Gospel Paramount

Graeme Goldsworthy in his book, Prayer and the Knowledge of God, has this very insightful quote…

“A wrong perspective on prayer may well come from thinking of it as playing a part in establishing our acceptance with God. Prayer that is not the grateful response of the justified sinner is likely to degenerate into an attempt to gain acceptance

….if the sole motive to pray is, as I have heard it put in sermons, ‘Jesus got up early to pray, so how much more do we need to get up early to pray’, it is missing the grace of God in the gospel. ‘He did it, therefore we ought to’ is not the perspective of the gospel unless it’s linked with, ‘He did it for us because we are unable to do it as we ought.’”

How many times I have heard “Jesus got up early in the morning to burn the midnight oil.” I use to think that God was ticked at me and looked with disgust on me because I would try to get up early to pray and would often fall back asleep or pray for 48.2 seconds and have prayed for all the missionaries, my future wife, school that day, my family, the President, and for me not to sin and I would be done. Then when I began to realize that union with Christ gives me access to talk to God not to gain acceptance but just to spend time with Dad (God Almighty) and just to get to know him a lil better, my pray life began to change. No longer was it oh man I screwed up today and Lord you know I messed up. Rather, my prayers turned to thanks giving that God knew before hand that I would sin and loved me enough anyway to provide his son a propiation and substitution for my sin, and give me victory to overcome my sin, by cutting off the power of sin.

prayer: radically different when done with Gospel understanding.

2 Cor. 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

By the inspiration of God, the Scriptures were written, which are the word of reconciliation; showing that peace has been made by the cross, and how we may be interested therein. Though God cannot lose by the quarrel, nor gain by the peace, yet he beseeches sinners to lay aside their enmity, and accept the salvation he offers. Christ knew no sin. He was made Sin; not a sinner, but Sin, a Sin-offering, a Sacrifice for sin. The end and design of all this was, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, might be justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.  (Matthew Henry, Commentary on 2 Cor. 5:21)

Praise the Lord that God laid on Him (Christ) who knew no sin and lived, through active obedience, a sinless life, my sin, yet remaining sinless and fully God. In order, to set me free to live in union with him united in righteousness. I take His perfect righteousness and He takes my sin and bears the wrath and the failure and the penalty. This is the scandal of the cross. This is the unbelievably good news of the cross. his life for mine, His righteousness for my sin, His Fathers love for Him poured out through the vase of grace onto me

“We have a Savior who can save us from the power of this world’s god (2 Cor. 4:4) and prince (John 16:11), the devil, that is, from sin and death. This means that He must be the true, eternal God, through whom all believers in Him become righteous and are saved. For if He is not greater and more exalted than Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, or John the Baptist, He cannot be our Redeemer. But if, as God’s Son, He sheds His blood to redeem us and cleanse us from sin, and if we believe this, rubbing it under the devil’s nose whenever he tries to plague and terrify us with our sins, the devil will soon be beaten; he will be forced to withdraw and to stop molesting us(emphasis mine). For the hook, which is the divinity of Christ, was concealed under the earthworm. The devil swallowed it with his jaws when Christ died and was buried. But it ripped his belly so that he could not retain it but had to disgorge it. He ate death for himself. This affords us the greatest solace; for just as the devil could not hold Christ in death, so he cannot hold us who believe in Christ. But, secondly, we must have a Savior who is also our Brother, who is of our flesh and blood, who became like us in all respects but sin. And in the children’s Creed we say, sing, and confess: “I believe in Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God the Father Almighty, conceived by the Holy Ghost, not by Joseph, born of Mary, a true, natural man who suffered, was crucified, died, rose from the dead on the third day, ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God, coequal with the Father in power and glory.” With a cheerful heart I may declare: “I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, who sits on His right hand as my Advocate. He is of my flesh and blood; yes, He is my Brother. For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven, became incarnate, and died for our sins.” And John, too, introduced his Gospel with the theme of the eternal deity of Christ when he said: “In the beginning was the Word”; “this Word,” he added later, “became flesh.” (Martin Luther, Sermon on John 1:4, 1537. Volume 22, Pg. 24)

Praise the Lord that he is our Savior and has chosen us out of this world to become adopted sons and co-heirs as brothers with Christ. The double portion of our union with God is sons and brothers.

And this is my prayer in the battle
And triumph is still on it’s way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I’ll stand

Go rejoicing tonight because of your union with Christ provides bold access directly to the throne of God. You are free from the guilt and shame that the accuser of the brethren brings (cf. Rev. 12) and now we are made free because He was made sin for us but never sinned (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21). 

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Acts 9:1-2

Paul was a man of hatred for Christians and the Gospel. He thought that it was a direct attack on his religious practices and wanted it to be annihilated, and that his direct mission was to wipe it clean from history.

“The law and the customs, the ancestral traditions, and everything that was of value in Judaism, were imperiled by the disciples’ activity and teaching. Here was a malignant growth which called for drastic surgery. The defence of all that made life worth living for Paul was a cause which engaged all the zeal and energy of which he was capable,” (F.F. Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free, p. 71).

This quotes sums up Paul’s life pre-conversion. On the road to Damascus his life was changed. Paul was walking from Jerusalem to Damascus (150 miles) just to kill and persecute Christians. Walking 3-4 miles an hour which is the normal pace that would have taken 5-7 days. He was so enraged with Christianity that he was willing to walk 5-7 days just to take down Christians.

This is the first part of the story of Paul. Later today we will talk about his conversion. Think about Saul (Paul) today consider what he was outside of Christ and when we look at what happened to him on the way to Damascus you will see:
                  -The Power of the Gospel to reach anyone.
                  -The Gospel is not man’s revelation but direct revelation from God.
                  -The Gospel brings joyfully life, Legalism breeds hatred and brings death. 

God no longer holds you responsible for the smallest sin. Every single sin is forgiven. When faith is said to be credited for righteousness, it is because of what your faith receives: when you believe, Christ’s righteousness is credited to your account, and your sins are credited to his account. If both of these things do not happen, you cannot consider yourself forgiven. Sin would be charged to your account. In the gospel, two things happen: first, God removes the charge of sin against your account. Second, God gives you the gift of righteousness from Christ. You receive this double gift when you receive Christ’s redemption through the shedding of his blood.

In this quote, Walter Marshall brings out the glory of good news that in Christ we receive forgiveness and family. Because of Christ’s finished work, we now stand freely justified and declared righteous.

Paul in Galatians tells us that the law has been fulfilled in Christ and in Romans we see that because Christ is the end of the law we are no longer slaves to disobedience and we begin to understand that god will not except our slavish service as sincere obedience. Outside of Christ we would be eternally condemned for failing to live up to Gods law.

 “I think that one of the greatest advantages that union with Christ provides us is the profound sense of assurance and security flowing from the knowledge that God deals with us only and always in terms of Christ” (Barrett, 95).  We do not stand alone in the presence of God.  We stand with and in Christ.  Thus, there is no reason for us to carry a burden of guilt because of “our personal failures, imperfections, and sins.”  “The merit of Jesus Christ encompasses and subsumes all of our service to Him.  What we do personally cannot increase or decrease God’s acceptance of us” (Barrett, 94). 

God’s plan for spiritual success was not a 12 step plan. No, because we would certainly turn to that for our assurance and merit before our Holy God. God designed us to be complete in Christ through faith in his finished work (cf. Phil. 3:7-9). The greatest thing we as believers can do is believe that God loves us and has made a way through/in Christ by which to love us. This love has opened up a way of direct confident access to spend time with that same God (cf. Eph. 2).

So today Go and Believe and look to your union with Christ to be full and righteous before God.  

Crossway is currently making the ESV Online Study Bible available free for anyone and everyone for a limited time through March 31, 2009.

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In 8 Witnesses, A Study on 1 and 2 Peter, Mark Driscoll, talking about the Church in Modern day Turkey describes them as wavering in their devotion….

Basically, Christians stepped out to live with, for, like, and to Jesus. In response, the world pushed back and tried to get them to go back in the closet with a private faith that did not affect their external life and role in the greater culture. Thus, and this point is vital to a correct understanding of Peter’s letters, they were suffering not because of their sin but rather because of their faithful devotion to Jesus. However, they were wavering in their devotion. Like so many college students who weary of being mocked by their professors for being Bible-believing Christians, husbands who are mocked for not looking at porn or partying with their buddies, wives who forego a professional career to stay at home and be a wife and mother, singles who are the butt of jokes at the office for waiting until marriage to have sex, and net surfers who can’t stomach one more nasty blog or negative news story about their faith and church, their resolve was tried. They responded in one of four ways:
One, some were enticed by the liberal route of compromise. They wanted to cut out—or at least explain away—the parts of the Bible that they were being criticized for believing. In our day, this would be most typified by the mainline liberal Christian denominations with pastors who endorse all religions and spiritualities under the oversight of unsaved bishops who appreciate their tolerance, pluralism, and minds so open that their brains fall out. This is one of the central issues in 2 Peter.
Two, some were compelled to privatize their faith. Sure, in private they would pray to and worship Jesus. But in public they would shut their mouths and keep their faith to themselves so as to not be considered the weirdo for Jesus on the block.
Three, some were considering junking their faith altogether. They were tired of being the butt of jokes in the press and on the late-night talk shows and wearied of being the Jesus freaks. Why? Because most people simply do not like being the oddball, misfit, and outcast—especially those who are young and want to be cool and those who are old with privileged social positions to uphold.
Four, still others were attracted to the fighting posture of fundamentalism. They were preparing to separate from the culture, set up their own subculture, defend themselves, and talk trash about the non-Christians who were criticizing them, all in the name of a culture war.

It is evident that this is the same today in our culture. As Christians we are encourages to be 007 Christians on hush-hush missions, just avoid the parts of the Bible that don’t suit us, giving up on Jesus, or adding stuff to our faith to make us counter-cultural.

Christ taught counter-cultural lifestyle…..in a Cross-centered way….
Jesus ate with sinners.
Jesus said the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
Jesus said that how you receive Children shows how you receive Him.
Jesus said that the whole law hung on Loving God and Loving People.

But, He didn’t do these things, or say these things to fight or to promote a faith-plus orientation to Salvation; he realized that the Cross is offensive enough.

Christ didn’t compromise; He knew that everything He did or said was for the glory of God.
Christ was not private. He knew that he would be beaten, mocked, ridiculed, and crucified in public for the Glory of God and the Joy of all people.

So what do we find from Christ about the Gospel and culture…
- The Gospel is not bound by culture
- The Gospel is for the Glory of God and the Joy of all people.
- The Gospel unites, but religion divides.
- The Gospel is the blessed hope that we as Christians wait for and we continually look to Christ,
his resurrection, and his Gospel for hope and joy amidst tough cultural norms and circumstances.
- The Gospel is to be spoken and lived out daily; we must boldly proclaim the Goods news.
- The Gospel tells us that we are “exiles and sojourners” on mission for God in a world that is not our home.

Thus, if we embrace trials as an opportunity from God, they can and do result in his glory and our good.

“It was Karl Barth, I believe, who said that trying to make the gospel relevant to the contemporary age was like running after the train that has just left. ‘The World’ that we are supposed to address with the gospel, that is, is a moving target. By the time we think we are finally getting to understand it, it is too late…When a historical, tragic accident occurs we investigate the causes. We search the wreckage for the ‘black box.’ We understand, if at all, when it is too late…

“The most serious mistake of theological attempts to understand the age is the assumption that the gospel could somehow be made to appear relevant to old beings.”

The fact that many churches – even of our own – do not seem to have learned the simple but apparently hard lesson is no doubt the reason for the transformation of many churches into service organizations, social reform clubs, and support groups, rather than proclaimers of the coming reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Seeking to be relevant to the age, they just succumbed to it. Claiming to be wise, as St. Paul put it, they became fools.The most serious mistake of theological attempts to understand the age is the assumption that the gospel could somehow be made to appear relevant to old beings.

‘The unspiritual’…, Paul tells us, ‘do not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to them, and they do not understand because they [the gifts] are spiritually discerned’ (1 Cor. 2:14)- always a favorite passage used to caution against being overly optimistic about appeals to relevance.”

(Gerhard O. Forde, The Preached God, “Speaking the Gospel Today,” pp. 165-166) 
(quote researched and found by my Uncle John) 

My Take on the Issue:
We have a lot of churches who have decided that if they make the Gospel relevant that they will reach more people and make a huge impact on the world. How can you make a life changing message MORE relevant? “It is the power of God unto salvation”…..How can that be more relevant? If someone saves your life from utter despair and then offers you the greatest riches imaginable, why would they need to dress it up in fancy garb and market it to you. Don’t get me wrong, I am all about making much of Christ, and if your going to do something, do it right, and well. But that is more of a mark of excellence, not relevance. We need to quit trying to make the Gospel relevant and preach Christ and only Him crucified. One of the problems of our culture is that we tend to try and make everything relevant because as my teacher says, “We as a whole have the attention span of about 5 minutes. -Miss D.” So as shepherds we have the mentality that we have to make the Gospel exciting, have flame throwers, and smoke machines. Devote your daily life to making the Gospel paramount and presenting it as Christ did.