John Piper: Bloodlines

Christ Alone: Not By Any Work of Our Own

How often do we as believers base our relationship with God on what we do instead of what He has done? For me, it is far too often.

My human nature loves the law, but can't quite come to terms with the gospel.

When I perform well, I naturally expect God's blessing. After all, this is what the TV preachers have taught me, so it must be true.

Then, the days that I don't do so well in my walk with God I often expect less or nothing from Him.

Here is the problem: you and I (when we think as I just described) are living by works, not by grace. 

Jerry Bridges states, "We are saved by grace, but [often] we are living by the sweat of our own performance. Moreover, we are always challenging ourselves and one another to try harder. We seem to believe success in the Christian life is basically up to us: our commitment, our discipline, our zeal, with some help from God along the way."

We will never know freedom in Christ until we (by God's grace) come to the paradigm shifting realization that our standing with God was determined before the foundation of the world, and was secured through the blood of Christ on the cross.

We are "good" and our standing with God is solid because of Christ and His righteousness which has been imputed (reckoned) to us - nothing else.

Here is the bottom line: We are righteous because we are "in Christ." We are attached to Him and are therefore "o.k." with God - and we cannot improve upon that. We are wrong if we think that our standing with God depends of the work of Christ plus our works.

No other religion offers this freedom. Enjoy it, bask in it, dwell on it, worship Him because of it, live every day in light of it, and then spread the word.

The Gospel Is For Losers

"The gospel is not just for the all-star ... and the legendary. It's for the loser. It's for the defeated, not the dominant.

It's for those who realize they're unable to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders - those who've figured out that they're not gods. 

It's for people who understand the bankruptcy of life without God." -Tullian Tchividijian

The LORD is merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

He will not always chide,

nor will he keep his anger forever.

He does not deal with us according to our sins,

nor repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

As a father shows compassion to his children,

so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.

Psalms 103:8-13 ESV

Jesus + Nothing = Everything

The Religion Shop Has Been Closed, Boarded Up, and Forgotten

"What role have I left for religion? None. And I have left none because the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ leaves none. Christianity is not a religion; it is the announcement of the end of religion.

Religion consists of all the things (believing, behaving, worshiping, sacrificing) the human race has ever thought it had to do to get right with God. About those things, Christianity has only two comments to make. The first is that none of them ever had the least chance of doing the trick: the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins (see the Epistle to the Hebrews) and no effort of ours to keep the law of God can ever finally succeed (see the Epistle to the Romans). The second is that everything religion tried (and failed) to do has been perfectly done, once and for all, by Jesus in his death and resurrection. 

For Christians, therefore, the entire religion shop has been closed, boarded up, and forgotten. The church is not in the religion business. It never has been and it never will be, in spite of all the ecclesiastical turkeys through two thousand years who have acted as if religion was their stock in trade. 

The church, instead, is in the Gospel-proclaiming business. It is not here to bring the world the bad news that God will think kindly about us only after we have gone through certain creedal, liturgical and ethical wickets; it is here to bring the world the Good News that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly.” It is here, in short, for no religious purpose at all, only to announce the Gospel of free grace." - Robert Farrar Capon via Mockingbird

Here is a Good Discussion on Theology

'The problem is not that prayer was taken out of the schools, it's that devotions have been taken out of our homes." -Ken Jones

“God does not send out his church to conquer. He sends us out in the name of the One who has already conquered. We go only because he reigns.” - Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert via OFI

Charles Spurgeon: The Great Exchange

"He wore my crown of  thorns. I wear His crown, the crown of Glory. He wore my ... nakedness when He died upon the Cross—I wear His robes, the royal robes of the King of kings! He bore my shame, I bear His honor. He endured my sufferings to this end that my joy may be full and that His joy may be fulfilled in me! He laid in the grave that I might rise from the dead and that I may dwell in Him." -Spurgeon

That's Easy...It's Grace

My friend Travis sent me this story today. I love it!

"Years ago, a large international conference was held of religious leaders from around the world. In the midst of the conference, a debate began about what it was that set Christianity apart from other religions. Some argued that it was God coming in the flesh that set Christianity apart from other religions. They decided that wasn’t it, because other religions claimed that their gods came in human form. Some argued that it was love, or sacrifice, or the resurrection, or one thing or another; each idea being shot down. 

Finally, C. S. Lewis, having arrived late, walked into the conference and asked what all the noise was about. When told they were discussing what it was that set Christianity apart from all other religions, he said, “That’s easy. It’s grace.”

Justification and Imputed Righteousness

I came across these two videos while researching the topic of 'Justification and Imputed Righteousness,' They were so good that I had to post them here. Enjoy watching these men speak of the amazing grace of God!

"You Are Free To Go"

HT: Challies

It's Okay Not To Be Okay

"The gospel liberates us to be okay with not being okay. We know we’re not—though we try very hard to convince ourselves and other people we are. But the gospel tells us, “Relax, it is finished.”

Because of the gospel, we have nothing to prove or protect. We can stop pretending. We can take off our masks and be real. The gospel frees us from trying to impress people, appease people, measure up for people, or prove ourselves to people. The gospel frees us  from the burden of trying to control what other people think about us. It frees us from the miserable, unquenchable pursuit to make something of ourselves by using others.

The gospel frees us from what one writer calls “the law of capability”—the law, he says, “that judges us wanting if we are not capable, if we cannot handle it all, if we are not competent to balance our diverse commitments without a slip.” The gospel grants us the strength to admit we’re weak and needy and restless—knowing that Christ’s finished work has proven to be all the strength and fulfillment and peace we could ever want, and more. Since Jesus is our strength, our weaknesses don’t threaten our sense of worth and value. Now we’re free to admit our wrongs and weaknesses without feeling as if our flesh is being ripped off our bones.

"The gospel frees us from the urge to self-gain, to push ourselves forward for our own purposes and agenda and self-esteem. When you understand that your significance, security, and identity are all anchored in Christ, you don’t have to win—you’re free to lose. And nothing in this broken world can beat a person who isn’t afraid to lose! You’ll be free to say crazy, risky, counterintuitive stuff like, “To live is Christ and to die is gain”!

Now you can spend your life giving up your place for others instead of guarding it from others—because your identity is in Christ, not your place.

Now you can spend your life going to the back instead of getting to the front—because your identity is in Christ, not your position.

Now you can spend your life giving, not taking—because your identity is in Christ, not your possessions.

Real, pure, unadulterated freedom happens when the resources of the gospel smash any sense of need to secure for myself anything beyond what Christ has already secured for me." -Tullian Tchividjian

The Marvel of the Gospel

I am currently reading a biography of Martin Luther written by Roland Bainton, and tonight I came across them 'gem' of a paragraph written by Bainton describing Luther's perspective of the gospel:

"How amazing that God in Christ ... the Most High; the Most Holy should be All Loving too; that the inefable Majesty should stoop to take upon himself our flesh, subject to hunger and cold, death and desperation.

We see him lying in the feedbox of a donkey, laboring in a carpenter's shop, dying a derelict under the sins of the world.

The gospel is not so much a miracle as a marvel, and every line is suffused with wonder."

Thus far I have become convicted as I read of Luther's awe and respect for God. He feared his creator and refused to take prayer or the sacraments lightly. Honestly, far too often I take God and his grace for granted. I tend to drift into autopilot and forget that I am communicating with the maker of all things. He is worthy of so much more, God help me change.

We Were Not Created for Isolation

HT: Z

The Work of Christ

If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. 

And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. -II Corinthians 5:17-21

We Will Never Outgrow the Need for Grace

"Our worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace."  - Jerry Bridges

Why Faith?

By Grace you have been saved through faith... Ephesians 2:8-9

Why is faith the instrument that God uses to bring us to salvation? 
Why not love? Joy? Wisdom? Contentment?

I appreciated Wayne Grudem's answer to this question:

"...Because faith is the one attitude of the heart that is the exact opposite of depending on ourselves. When we come to Christ in faith we essentially say: I give up. I will not depend on myself and my own good works any longer. I know that I can never make myself righteous before God... Faith is the exact opposite of trusting in ourselves."