Continued from part 2.
We have seen that the Gospel has many purposes for believers beyond initial conversion. It is as much for believers as unbelievers. I’d like to start this final post by quoting Tim Keller once more at some length. (I should mention that the quotes from Keller in this series come from this online article.)
…the gospel is not just for non-Christians, but also for Christians. This means the gospel is not just the A-B-C’s but the A to Z of the Christian life. It is not accurate to think “the gospel” is what saves non-Christians, and then, what matures Christians is trying hard to live according to Biblical principles. It is more accurate to say that we are saved by believing the gospel, and then we are transformed in every part of our mind, heart, and life by believing the gospel more and more deeply as our life goes on.
If we think of the gospel as only pardon or forgiveness of sins, we will trust in God for our past salvation, but will trust in our own present strivings and attainments for our present relationship with God… the entire Christian life is a life lived (in a continual present progressive) by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal. 2:20) …we must continually remind ourselves of our status as legally righteous, adopted children of God.
Applying the Gospel to Yourself
It’s time to get more practical, how can we live in light of the Gospel? How can we apply this Gospel-power, that is at work in us believers, to our lives?
1. Live in the light of what is supremely true.
The only remedy for sin is Christ. We are accepted by God because of His sacrifice. This world is passing away while God’s promises offer hope for eternal life. The sin we so enjoy offers a false pleasure which offends our God and injures us. Even though we can’t see it, God’s word and the glorious city of Heaven, the New Jerusalem, is more true than the reality we endure each day. We need to live as if we really are citizens of a Heavenly country.
For this point, I like to think of Abraham as described in Hebrews 11. He was living for a heavenly city, which He didn’t physically see. He was living in light of a glorious inheritance which he only could hope for, not truly experience in this life. He is our pattern, we are citizens of a Heavenly Kingdom on a pilgrimage through this life. We need to live in light of what is supremely true.
2. Become what you are.
John Piper explains this point well (in When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy):
One of the ways the Bible talks about our action in relation to our standing in Christ is to command us to become what we are. For example, using Old Testament ceremonial language Paul says, “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened” (1 Cor. 5:7). In other words, become what you are. You are unleavened (sinless in Christ); therefore become unleavened (sinless in practice). You have already died with Christ (Rom. 6:5-6); therefore “consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:11). You have already been made alive together with Christ (Eph. 2:5); therefore, “seek the things that are above” (Col. 3:1). You are already holy in Christ (Col. 3:12); therefore “be holy in all your conduct” (1 Pet. 1:15). You already are the light of the world in Christ (Matt. 5:14); therefore, “let your light shine” (Matt. 5:16).
3. Keep your Indicatives and Imperatives straight.
This is basically a reiteration of the point above. You’ll have to forgive me but I get excited about this: something about saying indicative and imperative together so appeals to the intellectual in me!… The indicative is the statement about what you are in Christ, the imperative is the commands for what we should do. To put it another way: Indicative is Be, and Imperative is Do. In the New Testament, every Do is firmly rooted in a Be. Ephesians and Romans split nicely into two sections Eph 1-3 builds the basis for the commands in 4-6. Romans 1-11 builds the gospel basis for the commands in 12-16. Other books, like 1 Peter, intersperse commands and statements together. Titus 2 illustrates this well, the commands for how to live in vs. 1-10 are connected to the Gospel reality in vs. 11-14 by the word “for” (gar). Because we’ve been forgiven and given the Spirit, we will want to obey God’s commands, not to gain favor with Him, but because He has so blessed us.
4. Preach the Gospel to yourself.
Perhaps the best way to let the Gospel impact you day to day is to constantly remind yourself of the truth of the Gospel. I have a lot of quotes on this point, but they have really helped me and perhaps we can share with one another how to practically live out this point better.
D. Martin Lloyd Jones used to use the phrase “preach the gospel to yourself” often. Piper gives a few insightful quotes from Jones’ most famous book Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures. Jones is commenting on Ps. 42:5: “Why art you cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance” (KJV).
Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take these thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them but they are talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment [in Psalm 42] was this: instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says, “Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you. The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself…. You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: “Hope thou in God” instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way, and then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do. Then having done, that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: “I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my countenance and my God.”
We need to encourage our own self to believe the Gospel on a daily basis. Jerry Bridges has much to say on this topic. From The Discipline of Grace:
…preaching the gospel to ourselves every day reminds us that we are indeed sinners in need of God’s grace….It helps us to consciously renounce any confidence in our own goodness as a means of meriting God’s blessing on our lives. Perhaps more importantly, though, preaching the gospel to ourselves every day gives us hope, joy, and courage. The good news that our sins are forgiven because of Christ’s death fills our hearts with joy, gives us courage to face the day, and offers us hope that God’s favor will rest upon us, not because we are good, but because we are in Christ.
These three posts have now come to an end, but life goes on and our need for the Gospel’s power will always remain. I pray we all are encouraged and spurred on to let the Gospel transform us. How are you doing that now? And does anything in these posts ring true for you? Please continue the conversation in the comments.
Good post–preaching the Gospel to ourselves seems like great advice. Thanks.