Category: Gospel-Centered
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Gospel-Driven Sanctification
by Jerry Bridges Early in my Christian life I heard someone say, “The Bible was not given to increase your knowledge but to guide your conduct.” Later I came to realize that this statement was simplistic at best and erroneous at worst. The Bible is far more than a rulebook to follow. It is primarily…
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What Of It?
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in his book Spiritual Depression, poignantly asserts: “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 those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them…
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How to Preach the Gospel to Yourself
Paul, in Colossians 2.6, instructs us: “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him…” Simple words, but powerfully practical when unpacked. How did we “receive” Jesus? By faith and repentance – or by repentance and faith. We are not quite sure which comes first, but perhaps…
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Gospel Greater Than God’s Law
Preaching through Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, I have received quite a bit of feedback – more than I receive during most series I have done. Much to the relief of my thin skin, I have received no criticism (to date). Most of the comments have been appreciative, either for the reminder of things that we need…
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Preaching the Gospel to Ourselves Each and Every Day
C.J. Mahaney reminds us of the importance and benefits of preaching the gospel to ourselves each and every day.
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Gospel Wakefulness
One of the more helpful works I have read concerning gospel-centered Christianity is Jared Wilson‘s Gospel Wakefulness. Perhaps most insightful to me was Jared’s point that gospel-centeredness can be explained but cannot be taught. In other words, it requires a grace of the holy spirit. I do not think this realization moves gospel-centeredness into a…
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Counterfeit Gospels
Having begun a new series of messages at our church, Freedom: A Study of Galatians, I am struck anew by the passion with which the Apostle Paul uncompromisingly declares: “There is NO OTHER Gospel!” What Paul does throughout his letter to the Galatians, and vividly in the opening verses, is to impress that claim upon…
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11 Personal Heart Examination Points to Consider
It might be beneficial to periodically take some moments to consider if, to some degree, we are functionally forgetting the gospel. “Forgetting the gospel?” Yep. As absurd as such a thing may sound, it is a very common spiritual issue for all of us. Consider 2 Peter 1.3-9: His divine power has granted to us all things that…
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Evidences of a Backslidden Condition
Through the prophet Jeremiah the Lord dispenses a treasury of wisdom and insight. Perhaps among the most valuable of those insights, at least to my thinking, is found in Jeremiah 17.9: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? The Lord also reminds us, through Jeremiah and scores of…
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REAL Christians Waltz
Listen to how Bob Flayhart, Senior Pator at Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, AL, describes a Gospel-centered Christian Life: A Gospel-centered life is the Christian Waltz. A waltz is a dance made up of three steps. Christians need to consider the Christian three step when it comes to growth. In the first step, we…
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Fascinations that Lead Away from the Cross
by Michael Horton Martin Luther opposed the “theology of the cross” to all “theologies of glory.” The latter can be generally placed into three categories: three types of “ladders” we try to climb in order to see “God in the nude,” as Luther put it. These ladders were mysticism, speculation, and merit. I would like…
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11 Indicator Lights of Spiritual Condiditon
In my old Jeep it is not uncommon for one of the indicator lights to flash on. Sometimes more than one may illumine. Whenever this occurs it is an indication that there may be a problem. Because it is an old Jeep, some lights pop on more frequently than others – often enough that it…
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Gospel-centered Church
At Grace Covenant we talk a lot about being gospel-centered as a church, and we encourage gospel-centered living among our people. From time to time we get asked by our newcomers, “What exactly does that mean? What does it look like?” Here is a brief explanation. The Gospel Before we jump into gospel-centeredness we need to…
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Living Dangerously
One of the dangers of [obedience based Christianity] is that it can lead people to think God owes them a reward for their obedience. Their perspective in life is: ‘If I do certain things, I expect God to come through for me’. And when He doesn’t, they think: What’s wrong? Why isn’t He doing something…
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Appropriating Grace
Here is an important reminder and challenge from Richard Lovelace, from his monumental Dynamics of Spiritual Life: Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives… Many… have a theoretical commitment to this doctrine, but in their day-to-day existence they rely on their…
