A Gospel Manifesto, Part 4 of 4

It is about Recovering a Gospel mindset after drifting. Reattaching to Gospel moorings, continuing in the faith. Let me give you some numbers…85 days, 16 hours, 25 minutes. That’s the amount of time elapsed since the April 20 explosion of a BP oil rig in the gulf of Mexico to its shutoff. And we’re still not out of the woods. It is estimated that somewhere between 94 and 184 million gallons of oil were spilled during those 85 days, 16 hours and 25 minutes. Spiritually, you may feel like it’s been longer than that since you had a solid connection to God. You feel like they continually leak God’s grace, drifting dangerously in a poison mixture of good and evil, living in fear of God’s retaliation against your sin rather than the freedom of the children of God in Christ; living by feelings rather than truth; shrinking in shame; not boldly drawing near to God.

If you are a Christian, hear this clearly: God already retaliated against sin at the cross. Those who reject Christ stand condemned by their own choice. But there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. But moved away from the hope of the gospel, many Christians flounder. If you are like me, your love for Jesus easily grows cold. What you experience on Sundays sometimes only lasts as long as it takes to get to your car. Nothing seems to stick. You show up each Sunday in a spiritual fog. Depleted, in desperate need a gospel transfusion.

How to do it? Non-Christian, you need to turn from your sin to Jesus and trust Him to save you. Christian, you need daily through the power of the Holy Spirit to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10:5. Love the Lord with all your mind. Because the gospel defines reality resolve to live in the gospel of Christ and Him crucified, by taking every thought captive to Christ. 1 Cor. 15:58 Steadfast, immovable. Maybe we have so many problems because we look for answers outside the gospel of Christ.

Among the gospel’s enemies are several things we bring to the party – uninvited guests not welcome at the table of grace that don’t help our propensity to wander: Legalism, basing our relationship with God on our performance; condemnation, being more focused on our sin than on God’s grace; and subjectivity, basing our view of God on our changing emotions and opinions. We need to continually be aware of our need to recover a gospel mindset. Banishing all rivals to Christ’s throne.

Milton Vincent wrote “The gospel is so foolish (according to my natural wisdom), so scandalous (according to my conscience), and so incredible (according to my timid heart), that it is a daily battle to believe the full scope of it as I should.” Move away from the gospel and what do you have? Man’s empty philosophy & wisdom. Gospel-void living is slavery. Gospel-saturated living is freedom, but not easy. Negative influences throw us off balance in a bad way. The Bible throws us off balance in a good way, makes us reevaluate our priorities and version of reality. The gospel is sweet to our souls, & as long as we are alive it will also seem strange to us. Until we die we will find it hard to believe the bad news about ourselves and the good news about Jesus. We do not naturally think we need a mediator due to our sin, that we start out spiritually dead and helpless, unable to do anything to help ourselves or gain God’s favor. It does not occur to us that our greatest need is to be redeemed from sin, justified, regenerated, sanctified, glorified by God's saving work in His Son by His Spirit. Our minds must be captive to Christ. What we think shapes us.

The bible is not a resource manual for self-Improvement; it is a story of crucifixion. The gospel is a non-gentle jolt to self-dependence and self-absorption. It is a violent affront to a hell-bent agenda; it is death to the lie that you can be your own savior and owner. The gospel speaks peace to our souls through death to our godhood. The gospel is an external word. It stands totally independent of me. Last week I mentioned we are like elbow macaroni, God working in and through us as His tools. Redirecting us. We should also be like sponges, soaking up gospel truth. Whatever is in closest contact with will be what we are saturated with, what will soak in and flavor us. We should be always marinating in the gospel. Taking on it's full flavors, being taken over by it's influence. We are like spiritual Sham-wows.

We soak up whatever is near to us. Whatever is near often becomes dear to us. So we need to speak, pray, memorize, and meditate on the gospel. Gal. 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and delivered Himself up for me. 1 Pet. 2:24 He Himself bore our sin His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by His wounds you have been healed. 2 Cor. 5:14 He died for all that they would live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Memorize Eph. 1-3, Col. 1-2, Rom. 1-11. We cannot do it alone. We need the Holy Spirit. D.A. Carson says "there has not only been an objective, public act of divine self-disclosure in the crucifixion of God’s own Son, there must be a private work of God by His Spirit, in the mind and heart. If we express unqualified gratitude to God for the gift of His Son, we should express no less gratitude for the gift of the Spirit who enables us to grasp the gospel of His Son. Unless the Spirit enlightens us, God’s thoughts will remain alien to us."

Here is where it comes into focus. Read 2 Tim. 1:8-14. God guards us, and we also have a part in guarding the gospel. It will lead us to Glory in Christ. Col. 1:22 "in order to present you holy, blameless and above reproach before Him." Col. 1:27 "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Col. 3:4 Christ is our life. The gospel's ultimate goal is glory, and honor and praise to God.

Can you think of some times where you drifted from the gospel and God brought you back? What did you learn? How were you strengthened for more fruitful service?
Soli Deo Gloria