The Gospel vs. Religion: March 2005 Archives

We have said that you must preach the gospel every week--to edify and grow Christians and to convert non-Christians. But if that is the case, you cannot simply 'instruct in Biblical principles.' You have to 'get to Jesus' every week.

For example, look at the story of David and Goliath. What is the meaning of that narrative for us? Without reference to Christ, the story may be (usually is!) preached as: "The bigger they come, the harder they'll fall, if you just go into your battles with faith in the Lord. You may not be real big and powerful in yourself, but with God on your side, you can overcome giants." But as soon as we ask: "how is David foreshadowing the work of his greater Son"? We begin to see the same features of the story in a different light. The story is telling us that the Israelites can not go up against Goliath. They can't do it. They need a substitute. When David goes in on their behalf, he is not a full-grown man, but a vulnerable and weak figure, a mere boy. He goes virtually as a sacrificial lamb. But God uses his apparent weakness as the means to destroy the giant, and David becomes Israel's champion-redeemer, so that his victory will be imputed to them. They get all the fruit of having fought the battle themselves.

This is a fundamentally different meaning than the one that arises from the non-Christocentric reading. There is, in the end, only two ways to read the Bible: is it basically about me or basically about Jesus? In other words, is it basically about what I must do, or basically about what he has done? If I read David and Goliath as basically giving me an example, then the story is really about me. I must summons up the faith and courage to fight the giants in my life. But if I read David and Goliath as basically showing me salvation through Jesus, then the story is really about him. Until I see that Jesus fought the real giants (sin, law, death) for me, I will never have the courage to be able to fight ordinary giants in life (suffering, disappointment, failure, criticism, hardship). For example how can I ever fight the "giant" of failure, unless I have a deep security that God will not abandon me? If I see David as my example, the story will never help me fight the failure/giant. But if I see David/Jesus as my substitute, whose victory is imputed to me, then I can stand before the failure/giant. As another example, how can I ever fight the "giant" of persecution or criticism? Unless I can see him forgiving me on the cross, I won't be able to forgive others. Unless I see him as forgiving me for falling asleep on him (Matt.27:45) I won't be able to stay awake for him.

In the Old Testament we are continually told that our good works are not enough, that God has made a provision. This provision is pointed to at every place in the Old Testament. We see it in the clothes God makes Adam and Eve in Genesis, to the promises made to Abraham and the patriarchs, to the Tabernacle and the whole sacrificial system, to the innumerable references to a Messiah, a suffering servant, and so on. Therefore, to say that the Bible is about Christ is to say that the main theme of the Bible is the gospel--Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9).

So reading the Old Testament Christocentrically is not just a "additional" dimension. It is not something you can just tack on - to the end of a study and sermon. ("Oh, and by the way, this also points us to Christ".) Rather, the Christocentric reading provides a fundamentally different application and meaning to the text. Without relating it to Christ, the story of Abraham and Isaac means: "You must be willing to even kill your own son for him." Without relating it to Christ, the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel means: "You have to wrestle with God, even when he is inexplicable-even when he is crippling you. You must never give up." These 'morals-of-the-story' are crushing because they essentially are read as being about us and what we must do.

A BASIC OUTLINE FOR CHRIST-CENTERED, GOSPEL-MOTIVATED SERMONS
The following may actually be four points in a presentation, or they may be treated very quickly as the last point of a sermon. But more generally, this is a foundational outline for the basic moral reasoning and argument that lies at the heart of the application.

The Plot winds up: WHAT YOU MUST DO.
"This is what you have to do! Here is what the text/narrative tells us that we must do or what we must be."
The Plot thickens: WHY YOU CAN'T DO IT.
"But you can't do it! Here are all the reasons that you will never become like this just by trying very hard."
The Plot resolves: HOW HE DID IT.
"But there's One who did. Perfectly. Wholly. Jesus the---. He has done this for us, in our place."
The Plot winds down: HOW, THROUGH HIM, YOU CAN DO IT.
"Our failure to do it is due to our functional rejection of what he did. Remembering him frees our heart so we can change like this..."

a) In every text of the Scripture there is somehow a moral principle. It may grow out of because of what it shows us about the character of God or Christ, or out of either the good or bad example of characters in the text, or because of explicit commands, promises, and warnings. This moral principle must be distilled clearly. b) But then a crisis is created in the hearers as the preacher shows that his moral principle creates insurmountable problems. The sermon shows how this practical and moral obligation is impossible to meet. The hearers are led to a seemingly dead end. c) Then a hidden door opens and light comes in. The sermon moves both into worship and into Christ-application when it shows how only Jesus Christ has fulfilled this. If the text is a narrative, you can show how Christ is the ultimate example of a particular character. If the text is didactic, you can show how Christ is the ultimate embodiment of the principle. d) Finally, we show how our inability to live as we ought stems from our rejection of Christ as the Way, Truth, and Life (or whatever the theme is). The sermon points out how to repent and rejoice in Christ in such a way that we can live as we ought.

The following is a short article I was asked to write for The Summit Magazine (a magazine for alumni and friends of Baptist Bible College & Seminary). I plan on expanding on it quite a lot since it is impossible to do justice to this topic in 800 words (at least it's impossible for me). Here it is:

What would you say is the difference between morals-driven and Gospel-driven leadership in the home? We ask this question because we believe its answer is vital to the spiritual health of the home. Both morals-driven and Gospel-driven homes are concerned with the morality of their children. They both desire children who love God and others as themselves. They both value truth-telling, faithfulness, patience, servanthood, etc. However, they represent two radically different perspectives on these important concerns, desires, and values. So what does it mean for leadership in the Christian home to be Gospel-driven?

In our search to answer this question, we sought to apply the Gospel-centered perspective to specifics such as “What does it mean to be Gospel-driven in teaching our children to obey and honor us as their God-given parental authority?” Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians has been instructive in answering questions about leadership in the Christian home. We discovered that this idea of being “Gospel-driven” in the home is not new. It is not another Christian fad with a catchy phrase that after having its “day in the sun” will soon fade away. It is a concept that is as old as Scripture itself.

We have only enough space to introduce a Gospel-driven perspective of leadership within the Christian home. So we will consider Ephesians 6:1-4, verses that address both children and parents in the same context. As we look at these verses, we must remember that Paul did not intend for us to separate the commands to children and fathers from the life-giving foundation of the Gospel laid out in chapters one to three. In other words, Paul never intended the sole or even primary motivation for children to obey their parents to be that “it is right” (v. 1). How often have believing children been told the main reason for obeying their parents is that it is right? We are not saying the “rightness” of obedience is not a reason for obedience. It is a God-given reason, but “rightness” must not be the main reason or motivation for believing children to obey.

This same thinking applies to Paul’s second commandment to children in verses 2-3. The promise “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the earth” (v.3) is not the main reason children are to honor their parents. This is a reason, but it is not the reason. To give these two reasons for obedience as the primary reasons for offering obedience to parents is to teach our children to live a morals-driven life rather than a Gospel-driven life. If these reasons are our emphasis, we are essentially teaching our children that they should obey so they will be blessed. Although this teaching is true on one level, it is not true on the most important level.

Paul never intended us to sever Ephesians 6:1-3 from Ephesians 1-3. Remember that in Ephesians 6:1-3 Paul is writing to believing children. He has first declared to these children, whom he calls to obedience and honor, that God the Father has already blessed them in Christ with every spiritual blessing (1:3), that He chose them in Christ before the foundation of the world so they should be holy and blameless before Him (1:4), and that in Christ they have the forgiveness of sins (1:7). All believers, both parents and children, possess these unbelievable blessings.

Gospel-driven parenting says to believing children, “You are unspeakably blessed! Therefore, obey and honor us as your parents as to the Lord!” Gospel-centered parents seek to deepen their children’s understanding of the glorious riches that they already possess in Christ through faith. Their primary prayer and desire is that God would open the eyes of their children’s understanding so that they might know what is the hope to which God has called them, namely, the eternal riches of being in Christ (Ephesians 1:18). Morals-driven parenting says, “Obey and you will be blessed.” It seeks to motivate children to obey by emphasizing that if they work hard to live according to Biblical principles, then God will pour out His blessings upon them. Morals-driven parents (most often unknowingly) motivate their children through fear of lost blessings. Gospel-driven parenting says, “You are blessed. Therefore, obey.” The Gospel of God’s free grace teaches children to say “no” to their passions (Titus 2:11-12) not primarily for fear of lost blessings, but for joy in all that is already possessed in Christ. Gospel-driven leadership in the home produces joyful obedience and mutual submission because our crowning joy and security and blessings are not in our obedience but in our blessed Christ who lived and died in our place.

Unfortunately, we have been able to scratch only the surface of Gospel-driven leadership. We hope these thoughts will encourage you to continue to think through the implications of the Gospel in every relationship within the Christian home (Ephesians 6:22ff).

The gospel is "I am accepted through Christ, therefore I obey" while every other religion operates on the principle of "I obey, therefore I am accepted." Martin Luther's fundamental insight was that this latter principle, the principle of 'religion' is the deep default mode of the human heart. The heart continues to work in that way even after conversion to Christ. Though we recognize and embrace the principle of the gospel, our hearts will always be trying to return to the mode of self-salvation, which leads to spiritual deadness, pride and strife and ministry ineffectiveness.

For example, ministers derive more of their joy and a sense of personal significance from the success of their ministries than from the fact they are loved by God in Christ. Why? Their hearts are still operating on the principle--"if I do and accomplish all these things--then I will be accepted." (cf. Harold Abrahams in Chariots of Fire- "I have 10 seconds to justify my existence.") In other words, on one level, we believe the gospel but on another level we don't believe.

So why do we over-work in ministry and burn out? Yes, we are not practicing the Sabbath principle, but the deeper cause is unbelief in the gospel! Why are we so devastated by criticism? The person whose self-worth is mainly in his or her ministry performance will be devastated by criticism of the ministry record because that record is our very self and identity. The fundamental problem is unbelief in the gospel.

At the root, then, of all Christian failures to live right--i.e. not give their money generously, not tell the truth, not care for the poor, not handle worry and anxiety--is the sin under all sins, the sin of unbelief, of not rejoicing deeply in God's grace in Christ, not living out of our new identity in Christ.