Thursday, January 12, 2006

. . .and Ya Daddy Don't Rock and Roll (Thoughts on Moralism -- Part IV)

"The Bible is far more than a rulebook to follow," Jerry Bridges states in Gospel-Driven Santification. "It is primarily the message of God's saving grace through Jesus Christ, with everything in Scripture before the cross pointing to God's redemptive work and everything after the cross--including our sanctification--flowing from that work. Bridges goes on to say, " So I learned that Christians need to hear the gospel all of their lives because it is the gospel that continues to remind us that our day-to-day acceptance with the Father is not based on what we do for God but upon what Christ did for us in his sinless life and sin-bearing death. I began to see that we stand before God today as righteous as we ever will be, even in heaven, because he has clothed us with the righteousness of his Son. Therefore, I don't have to perform to be accepted by God. Now I am free to obey him and serve him because I am already accepted in Christ (see Rom. 8:1). My driving motivation now is not guilt but gratitude. . .For a growing Christian, desire will always outstrip performance or, at least, perceived performance. What is it then that will keep us going in the face of this tension between desire and performance? The answer is the gospel. It is the assurance in the gospel that we have indeed died to the guilt of sin and that there is no condemnation for us in Christ Jesus that will motivate us and keep us going even in the face of this tension. We must always keep focused on the gospel because it is in the nature of sanctification that as we grow, we see more and more of our sinfulness. Instead of driving us to discouragement, though, this should drive us to the gospel. It is the gospel believed every day that is the only enduring motivation to pursue progressive sanctification even in those times when we don't seem to see progress."

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1 Comments:

At 3:17 PM, January 17, 2006, Blogger Mr. T said...

Good post. Some thoughts however - I clipped the following:


"We must always keep focused on the gospel because it is in the nature of sanctification that as we grow, we see more and more of our sinfulness. Instead of driving us to discouragement, though, this should drive us to the gospel. It is the gospel believed every day that is the only enduring motivation to pursue progressive sanctification even in those times when we don't seem to see progress."

- The danger here is the re-application of the law. As Rod R. says - Law - Gospel - Law. We're left with the challenge of what happens when we're not driving ourselves to the gospel or pursing progressive sanctification? More spritiual discipline is often the answer. The preaching the gospel to ourselves and increased spiritual discipline are things I heard a lot in Reformed circles and one of the reasons I left and became a Lutheran. Our failures certainly don't make us any less Christian. The question is what is the object of our faith. I'm not discounting the crux here - that the gospel is THE driving force for sanctification, but the danger in this particular logic is it sublty puts the focs back on the beliver and off of Jesus. IE - I need to preach to myself, etc. . . Just as we don't baptize ourseleves, the gospel is something that comes from the outside in. To the extent we remain the focus/the one doing the work we become theologians of glory not theologians of the cross.

http://johncampoxford.blogspot.com has some good stuff on this very topic right now.

Pax,

T

 

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