationship Idolatry)
I am hurting, in a problem; only then do I feel worthy of love or able to deal with guilt.” (Suffering idolatry)
my political or social cause is making progress and ascending in influence or power.” (Ideology idolatry)
I have a particular kind of look or body image.” (Image idolatry)

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"You shall have no other gods before me . . ." 

In his old age, the apostle John wrote a letter to churches in Asia Minor. It described genuine faith, the dangers of heresy, and encouragement to live as followers of Christ. Strangely, though, John concluded the letter abruptly with the words, "Flee idolatry."

To our modern ears, it sounds as if John offers an anachronistic admonition, a practical warning to the people of his day about a danger to which only they were exposed. Idols, you know, are not exactly at the top of our contemporary list of struggles.

Or, are they? Idols are anything to which a person looks to for identity, security, comfort, acceptance, and intimacy. In that sense, an idol is anything God meant for good we twist into gods.

Christians are told to "FLEE" noting the urgency, danger, and allure of idols. Therefore, we are compelled to test ourselves. Below are some great questions to use to help us discover that we are not only capable of having idols; we are, in fact, already consumed by them. The hope of such an exercise is not depression, but repentance -- realizing that Christ is the only object of worship that offers the fullness of the security, identity, comfort, prestige, acceptance, etc. that we obviusly desperately seek in good, but inadequate, substitutes.

 

“Life only has meaning/I only have worth if…

I have power and influence over others.” (Power Idolatry)
I am loved and respected by _____.” (Approval Idolatry)
I have this kind of pleasure experience, a particular quality of life.” (Comfort idolatry)
I am able to get mastery over my life in the area of _____.” (Control idolatry)
people are dependent on me and need me.” (Helping Idolatry)
someone is there to protect me and keep me safe.” (Dependence idolatry)
I am completely free from obligations or responsibilities to take care of someone.” (Independence idolatry)
I am highly productive and getting a lot done.” (Work idolatry)
I am being recognized for my accomplishments, and I am excelling in my work.” (Achievement idolatry)
I have a certain level of wealth, financial freedom, and very nice possessions.” (Materialism idolatry)
I am adhering to my religion’s moral codes and accomplished in its activities.” (Religion idolatry)
This one person is in my life and happy to be there, and/or happy with me.” (Individual person idolatry)
I feel I am totally independent of organized religion and am living by a self-made morality.” (Irreligion idolatry)
My race and culture is ascendant and recognized as superior.” (Racial/cultural idolatry)
A particular social grouping or professional grouping or other group lets me in.” (Inner ring idolatry)
My children and/or my parents are happy and happy with me.” (Family idolatry)
Mr. or Ms. “Right” is in love with me.” (Relationship Idolatry)
I am hurting, in a problem; only then do I feel worthy of love or able to deal with guilt.” (Suffering idolatry)
my political or social cause is making progress and ascending in influence or power.” (Ideology idolatry)
I have a particular kind of look or body image.” (Image idolatry)

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The Rarest Jewel https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/the-rarest-jewel https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/the-rarest-jewel#comments Mon, 05 Dec 2016 14:00:00 -0600 https://www.tpccorinth.org/restory/post/the-rarest-jewel Four years ago, the Pink Star Diamond, a 59.6 carat behemoth, sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $83 million dollars — nearly $1.3 million per carat!

Enthusiasts labelled it the world’s most prized and rare jewel.

As we know, the rarer something is, the more precious and priceless it becomes.

Four hundred years ago, a minister named Jeremiah Burroughs wrote about another jewel — one so precious, so rare, that men and women and children everywhere, for centuries, have hunted for this jewel vigorously.

You and I are still hunting it for it too. And it’s exhausting.

The “jewel” Burroughs spoke about was “contentment.”

In his great sermon, “The Rare Jewel Of Christian Contentment,” Burroughs defined this most precious find as “that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to - and delights in - God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.”

In other words, Jesus changes the way His people think about the controlling power that circumstances and stuff have over His beloved.

Christ goal, it seems, is to lead His precious people to places and moments in their lives where slowly, but surely we learn to say, “God is enough.”

Oh, how precious would it be to look life in the face and with an exhale of confidence say, “My Father is good. I am satisfied.”

Unfortunately, we resemble our first parents more than we’d like. I mean, if they were convinced that Eden — the most satisfying, pleasurable, delightful, fulfilling gift ever beheld was not enough — how well do you think we will fair?

But Jesus lived and died to redeem our constant, tiring search for meaning, purpose, hope, and comfort. His death and resurrection were the guarantee of new life now, and truer life to come.

The Apostle Paul learned how to apply this truth to real life. To one church, he wrote, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance — whether in much or little.” He wrote about himself because the people in that church were fighting with one another — jockeying for reputation, significance, power, and influence - and it was eating them and their witness alive. What would cause such hot-tempered, competitive rivalry? They had not learned to be content in Christ.

But look at Paul’s encouragement again. He had to “learn” contentment. Don’t you love that the Holy Apostle Paul, just like us, had to “learn” contentment. Not even the holiest of Christians come programmed with this gift; no one inherits this rare jewel; Jesus teaches it to His followers.

But how had Paul learned contentment? Prison. Paul went to prison. That’s where he wrote his sermon about contentment - prison!

Is it possible, that God allows us to follow our twisted hearts just far enough to experience DIScontent in order to to help His children discover the joy of TRUE Content?

Think about the goals, longings, ambitions, disappointments, setbacks, anxieties, horizons, escapes that fill your daydreams today even as you read this.

Now think about our church’s monthly memory verse: “Jesus answered - I am THE Way, and THE truth, and THE Life.”
Will we believe Jesus is telling the truth?

Oh Lord, I pray you will help me learn, and be more aware, that "more or less" is not the measure of a good life - but your presence, your provision, your promise are. You are enough, Father. You are enough. Lead me away from my cubic zirconium pursuits as you lead me to that precious, rare jewel of Christian contentment found only in, through, from, and by Christ Jesus, my Lord. Amen.

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Four years ago, the Pink Star Diamond, a 59.6 carat behemoth, sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $83 million dollars — nearly $1.3 million per carat!

Enthusiasts labelled it the world’s most prized and rare jewel.

As we know, the rarer something is, the more precious and priceless it becomes.

Four hundred years ago, a minister named Jeremiah Burroughs wrote about another jewel — one so precious, so rare, that men and women and children everywhere, for centuries, have hunted for this jewel vigorously.

You and I are still hunting it for it too. And it’s exhausting.

The “jewel” Burroughs spoke about was “contentment.”

In his great sermon, “The Rare Jewel Of Christian Contentment,” Burroughs defined this most precious find as “that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to - and delights in - God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.”

In other words, Jesus changes the way His people think about the controlling power that circumstances and stuff have over His beloved.

Christ goal, it seems, is to lead His precious people to places and moments in their lives where slowly, but surely we learn to say, “God is enough.”

Oh, how precious would it be to look life in the face and with an exhale of confidence say, “My Father is good. I am satisfied.”

Unfortunately, we resemble our first parents more than we’d like. I mean, if they were convinced that Eden — the most satisfying, pleasurable, delightful, fulfilling gift ever beheld was not enough — how well do you think we will fair?

But Jesus lived and died to redeem our constant, tiring search for meaning, purpose, hope, and comfort. His death and resurrection were the guarantee of new life now, and truer life to come.

The Apostle Paul learned how to apply this truth to real life. To one church, he wrote, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance — whether in much or little.” He wrote about himself because the people in that church were fighting with one another — jockeying for reputation, significance, power, and influence - and it was eating them and their witness alive. What would cause such hot-tempered, competitive rivalry? They had not learned to be content in Christ.

But look at Paul’s encouragement again. He had to “learn” contentment. Don’t you love that the Holy Apostle Paul, just like us, had to “learn” contentment. Not even the holiest of Christians come programmed with this gift; no one inherits this rare jewel; Jesus teaches it to His followers.

But how had Paul learned contentment? Prison. Paul went to prison. That’s where he wrote his sermon about contentment - prison!

Is it possible, that God allows us to follow our twisted hearts just far enough to experience DIScontent in order to to help His children discover the joy of TRUE Content?

Think about the goals, longings, ambitions, disappointments, setbacks, anxieties, horizons, escapes that fill your daydreams today even as you read this.

Now think about our church’s monthly memory verse: “Jesus answered - I am THE Way, and THE truth, and THE Life.”
Will we believe Jesus is telling the truth?

Oh Lord, I pray you will help me learn, and be more aware, that "more or less" is not the measure of a good life - but your presence, your provision, your promise are. You are enough, Father. You are enough. Lead me away from my cubic zirconium pursuits as you lead me to that precious, rare jewel of Christian contentment found only in, through, from, and by Christ Jesus, my Lord. Amen.

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