Monthly Archives: June 2011

A Fun Letter

Grace,

One of the fears that frequently echoes back against a full proclamation of the Gospel is that it is unbalanced. Talking about grace alone in Christ alone by faith alone is too unqualified — you have to “balance” the incredible truth of Jesus Christ or people will be lazy slugs, ignoring the Bible’s imperatives?

Are you worried, for yourself or others? Worried that people who are too into true grace don’t obey?

If you’ve ever struggled there, or if you just want an encouraging read, head over to The Gospel Coalition for this wonderful letter by Elyse Fitzpatrick.

Enjoy!

H/T Tullian Tchividjian

Obey the Gospel

Righteousness,

How time slips by… for me, it has come with much effort on our new church location. Hope it is done soon!We’ve been dwelling on Galatians over the past weeks. Paul’s fiery passion for the Galatian’s identity and grounding in Christ has come blazing through. It is so strong I want to “fight back.”

Objection, Paul!

Don’t you need some caveats about my need for sacrificial living? Don’t you need to combat license as you lay down the gauntlet of “Christ plus nothing”?

Galatians has been good for me to chew on… because the strength of Paul’s conviction has led me to see that my flesh raises its head so very, very easily.

In my flesh, my focus of obedience, so often, is on me and for me. I live a clean and disciplined life, so that others will think well of me. Even my standing with God… and my view of myself… is seen through the lens of how well I’m obeying the rules.

So it has been good for me to think about what the content of my obedience is. It can’t be the Mosaic Law – not if the inspired words of the Apostle to the Gentiles is to be believed. So what is the object, the content, of my obedience?

Could it be the Gospel?

In the midst of illuminating true righteousness, Paul speaks of the condemnation of “those who have not obeyed the gospel” (Romans 10:16). This is the disobedience which leads to judgment: vengeance is on “those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” (2 Thessalonians 1:8).

“The gospel of our Lord Jesus.” This seems to be the central obedience piece. How do I “obey” the good news of our Lord Jesus?

Perhaps I must believe it. Perhaps I must forsake all my works and my standing and my own striving… and trust completely in His finished work. Perhaps I must continue to trust in His finished work, in His shed blood, for my whole life long… even though friends and flesh and world call out to me to prove to them my worth through my own effort. To warp His work into something that includes mine. To not be true to the truth — the truth that my only hope, even after conversion, is Jesus.

Perhaps there is more to obedience than following my internal set of “do’s and don’ts”.

So sacrificial living does come out of me as a Christian. My will is engaged in living for Jesus, not for me… but that’s a fruit of true obedience – the obedience of faith. And it spans so much more than a rule set… because the impact of what Jesus Christ has done changes me forever.

Obey the gospel!