In John Piper’s Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce he says

This gospel that must be “cordially” embraced (that is, with the heart and affections, not just the head) is the good news that reconciliation and a righteous standing with God precede and ground even the Spirit-given enabling for practical holiness.

And then he quotes from William Wilberforce himself that

The true Christian…knows therefore that this holiness is not to precede his reconciliation to God, and be its CAUSE; but to FOLLOW it, and be its EFFECT. That, in short, it is by FAITH IN CHRIST only that he is to be justified in the sight of God.

It is a common belief that we must be good enough before we are ready to believe the gospel, that once we can get past some certain stumbling block in our lives we will be in a good spot to start paying attention to God. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus said he came to call sinners to repentance, not the righteous (Like 5:32). If we try and get to a good enough place before believing in the gospel, we end up trying to be the very thing Jesus came to eradicate; self-righteousness. What’s the cure? Brokenness. God says the sacrifice he desires is a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51:17). How long will you continue to try and fix yourself apart from Christ?

“And there they continued to preach the gospel” - Acts 14:7

Each Tuesday a different reflection on the gospel and its continual effect on our lives

In Hebrews 10:19-22 we read, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh…let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean…” Christianity is the only major faith whose core belief is in a person. The person of Jesus Christ. If Jesus was not a man, than the entire doctrine of substitutionary atonement falls apart. Substitutionary atonement is a theological way of saying God requires shed blood for sin (Leviticus 17:11) and that Jesus was our substitute on the cross. This is what we mean when we say Jesus paid for our sins, we mean that Jesus shed his blood and became our substitute sacrifice. He took our place on the cross.

So when we peer into the gospel we see that Jesus died the death that saved all who would believe. Could any man have done this? Could anyone else have been this substitutionary atonement that we’re talking about? The Bible clearly states that this would not be possible, no other sacrifice would be pleasing to God (Hebrews 5:9). But I also humbly offer this to you, would you trust anyone else to do it? Your eternal life depends on God’s atonement and your justification to Him, would you trust anyone other than God Himself to accomplish this?

“And there they continued to preach the gospel” - Acts 14:7

Each Tuesday a different reflection on the gospel and its continual effect on our lives

We read in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The gospel is not logical to those that do not believe it. It makes no sense. And why should it? It’s not in our nature to think that anything would come to us without some cost, with no strings attached and no way to earn it. We are performance-driven people so when something is offered to us for free, it scares us. It scares us to such a point that we would be willing to pass it by for fear of what it might bring.

I remember a time when I was in line for coffee and had a gift card with a few dollars left on it after I made my purchase. I turned around to the man standing behind me and offered him the card and said there was enough for a cup of coffee on it. He stared at me for a moment and then said no thanks. Thinking I hadn’t explained myself very well, I told him that I wasn’t going to use it and that he could use it to buy the coffee he was standing in line to get. And still, the same response. Now, this metaphor isn’t perfect. The gospel is not free. It cost Jesus his life to pay for our sins and he asks for nothing less than your life as well. But he promises eternal life in return. There is a cost associated with belief, but when you weigh the gain, cost loses its meaning.

“And there they continued to preach the gospel” - Acts 14:7

Each Tuesday a different reflection on the gospel and its continual effect on our lives

I loved the way John Piper put this in a recent sermon, “The Meaning of Grace: But God . . .”

Speaking on Titus 3:1-8, Piper explains grace as “but God…”. What he is saying is that after reading through Titus 3:3, “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.” we get to this wonderful statement in verse 4, “but God…”. So we see how utterly depraved we are without God, we see how enslaved we are to our sins, how foolish we are that we can’t help but cry out for grace because we need it so desperately. If God were to count our iniquities, who could stand? (Psalm 130:3) But when the kindness of God appeared, he saved us.

Grace is the “but God…” when we realize just how sinful we truly are and how much God has forgiven us. John Newton said he “remembered two things, that he is a great sinner and that Christ is a great savior.” Grace shines through the gospel of Jesus Christ so that when we look upon our sins and see His mercy we finally see just how forgiven we need to be and will be if we believe.

“And there they continued to preach the gospel” - Acts 14:7

Each Tuesday a different reflection on the gospel and its continual effect on our lives

Our reflection on the gospel comes from John Owen this week as he wrote in “The Glory of Christ”.

This, therefore, deserves the severest of our thoughts, the best of our meditations, and our utmost diligence in them. For if our future blessedness shall consist in being where he is, and beholding of his glory, what better preparation can there be for it than in a constant previous contemplation of that glory in the revelation that is made in the Gospel, unto this very end, that by a view of it we may be gradually transformed into the same glory?

I was struck as I read this in how simple Owen makes this. He basically says that if our futures will be with Christ in glory (Colossians 3:4) then we can do nothing better with our time than to think about what is made known in the gospel. But he doesn’t use the words “think about”, he uses the word “contemplate”. Contemplating something does not mean we give it a passing thought and then we’re done. Contemplate means we get so wrapped-up in our thoughts that everything else loses its importance and we will not stop thinking about an issue until it is resolved. The problem is, we cannot resolve an infinite God. There is something new to learn of His mercy and grace every day. So, while we wait to be with Christ in glory we are urged to continue to contemplate the good news of Jesus Christ. His death on the cross for our sins and resurrection for His glory.

“And there they continued to preach the gospel” - Acts 14:7

Each Tuesday a different reflection on the gospel and its continual effect on our lives

There is an interesting verse in 1 Peter 4:17, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” The last part of the verse says that there are some who do not obey the gospel of God, implying that the gospel is something we obey. Typically we think of the gospel as something we believe, not something we obey, so what does this verse mean? Maybe John 3:36 will be helpful, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

It seems that believing implies obeying. We cannot say that we believe and then live a life that is contrary to what we believe. We believe that in the gospel we have new life in Christ Jesus, we are a new creation. As new creatures we do not carry on in our old ways, living our lives as we used to. With new life in Christ comes new desires to follow after him and obey him in everything. So when we believe the gospel, we believe everything that comes with it. We believe that we have died and our lives are hidden with Christ in God (Col 3:3) so that it is no longer us who live, but Christ in us (Gal 2:20) and the evidence of our belief is in our good works (James 1:18), our obeying.

“And there they continued to preach the gospel” - Acts 14:7

Each Tuesday a different reflection on the gospel and its continual effect on our lives

Our reflection on the gospel this week comes from Jonathan Edwards in his “Religious Affections” work:

Truly to see the truth of the word of God, is to see the truth of the gospel; which is the glorious doctrine the word of God contains, concerning God, and Jesus Christ, and the way of salvation by him, and the world of glory that he is entered into, and purchased for all them who believe;

Jesus paid a great price to purchase his beloved. The cost was no less than his own blood. But he willingly paid it so that we could enter into the glory that is his alone. But how can we know this is true? How can we know there was a man named Jesus who died on a cross 2000 years ago? There is a book that contains this truth if you are willing to search it out and find it. The reward is great but it will cost you your life to obtain it, just as it did Christ’s to give it.

“And there they continued to preach the gospel” - Acts 14:7

Each Tuesday a different reflection on the gospel and its continual effect on our lives

Jesus tells the story of a merchant who went out seeking treasure and when he found one pearl of great value he sold all that he had to buy it. The man’s heart was completely changed when he finally found what he was looking for, he found what he needed. He was a merchant, he made his living by purchasing things and selling them for a profit. His cycle was to gain a little more on each transaction so that he could live on the profit and purchase more treasure to sell again with the principle. But this time he found something that he was willing to break his cycle for. After this one transaction he would no longer be able to buy and sell and live his life like he used to because all he had was put into this one pearl.

Everyone has needs. Everyone searches for something but we don’t know what it is we were searching for until we find it. In the gospel we find this great pearl, we find everything we need; forgiveness, restoration, and life in Christ Jesus. We become willing to break the cycle of our lives and give up all for Him because we find that He is what we truly need.

“And there they continued to preach the gospel” - Acts 14:7

Each Tuesday a different reflection on the gospel and its continual effect on our lives

I thought this week I would let John Piper reflect on the gospel:

Click here if the above link doesn’t work

“And there they continued to preach the gospel” - Acts 14:7

Each Tuesday a different reflection on the gospel and its continual effect on our lives

When we look to the cross, we see the extent to which God despises sin. He does not take lightly our rebellion against Him nor does He see any of our good works as worthy enough to satisfy His wrath against our sins. At the cross we see God willing to send His only son to die a most horrific death to pay the penalty we justly deserve. The gospel shows us the lengths God has gone to so that we can be free from the enslavement our sin keeps us in. If God was willing to send His beloved to die in our place for our sin, He could not expect anything less than that same sacrifice from us. The sacrifice He desires is for us to offer up our most beloved, to put to death the sins that keep us from following after Him.

When the Jews were about to cross over into the Promised Land, God commanded them to wipe out all of the nations that were in the land He was about to give them. They were not to leave any remnant in the land because He knew that their idolatry and worship of false gods would lead His people away from the one true God. We have this same command with the sin in our lives, we are to remove every idol and be perfect as our heavenly father is perfect. We are to leave no remnant of sin and idolatry in our lives, God demands nothing less than the complete eradication of sin throughout the lifelong process of sanctification. In the gospel we see the death of Jesus Christ for our sin and that compels us to put to death the sin in our lives.

“And there they continued to preach the gospel” - Acts 14:7

Each Tuesday a different reflection on the gospel and its continual effect on our lives