Thoughts on the Gospel

The gospel is not a sale to be made,

but a story to be told.

The gospel is not about man making his peace with God,

but about what God has done to reconcile man to Himself.


You don't speak the gospel at people,
but you share the gospel with people.

The gospel is not about what man must do

to come to God, but about what God has done

to bring man to Himself.

The true gospel will always point you
toward Christ and away from yourself.

The gospel presents salvation as the
need, and Christ as the answer.

Christ and Our Sin

...our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus

who gave Himself for us to redeem us

from every lawless deed.

Titus 2:13b-14a

Redeem, lutroo in the Greek.  It means to set one free by means of a ransom.  Every lawless deed (NASB)/all lawlessness (ESV), pas anomia in the Greek.  The phrase here means every type, every form , every kind of sin.

So this small section in Titus tells us that our great God and Savior Jesus Christ gave Himself for us, to ransom us and set us free from any and all sin.  This is not a broad brush of sins in a general sense, but sins in a particular sense.  Christ did not die for sins in general, but sins in particular.  He died for our particular sins, each and every one of them.  Therefore, it is not a universal salvation, but a particular salvation.  We have been freed from the penalty and power of every type and every form of sin.

The ransom has been paid and we have been set free from the bondage and power of each and every type of sin, every kind of sin.  Therefore there is absolutely no sin that can have dominion over us.  We are no longer slaves to sin, any sin, there is no longer any sin that can be master over us.  That means that we have been released from the power of pornography, immorality, homosexuality, bitterness, selfishness, gluttony, arrogance, lying, unforgiveness, and a host of other sins.  Christ has paid the price with His very own blood, and has effected our ransom so that we would be set free from the power and dominion of any sin. 

He has also redeemed us, set us free, from the penalty of each and every sin.  Each and every sin has a just recompense and each and every sin must be accounted for; and Christ has paid the penalty for each and every one of our sins for us.  Therefore we have been released from the damning effect of each and every sin, the eternal consequences of each and every sin, the eternal weight of judgment and the eternal wrath of God for each and every sin.

So, how dare we take sin lightly, any sin, so as to not even speak of sin at all.  There is no such thing as a little sin, or an innocuous sin.  There is no such thing as an inconsequential sin.  Each and every sin must be, and will be, accounted for.  Each and every sin has its just penalty and must be atoned for.  Each and every sin merits the eternal wrath of God, and no sin is overlooked or swept under the rug by God.  Christ redeemed us, each and every one of us, by paying the redemption price for each and every sin for us all.  So let us not take our sin(s) lightly, don't blow them off, don't shrug them off because they seem too small.  Confess your sin, be broken and contrite over your sin, each and every one of them; because Christ died for each and every one, to pays its penalty and to set you free from that sin.

This is the great salvation we are not to neglect.  Let us pay great attention, and give great praise to our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, for the greatness of His saving us.

Apart from His Word

The word of God is integral in living the Christian life.  In fact, it is the key to living the Christian life, and we can't live the Christian life apart from it. It is a necessary ingredient that must be included in our life.

So, the word of God is required...

To give us the wisdom that leads to salvation.
To live a holy life.
To live a life that pleases Him.
To live a spiritually fruitful life.
To live a meaningful life.
To live a life that produces eternal rewards.
To live a life that blesses others.
To live an exemplary life.
To live of life of integrity.
To live a life that has substance to it.
To live a life of joy.
To live a life that has eternal value.
To live a life that brings Him glory.
To live a life without regret.
To live a life that imitates Him.
To live a life that testifies of Him.
To live a life that proclaims I am a Christian.
To know His will for our life.
To grow in grace.
To grow in our knowledge of Him.
To increase our faith.
To enlarge our heart.
To grow in our love for God and for others.


Apart from His word, it is impossible to live the Christian life. It is truly the Christians's treasure.

The Key to Pressing On

In Philippians 3:12-14 Paul talks about his pressing on and reaching forward.  For Paul, this life was about preparing for the next.  What a great perspective, and Paul shares that perspective with Titus in Titus 2:13, when he talks about looking forward to the blessed hope and the appearing of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.  This attitude of looking forward to heaven, looking forward to the resurrection, looking forward to glory, keeps the present in perspective.  It lets us know that there is something greater, something better, something richer, something more beautiful, something everlasting, and therefore something much much more than all this present world has to offer, which awaits us in the life to come.

While this is the perspective we are to have, what is the key for us in living out life, daily living out life, in the here and now; the pressing on for the upward call of Christ Jesus?  Again, Paul gives us the answer, and the key to us pressing on in this life, in both waiting and preparing, is faithfulness.  Not too sexy is it? But it is the key.  Paul gives us insight into this in I Timothy 1:12 when he tells us that the Lord put him into service because He considered Paul faithful.  Paul also mentions the issue of faithfulness in I Corinthians 4:2 when he said that the requirement for stewardship is faithfulness/trustworthiness (which parallels with the parable of the talents).  He echoes this in II Timothy 2:3-6 when he uses the metaphors of the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer; and what ties them all together is that they are all faithful in their undertakings.  Paul finishes this line of thinking later with a personal example in II Timothy 4:5-8 when he tells Timothy to fully complete his ministry, and then tells Timothy that is exactly what he, himself, has done..."I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith."   In other words, Paul has been faithful to the Lord, faithful to his calling, faithful to fulfill to completion his ministry, faithful to the end of his life here on earth. 

Psalm 37:5 also speaks to the importance of faithfulness.  In this verse we get the picture that our faithfulness should both grow and flourish, and is part of our growing in the Lord.  In Hosea 4:1, what the Lord had against the inhabitants of Israel, is that they were not being faithful.

Christ, Himself,  talks about faithfulness in Luke 16:10 and 19:17, and the context is being faithful in the small things given now as a prelude to being entrusted with true riches in eternity.

Faithfulness can also be described and manifested in loyalty, fidelity,and trustworthiness, but it is not momentary loyalty, fidelity, and trustworthiness.  It is the loyalty, fidelity, and trustworthiness of a lifetime, not just when it is easy or convenient; but in season and out of season.  It is to put your hand to the plow and to not look back, and to continue until the plowing is finished.  It is faithfulness in pressing on, pressing on to the finish.

Without faithfulness, not only can there be no pressing on, there can really be no Christian life.  This is the true perseverance of the saints, the perseverance in faithfulness.

Take a Look at Your Life

Take a step back and look at your life, but look at it with spiritual eyes with this verse in mind, Philippians 2:13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to do for His good pleasure.  

The at work in this verse is in the present tense, which means His work in us, in our inner man, is an ongoing activity.  The active voice in this verb means that it is God who initiates the action, who is responsible for the activity.  So we see that God has initiated an ongoing activity in our life in order to accomplish His good pleasure in our life.

So, can you see where God is working in you, or has been working in you over a period of time?  Can you see where He is developing godly character, and where He is polishing a facet of the diamond of Christlikeness in you so that it will shine more brightly?  Can you see where He is busy rooting out and destroying entrenched sin?  Can you see where He is transforming your mind to think more like Him and think of Him more; and replacing the false with the true?  Can you see where He is changing the way you view life, others, and yourself?  Can you see where He is weaving the thread of godliness more and more into the the fabric of your character?

The great work of salvation never stops.  The gospel constantly bears its fruit in us, reproducing the life of Christ in us.  So take a step back and look at what God is busy doing in you, and offer up a prayer of gratitude that He is busy working His good pleasure in you so that you will be able to please Him all the more.

A Christian Response to the Election

I am hoping that the elections this week will be the final stroke that causes the Christians in America to turn and place their hope on the Lord, and stop placing their hope on politicians and elections to stem the tide of immorality and depravity that has been sweeping through our nation like a giant tsunami over the last few decades.  The people of this country have elected someone with the same morality as theirs, and have kept a party in power that has as its professed agenda, the murder of the innocent and defenseless unborn and the legitimizing of depraved sexual behavior.  As I said in a previous post, who we elect is a clear barometer of where this country is morally; and the moral wreckage of our country is a greater calamity and more disastrous than the wreckage from Hurricane Sandy.  Even if the other candidate had won, he would have no power to combat the rampant evil and its carnage in our land, he would not be the deliverer or the healer...even if he was an evangelical Christian instead of a Mormon.

Politicians cannot deliver, only the Lord can. Politicians cannot heal, only the Lord can.  A good case study is reading through the books of Kings and Chronicles; for even when a good, God-fearing and righteous king was reigning in Israel, the people were not changed.  So when an evil king took over the throne, the people were back to being worse than ever.  Why?  As Peter tells us, "The dog returns to its vomit, and the pig to its mud."  When the demon is swept out of the house, and then returns, he brings seven times as many demons back with him.  So let's don't be naive and think, that if someone else would have gotten elected things would get any better spiritually.

So how do we respond, as Christians?  By turning to the Lord, and if this election doesn't highlight the necessity of  the people of God turning to God for deliverance, I don't know what would.  How then do we turn to the Lord?

1. Pray and confess, or should I say confess and pray.  First for our own sins, then for the sins of the Church in America, and then for the sins of our country.  Follow the model of Daniel as he prayed and confessed his and his countrymen's sins to the Lord, and asked for deliverance from the God-imposed captivity for their decades of sinfulness (which is nothing more than rebellion against God).  Next, pray for gospel opportunities and gospel receptiveness.  It is the gospel that will change this country...one person at a time, as the gospel is the only known antidote for sin; and the sin of a country is the total of the sin of its people.  

2. Act...act godly.  Be godly everyday as you follow the instructions of Paul in Titus 2:12 by renouncing and rejecting ungodliness and worldly desires, and at the same time living wisely, righteously, and godly in this present time.  This is how you go about being salt (a preservative that stops corruption when it encounters it) and light (that exposes sin and does not let it hide, while at the same time showing what godliness looks like).  This draws the line, a distinct line, between what is godly and what is not, and who is godly and who is not; so that the unbeliever can see his sin clearly, and clearly know which side of the line he is on.  As Paul quotes the OT in I Corinthians, "Come out from their midst and be separate."  It is not being relevant to the culture that attracts, but being distinct from the culture.

3. Speak...the truth; but don't speak it in a condemning manner, but speak it in love. Speak so that others will be reconciled to Christ and always be ready to share your confident expectation of heaven.  Point out their sin, and then point them to the Savior.  Again, not in a condemning way, but as someone who is genuinely concerned for their soul and its eternal state.

4. Seek...the Lord and His righteousness.  Seek to please Him above pleasing men.  In the final analysis, He is the only One whose approval is necessary.  We can be God-seekers or pleasure-seekers, God-seekers or self-seeking.  Seeking the Lord above all else guarantees that our treasures are being laid up in heaven.

5. Understand...that if the world hated the Lord it will hate you.  Expect...persecution and ridicule, censure and ostracization, slander and malice.  If they persecuted the Lord they will persecute you.  Being distinct from the culture means you stand out as being different, and therefore you will be readily targeted.  But remember when you are being reviled and mistreated for His sake, His glory rests upon you and you are storing up for yourself an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.

Friends and fellow Christians, now is the time for Christ to shine more brightly in us than ever before.  Now is the time for us to seek Him more than ever before.  Now is the time for us to take our faith and its accompanying commitment more seriously than ever before.  Now is the time for us to be a better witness, and to witness more than ever before.  Yes, it is only the Lord who can turn this country around, but He has always used means to accomplish His purpose; and we as His body are His chief means.  So let us follow the admonition of Paul in II Timothy 2:21 and cleanse ourselves from all the stains of this world so that we can be holy, useful to the Master, and fit for every good work.

Saying "NO"

We are surrounded by a world that says "no" to nothing.  When we are surrounded by this sort of mentality...then suddenly to be told that in the Christian life there is to be this strong negative aspect of saying "no" to things and "no" to self, it must seem hard.  And if it does not feel hard to us, we are not really letting it speak to us...

We have a society that holds itself back from nothing...Any concept of a real "no" is avoided as much as possible...Absolutes of any kind, ethical principles, everything must give in to affluence and selfish personal peace...

Of course, this environment of--not saying "no"--fits exactly into our natural disposition, because, since the fall of man, we do not want to deny ourselves...And this natural disposition fits in exactly with the environment which surrounds us the the twentieth century.

Francis Schaeffer as quoted in
To Guard the Deposit
Commentary on I & II Timothy and Titus
Bryan Chappell and Kent Hughes
Page 345

A Credible Gospel

Does the way we live our lives proclaim

that the gospel makes a difference?  Does

the way we live our lives give credibility

to the gospel?  Does the way we live our

lives give credibility to our confession that

we belong to Jesus Christ?

Being Ambassadors for Christ

Now all these things are from God, who reconciled

us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry

of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ

reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their 

trespasses against them, and He has committed to 

us the word of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are 

ambassadors for Christ, as though God were 

making an appeal through us; we beg you on

behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

II Corinthians 5:18-20

To be an ambassador of Christ we must speak

for Christ by speaking as Christ would speak,

and act for Christ by acting as Christ would act.

Which really means, that we live for Christ by

living as Christ would live.

Luther and the Contemporary Church

For the anniversary of the Reformation, Carl Trueman writes on how Luther would view the contemporary church and its issues.  Carl at his pithy best.


http://www.reformation21.org/articles/95-theses-on-martin-luther-against-the-selfindulgences-of-the-modern-church.php?utm_source=Twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

For Those of Us Who Preach

For those of us who preach, we would do well 

to remember that we are nothing special, but His 

word is.  It is not our words that save, and heal,

and bless, and restore; but His.  It is not our

words that have power and cut to the heart, 

but His.  It is not our gospel, but His. It is not 

our eloquence, but His unction that moves 

the heart. We are earthen vessels who 

preach the unfathomable riches of Christ.  

We are not the attraction, but merely the messenger.

A Prayer for Sunday...A Prayer for Worship

In the congregations I shall bless the Lord.

I will tell of Your name to my brethren;

In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that

is within me, bless His holy name.

Psalms 26:12b, 22:22, 103:1

Lord, cause us to ever be mindful of

why we are gathered here today.  May

You be blessed in our praying, in our 

praises, and in the preaching; and may

all of these bring blessing to Your holy name.

To You and You alone, as Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit belong blessing, honor, 

and glory.  May blessing and glory be

given to You through us this day.

Amen.

The Source of Sin

Battling sin and its accompanying temptations is an internal battle.  As much as the temptation might come from the outside of us, it is the inside of us where the battle takes place.  Sin always occurs in the heart, before it manifests itself in our actions or behaviors.  James 1:14 tells us this, "Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust."  Notice here that is is not someone else's lusts that we are battling against, but our own; it is not someone else's lusts that we are dealing with, but our own. This was Paul's point in Romans 7 as he talked about indwelling sin.

Unlike the old comedy skit by Flip Wilson, where he cried out, "The devil made me do it!"; we are complicit in our sin, because it starts and ends with us.  The source of sin is within, within each one of us; and although we have been washed and made clean through regeneration, we still live in a body where sin lurks, and where it is all too ready to respond to temptation, all too ready to indulge its desires in both our flesh and our mind (Ephesians 2:3).  James paints a graphic picture for us in 1:21 where he tells us that filthiness and wickedness still remain with us, as part of us.

What's the point?  Be aware, be very aware of the ease with which we are tempted.  Be aware, of how easy it is to sin.  Be aware that we, as Christians, are still in a body of unredeemed flesh, in which filthiness and wickedness still remain.  This is why Christ was chiding His apostles when they could not even fight their flesh to stay awake; and told them to watch and pray that they might not enter into temptation, because even though their spirit was willing, their flesh was weak.  This is also why we are told in the Lord's prayer to  pray to be led away from temptation and to pray that evil would not have its way with us.

So let us not be lulled to sleep, let us not be deceived, as sin is still crouching at the door desiring to master us; just as it has done from the beginning (Genesis 4:7).  But let us be strong in the Lord, and the strength of his might, let us be watchful and praying, let us be ever diligent in awareness of our own weakness.  Let us who stand, take heed lest we fall.

Humor and Perspective

Not only do Atheists have no song, they also have no hope.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wogta8alHiU

Eternal Life

Eternal life is not only everlasting

but also shares the qualities of

the life of God Himself,  its

indestructibility and its joy.

I. H. Marshall

The Pastoral Epistles

Page 125

Keeping Elections in Their Proper Perspective

One of the great blessings and freedoms we have in our land is the ability to vote and have a voice in those who occupy the places of decision and determination in the governmental system that rules over us.  We have that privilege from city to county to state to the federal level.  It is a freedom and blessing that we should not take for granted; and it is a responsibility that we should not take lightly.  As Christians, in considering elections, politics, and the state and future of our governing entity we should also keep in mind that in all of this the Lord is still sovereign over the affairs of man, including those who govern and what form the governing system takes,  from despots and dictators, to military juntas, to kings, and to elected officials.

So let’s start with understanding the sovereignty and providence of God as it regards governing authorities and countries.  First, Romans 13:1-7 tells us all governing authorities that exist have been established by God, and they have a God ordained purpose.  So governments are no accident, but necessary and purposeful.  Another good place to gain insight is in the book of Daniel, as he was held captive in the most powerful empire in the world at that time. 

Daniel 2:20-21 Daniel said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him.  It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings.  Here Daniel understands that the Lord is in charge of this kingdom, its king, and its time on the earth.

Daniel 4:24-25…this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: that you be driven away from mankind and your swelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.  This was Daniel’s pronouncement of God’s judgment on the king of Babylon, the most powerful king on the planet. 

God determines who rules, whether it is a king or an elected official or a military takeover.  Yes, we vote and campaign, but in the end it is the Lord who works in and through the process and determines the outcome.

What about the nations, their time and place in history, and their rise to power and fall from power.  Let’s look to Acts for this:

Acts 17:24 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation.

Yes, just as the Lord removes kings and establishes kings, He also establishes nations and removes nations; having already determined the length of time of their existence and their physical boundaries. 

So let us keep the elections in perspective.  God is ultimately in charge and works all things after the counsel of His will in accordance with His eternal purpose, the one purpose which runs through the millennia of the ages and the one purpose to which everything works together to accomplish. 

Also, we need to keep the end in mind, the end toward which all things are working together.  The end in which our Lord Jesus Christ shall come back to earth to set up His physical kingdom.  This is pictured for us in Daniel chapter two, especially verses 44-45; and also in Daniel chapter seven  (Also, Revelation 17:12-18).  God is at work even now in bringing all this to pass, and our country has its own part to play in all of this. 

In praying about an election we should always ask the Lord for His mercy and compassion upon us in not giving us as a city, state, or country what we deserve in the way of leadership.  There is no such thing as a Christian city or state or country, as these entities are made up of the people that inhabit them.  As those people go morally, so goes their government.  We have seen this over the last couple of decades here in our country as sin and an anti-God attitude has taken the driver’s seat in our culture.  And as the church has less and less influence upon our culture, we see the exacerbation of immorality of every kind, and the loss of a Christian consensus in our culture.  Therefore, we see God’s judgment on the people of a nation as the outcome of their voting highlights the extent of their degradation and depravity.  God gives them the desires of their heart by giving them over to a deeper level of depravity.  So, in essence, they elect the person they both desire and deserve.  You can see this pattern in Romans 1:18-32.

With all of this, what should we keep in mind regarding the current election?

*We are electing a government official, not a pastor or a spiritual leader.
*The elections do not determine the spiritual course of our country, but are an indicator of the spiritual    condition of our country.
*As Christians, part of the way we are salt and light in this culture is through our vote.
*There is never a perfect person to vote for.
*However, decisions are never made in a moral vacuum.
*All officials bring their morality into the office with them.
*As such, we should vote for the person that would bring a greater level of morality to the position.
*We should remember that that elected officials also appoint officials of like mind and morality.
*As citizens, voting is part of our civic responsibility.
*As Christians, we should be a citizen of this country as unto the Lord, and therefore be the best citizen we can be.
*We must not pin our hopes upon man, any man, but on the Lord.  Regardless of who gets elected the Lord is in charge, and in His good providence this elected official is part of God's plan for the culmination of all earthly kingdoms into the kingdom of His Son.

Remember, that we are instructed in I Timothy 2:1-2 to include those who rule over us in our prayers; and should do this keeping in mind Proverbs 21:1 "The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes."

Pastors and Discouragement

This is some interesting information regarding pastors being discouraged or lonely.  What I did find interesting is the correlation between age and being discouraged or lonely.  I wonder if it is purely an age issue or an age/length of time in the ministry issue.  Here is the link.

http://www.thomrainer.com/2012/09/pastors-are-hurting.php

When the Gospel is Banned from the Church

There are times you want to say things about things that have made an impression on you or affected you or stirred you up. This is one of those times, but it is also one of those times that I know that I won't be able to convey the entirety of what I was thinking and feeling, maybe because I had several thoughts and feelings about what happened.  In the big scheme of things, well, even in the little scheme of things, it probably isn't that big.  But, to me, it is a sign of where we are in our life in the church here in the US; and it bothered me. It made me a little sick at my stomach, it caused me to have an anti-smalzy reaction, made my hypocrite alarm go off, and left me with sense of disgust. And, I'll admit, it played right into my prejudice towards the types of churches I mentioned in this recent post http://morris-pressingon.blogspot.com/2012/08/another-gospel.html

This was brought about when I was recently standing in line at Starbucks.  Our Starbucks is the number two grossing Starbucks in the state of Texas, so you usually have a bit of a wait to make your order.  So as I was waiting in line, a thirty-something year old man came in and queued up behind me.  As we were waiting he made a phone call, and being as close as we were, I could not help but hear some of the conversation.  His tone was fairly crass for most of the conversation, and he used a couple of inappropriate terms that were in step with the tone of the conversation.  I chalked it up to just another person in the world doing what people in the world do.  Well, after I received my order I was talking to a friend of mine, and up walks this same man who was having the conversation.  My friend introduced us, and lo and behold, this man was on staff at one of the local churches that were referenced above.  In fact, he was the staff person in charge of the elementary school age children.  After my friend told him that I was a pastor the tone of his voice changed and he was so sugary that my anti-smalzy alarm went off; I mean it was to the point of being insincere.  You would not have been able to reconcile the person in line behind me with the person I was introduced to.

I wondered if there was any conviction on his part about having two personas, or if he even sees the problem with having two different personas, or if he even is aware that he has two personas.  One, which is obviously the way he normally is, and the other, which is his church staff persona.  Two masks representing two different people.  But, I don't think that those who hold to a Moralistic Therapeutic Deism philosophy (see post referenced above) see any problem with hypocrisy such as this.  They don't make the connection between their profession and their life, in fact they don't see that there should be a connection to what you profess and how you live.  And just to add to this, another man told me of a conversation he recently had with a member of one of the churches I alluded to in the post above.  They were telling him about how they would follow their pastor no matter where he went, and then in the same conversation talked about getting drunk the last weekend and having a hang-over the next day.  Again, seeing no problem with talking about being a church member and drinking so much you feel bad the next day, all in the same conversation.

This bothers me for these people, and reminds me of Titus 1:15-16.  I am concerned for their spiritual state, that they can go to church, or be a staff member at a church, and not see the disconnect between what they say they are and how they live.  I am concerned not only for them, but for others in those churches, and also for the churches themselves.  But you see, when you are preaching messages designed to make people feel better about themselves, or improve their worldly lives, or preaching sermons designed to attract the worldly,  this is a logical result.  And I wish these were isolated incidents, but they are not.

You might say, Morris, we have always had hypocrites in the church and always will.  And I would agree with you, but at the same time, I don't think this type of compartmentalization of the Christian life, this type of disconnect between profession and lifestyle has ever been this rampant and this rife in our churches, nor has it ever been as accepted as normal to the point that most have become oblivious to it, as it is now.

If you never preach and teach on sin, never talk about man's sinfulness then there is never a need for a Savior.  If people do not see their sinfulness, then they won't see the disconnect between their profession and their lifestyle, much less see their need for a Savior.  The true Gospel tells man the truth about his sin, his  separation from God and his alienation from God on account of his sin.  The true Gospel tells man of God's remedy in Christ for his sin and the reconciliation with God that is provided through Christ.  The true Gospel tells man the truth about himself, not so he will feel good about himself, but so he will place his faith in what God has done for him in Christ.  And, actually, nothing should make you feel better than to know the mercy, grace, love, and compassion of God that He bestows upon you in salvation.

Unfortunately, this Gospel, the true Gospel, has been banned from so many churches and replaced with the false gospel of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, the false gospel of self.  Friends, let us make sure the true Gospel is preached in our churches.  Hold fast to the faithful word, do not be ashamed of the Gospel, as it is God's power to save, to heal, to restore, to reconcile, to make holy.  If there will be hypocrites in our churches, let it not be because we have banned the true Gospel.

Pastor-Holistically Disciple Your People

We as pastors must disciple (train, educate, teach, counsel, and encourage) our people with the finished product in mind, which is our people being complete in Christ, and Christ being fully formed in our people.  We must design the ministries of our church with this in mind, and we must engage our staff as well.  A tall task, the task of a lifetime, both for our people and for us. 

This means that our goal cannot be making them Reformed, or Covenental, or Dispensational, or Denominational.  Our goal cannot only be for them to be a good tither, or someone who gets grace, or more loving, or more patient, or happier, or better adjusted, or forgiving, or more knowledgable, or more....I think you can get my drift here.  Our goal for them must be all of Christ, in all of His fullness.  This will take you, your staff, and your church all pulling in the same direction with the same goal in mind.  Paul was laboring so that Christ would be fully formed in those whom he taught, so must we. 

Don't be a one-dimensional discipler, don't be a hobby horse pastor, have it as your goal to teach and train the whole person; so that when you see them, you see Christ in them, and the longer they are under your care, the more of Christ you see in them.

Growing in Sanctification

Growing in sanctification is growing in personal holiness.  As such it is a practical, progressive, holiness.  It is a growth in holiness that, as Peter puts it in II Peter 1:8, leaves us neither useless nor unfruitful in our knowledge of Him.  So then, growing in holiness is also growing in our practical knowledge of Him.  Conversely, as our practical knowledge of Him grows, so does our holiness; and as our holiness grows, so does our sensitivity to sin.  As such, we will repent more readily and more deeply and more completely.

Additionally, as we grow in sanctification we also grow in our faith; and the heights of holiness we attain are matched by the depth of our faith.  Growth in faith gives us a greater ability to trust His Word, to trust in Him, to entrust ourselves over to Him regardless of the situation.  This depth of faith is really the bedrock of our sanctification and is the rich soil out of which our holiness grows.

Also, growing in sanctification is also growing in love.  It is the enlarging of the heart to love Him more, to love your neighbor more, and to fervently love your fellow Christians.  It becomes the great motivation in your living out your Christian life, the great motivation in growing in your faith, the great motivation in your desire for holiness...the great motivation behind the sacrifice and service of your faith.  It is this love that gives you the desire, indeed the increasing desire, to please the Lord in every respect.  Since all the Law and the prophets are fulfilled in the commands to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as our self; then as we grow in our love for God and neighbor we will also be growing in holiness.

Growing in sanctification, therefore, is not an isolated event, but affects the whole of our spiritual life.  There is not an area or aspect of our spiritual life that is not touched.  We are set further and further apart from the person we used to be.  We become less like that old man, and become progressively more like the new man that is being conformed into the image of Christ; and in the daily renewing of our inner man we grow in all aspects into Him

Growing in sanctification, then, is the progressive reality of our salvation.  Friends, I hope this reality is yours.