Fight the Self-Driven Gospel


One of the more deceptive elements of our Christian walk arises from our own sense of performance.  Because God commands obedience and holiness, we often forget that only Christ can provide the righteousness we need for salvation.  We work, which isn't bad, but we focus on our striving.

Let's consider this another way.  We may intellectually accept the premise that we are saved by grace through faith, and we would not openly boast, we sometimes live as though salvation is by works (cf. Eph 2:8-9).  We tend to either neglect or forget the good news of the gospel in our Christian walk.

We confuse the categories of justification and sanctification in our lives.

Consider this quiz (from here) to examine how well you hold to the gospel. 
With which are you absorbed? (Answer A or B) 
1 (A) your personal righteousness,
(B) The vicarious righteousness of Christ? 
2 (A) the condition of your faith
(B) Christ’s faithful obedience on your behalf? 
3 (A) your self-crucifixion
(B) His crucifixion? 
4 (A) your new life
(B) His sinless life? 
5 (A) your experience of Christ
(B) His experience for you? 
6 (A) your love for God
(B) His love for you? 
7 (A) The depth of your personal surrender
(B) The depth of Christ’s personal surrender? 
8 (A) Your victorious life
(B) His victorious life on your behalf? 
9 (A) Your attainment
(B) His atonement? 
10 (A) The work of the Spirit in you
(B) the work of Christ for you? 
If you answered “B” in all 10 questions, you have a grasp of the gospel, but better yet, the gospel has a grasp of you.
If you didn't fair that well, it may be that you are simply a Christian whose forgotten (or never fully considered) the wondrous good news of Christ.  As a result, your focus tends to be more self-ward than it should.

We all drift, and we all need occasional correctives.  Back in 2003, the late Jerry Bridges wrote an important article for Modern Reformation.  This article was passed onto me by a friend, and it helped clear some of the legalistic cobwebs from my faith.  It's called "Gospel-Driven Sanctification," and I recommend it to you (PDF here).

If you're looking for books to grow in your knowledge of this topic, Jerry Bridges has written several on this theme. 

Some by other authors would be (in no particular order):

  • A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God's Love by Vincent Milton
  • Hidden in the Gospel: Truths You Forget to Tell Yourself Every Day by William P. Farley
  • The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism, and Gospel Assurance—Why the Marrow Controversy Still Matters by Sinclair Ferguson
  • The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification by Walter Marshall
  • Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan

May you grow through the grace of the gospel of Christ, never forgetting that Jesus paid it all.

Popular posts from this blog

Controversy about Alistair Begg and Gay Weddings?

Image
Last week, Alistair Begg got himself into hot water.  His ministry, Truth for Life, posted a video which included his advice to a grandmother concerned for a grandchild trapped in the transgender lifestyle.  Moreover, this grandchild is getting married and has hopefully invited the grandmother to the wedding. Begg the grandmother two questions.   He asked her if she had expressed her disapproval of the lifestyle, and he asked if she had expressed disapproval about the wedding.   The grandmother said she had on both accounts.   His advice, therefore, stunned the grandmother: He told her to attend the wedding with a gift in hand! We can all sympathize with the drive to be as loving as possible, but let’s back up and consider a few points.   Christians look at Scripture and see biblical prohibitions against practically every expression on the current LGBTQ+ spectrum.   From both the Old Testament and the New, passages condemn such behaviors as deviati...
Read more

How Was the Trauma Training Today?

Image
Because we are including so many more foster children and children from broken homes into our fellowship, our church participated in a trauma training session today.  Our main purpose was to gain practical insights into how to handle situations where children who have experienced trouble act out their emotions.  To that end, we can be thankful for our time together.  However, there were many errant teachings included which we must reject.  ERRANT TEACHING ON THE BRAIN The presentation alleged that the brain is physically transformed through traumatic events, creating “holes” in it and in its ability to process information.   This is possible, but there is a lot of debate on this subject.   The subject is relatively new, based on the largely anecdotal research of Dutch psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, published in his book The Body Keeps the Score .   Secular psychologists and even some Christian counselors (who are not always biblical in their app...
Read more

Caution regarding the teaching of Lysa Terkeurst

Image
We received a mailer at our church this week advertising an event with "Six-Time New York Times Bestselling Author and CEO of Proverbs 31 Ministries," Lysa Terkeurst.  I don't know anything about the event organizers, so I won't name them, but I had this name mentally flagged and went to check into it.  She's a member of Steven Furtick's Elevation Church, which should rightly tell you to avoid her already.  She also regularly preaches to men, partners with false teachers, and teaches false doctrines such as contemplative prayer and use of the Enneagram.   You can read more about her here:  https://michellelesley.com/2015/07/31/leaving-lysa-why-you-shouldnt-be-following-lysa-terkeurst-or-proverbs-31-ministries/
Read more