Last time I pointed out there may be three Gospel-distorting approaches to change (proving ourselves to God, to others, and to ourselves). We distort God’s grace when we think we can earn it, that others opinions matter more than God’s, or having a higher or lower view of ourselves than is true (Rom. 12:3). The root problem is that we see the source of our solution as in us. It’s not. It’s in Christ, who is God come to live and die in our place. When He is our motivation, and what He did becomes the basis of what we do , then life begins to make sense, and we will be transformed...

"We wrestle with ‘making the gospel relevant.’ But God is about transforming the world to fit the shape of the Gospel." — Total Church WHO is more relevant than GOD? Seriously, can there by anyone cooler than the Creator? We bore ourselves with second-rate nonsense, and then conclude that God is irrelevant.  In fact, it is you and I who are irrelevant. Only Christ gives us lasting value, for while we were yet sinners (our real identity), Christ died in our place (Romans 5:8). He made us relevant. Our new purpose becomes showing how relevant God truly is. That is...

In conversations I often find supposed "Christians" playing with the notion that there are other paths to God. Or, at least, He will accept us if we try really hard. Isn’t God gracious and forgiving? Doesn’t God believe in us? As if Christ came to set an example, and nothing more. He gave His life away for others, and that pleased God. So we need to serve others too. Do what Jesus would do. The problem with such reasoning is three-fold (at least): First, it makes Jesus merely a good person Second, it rests on the notion that we are good people too Third, it makes Jesus sacrifice...

The Gospel is enough, because Jesus is enough. His infinite love and beauty, His sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection are all-sufficient for the Christian life. God came near and rescued us. This one event changes everything, and without it nothing matters. Timmy Brister, a pastor at Grace Baptist Church pointed this out in a recent post . He notes that C.J. Mahaney, in the concluding chapter of his book, Living the Cross-Centered Life , talks about the centrality of the gospel and how you never move beyond your need for the gospel.  When asked, “But don’t I need more than the cross?”...

"Justification is being counted by God as righteous with the perfect obedience and righteousness of Jesus Christ credited to my account." - 2006 Desiring God national conference, Tim Keller speaking on "The Supremacy of Christ and the Gospel in a Postmodern World" SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Justification is …", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2009/03/10/justification-is/" });

Jonathan Dodson seems to always hit the nail on the head with his insights. Here’s an excerpt (okay, almost every word) from his recent post, "Are we community-centered or Gospel-centered? " In asking whether his church could get too mature for community , he notes: "The level of authentic confession of sin, persistent belief in the gospel, love for one another, and sharing of life and mission is remarkable. This is not naive community; it is redemptive community, a community of grace that holds in common brokenness and belief, failure and success, repentance and faith. As...

Gospel-centered. Gospel-driven. That is what I hope to always be, from now through eternity. The Gospel is all about Jesus. We must see all things through His worth, work, words and ways, and be driven by His Gospel. (These are not terms I’ve invented. Nor did Tim Keller, but he has been so instrumental in our day on reminding us that every problem in our lives is really a Gospel problem.) In this audio message from the 2007 Gospel Coalition, Pastor Tim Keller speaks on "Gospel-centered ministry" from 1st Peter 1-2. Listen up, it’s well worth your time. [download mp3] In...

Rend the Heavens [ web | myspace ] is quickly becoming one of my favorite bands. Not just because I know the four band members a bit, or because they lead worship at our Saturday night church gathering. Actually started listening to them a short while before we met, and have found the deep, God-centered content of their songs to take me deeper into theology. I want to know more the God they sing to and about. The band’s name Rend the Heavens comes from Isaiah 64:1: "Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence" It is an audacious...

“The redeemed have all their objective good in God. God Himself is the great good which they are brought to posses and enjoy through redemption. He is the highest good and sum of all good which Christ purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints. He’s the portion of their souls. God is their wealth and treasure, their food, the tree of the paradise of God, their life, their dwelling place, their ornament, their diadem, their everlasting honor and glory. They have none in heaven but God. He is the great good which the redeemed are received to at death and which they are to rise to...

I may be the only man ever to receive for a wedding present from his new bride the complete works of Henry Scougal. I read the book on our honeymoon, and have been greatly impacted by the short earthly life and long-lasting passion of this godly man. The Scottish Scougal (1650-1678) (whom I’ve mentioned before) died of tuberculosis at 28 years old, yet his enduring legacy through from his most well-known book: The Life of God in the Soul of Man. The book is a description of Christianity to a friend with additional spiritual counsel for daily life. The title alone — that God’s...