All I Have is Christ

I'm singing the gospel this morning with this song from Sovereign Grace running through my head...


I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still



But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace



Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me
Oh Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ -
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life!


(Song by Jordan Kauflin, copyright Sovereign Grace Music)
Hear it, buy it, get free lead sheet downloads here.

Great God of Highest Heaven

I have mentioned my love of the Puritan prayers found in the Valley of Vision prayer book.  Sovereign Grace music has a collection of songs based on these prayers, which can be very helpful to me to sing rather than just to read.  Here are the lyrics of one of my favorites, to start your week. 

O great God of highest heaven
Occupy my lowly heart
Own it all and reign supreme
Conquer every rebel power
Let no vice or sin remain
That resists Your holy war
You have loved and purchased me
Make me Yours forevermore

I was blinded by my sin
Had no ears to hear Your voice
Did not know Your love within
Had no taste for heaven’s joys
Then Your Spirit gave me life
Opened up Your Word to me
Through the gospel of Your Son
Gave me endless hope and peace

Help me now to live a life
That’s dependent on Your grace
Keep my heart and guard my soul
From the evils that I face
You are worthy to be praised
With my every thought and deed
O great God of highest heaven
Glorify Your Name through me
Words and music by Bob Kauflin
As recorded on Valley of Vision
© 2006 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI).

Hear it here:  Valley of Vision CD

The God Who Promises Deep Personal Change

"Because Christ lived perfectly, died sufficiently, and rose victoriously, you and I can come out of hiding. We are free to own up to, without fear, the darkest of our thoughts and motives, the ugliest of our words, our most selfish choices, and our most rebellious and unloving actions. We are freed from our bondage to guilt and shame. We are freed from hiding behind accusation, blame, recrimination, and rationalization.

Confession is powerful and effective. It turns guilt into forgiveness. It turns regret into hope. It turns slavery into freedom. It turns you from mourning over your harvest to planting new seeds of faith, repentance, and hope. You see, you are not trapped! Things are not hopeless! The Lord, the great Creator and Savior, is the God who never changes, but at the same time he is the God who promises and produces deep personal change. The changes he makes in us are so foundational that the Bible’s best words describing them are ‘new creation.’ God’s plan is to change us so fundamentally that it is as if we are no longer us; something brand new has been created!"
— Paul David Tripp
Lost in the Middle: Midlife and the Grace of God
(Wapwallopen, PA: Shepherd Press, 2004), 124

The Gospel Story

Today's Gospel reminder is the story of the bible using classic art...

The Gospel Project is a new Gospel Centered Sunday School curriculum for adults, youth and children.

 You can find out more here: The Gospel Project

Do You Fear God?

Time to start our week with a gospel reminder.  Continuing Friday's book club theme of "Gospel Fear" I have a quote for you from counselor and author Ed Welch...

Do you ever think that your sins are too bad, and that forgiveness for those sins requires you to get your act together first? If so, you don’t fear God. You are minimizing his forgiveness. You are acting as though his forgiveness is ordinary, just like that of any person or make-believe god. In contrast, the fear of the Lord leads us to believe that when God makes promises too good to be true, they are indeed true.

— Ed Welch
Running Scared
(Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2007), 195

Helping Children to Understand the Gospel

Our book club has been learning about the importance of regeneration, or the new birth.  We learned that parents often assume children have been born again based on a child's prayer alone and yet new birth is a miraculous event that bears fruit over a long term.  If fruit is not present in the life of the child as they grow and mature, it is possible that we have mistaken spiritual interest for true saving faith.
I also referred you to an important sermon series on understanding the new birth by John Piper that was pivotal in my understanding of what happens in salvation and in my own salvation experience in particular. 

Today I want to help with another resource that will help you to understand your role as a parent in explaining the gospel to your children and how they come to genuine saving faith.

Helping Children to Understand the Gospel by Sally Michael, Jill Nelson and Bud Burk

Part one of this book talks about preparing children for the gospel.  It uses the parable of the sower (Matthew 13) to explain how parents can sow tend and harvest the seeds of the gospel in the lives of their children.  One thing that was important for me to learn in this section was to understand the "soil" of my children's heart and how that affects the way the gospel is received. 

Most children are not yet "hardened" by the deceitfulness of sin (Heb. 3:13), so they often respond to spiritual teaching eagerly.  They love to hear the stories of the Bible and sing songs about Jesus-many young children are even eager to pray to receive Christ.  Sometimes this is genuine saving faith, but often it is only a spiritual interest.  We need to discern the difference between spiritual interest and saving faith.  Spiritual interest may be a step on the journey toward salvation, but it is not salvation. (pg. 11)

One of the dangers of misinterpreting spiritual interest as genuine saving faith is that it can lead to spiritual neglect, or encouraging a child to live a life that is pleasing to God without the heart change that is necessary to do so.  "A parent who has presumed salvation may not continue to pray for the child's salvation or continue to encourage the child to trust in Jesus and instead treat the child as a Christian in need only of further sanctification." (pg. 12)  The solution?

The job of the sower is to keep the Gospel in front of the child- to keep sowing the Word of God upon every opportunity; to break up clumps of soil with discipline and training; and the water the seed with unceasing prayer. (pg. 12)

The section goes on to describe the growth in the faith of a child, based on approximate ages and stages and how the parent can be attentive to the needs of each stage.

Part Two of the book is on presenting the gospel to children.  Specifically it explains how the gospel that is usually presented to children is more of a "life-jacket" type of gospel rather than the true gospel of scripture.  Why is this an important distinction?

This changed gospel puts man at its center instead of God.  It presents a plan instead of a Person.  It seeks to comfort but not convict.  it is a message that calls for acceptance of Christ but not repentance.  it simply encourages acknowledging true facts rather than embracing and submitting to the One who is both Savior and Lord.  It enslaves men to works instead of freeing them to do good works.  (pg. 30)

What follows is a clear presentation of the important themes that children need to know and how to present them in a way that will be understandable to children.

Part Three of the book is perhaps the most practical as it is a devotional guide for families in 10 lessons.  This is a great resource for fathers to lead their families in as part of family worship or devotion time.  The devotions are short, clear and include helpful hands on illustrations that require little to no preparation time.  This is an invaluable resource for parents and children alike to clearly understand the gospel.  It will not only help you explain the gospel to your children, but probably also help you to understand it better yourself!

Helping Children to Understand the Gospel can be purchased from Children Desiring God in either print or electronic form.   You can also check out their other resources for parents here.

 

This post is linked to the Kids in the Word Wednesdays blog linkup at  ThePelsers.com  Check out the other posts for more great ideas on keeping your kids in the Word!

False Religion vs. The Gospel

Have you unknowingly been following a version of Christianity that is essentially a false religion, or a false gospel?  Here is a quick comparison from Pastor Tim Keller's small group study,

Gospel in Life. 

Do you see yourself in here?  I sure did. 

(False) Religion	The Gospel
“I obey; therefore I’m accepted.”	“I’m accepted; therefore, I obey.”
Motivation is based on fear and insecurity.	Motivation is based on grateful joy.
I obey God in order to get things from God.	I obey God to get God-to delight in and resemble him.
When circumstances in my life go wrong, I am angry at God or myself, since I believe that anyone who is good deserves a comfortable life.	When circumstances in my life go wrong, I struggle, but I know all my punishment fell on Jesus and that while God may allow this for my training, he will exercise his Fatherly love within my trial.
When I am criticized, I am furious or devastated, because it is critical that I think of myself as a “good person”.  Threats to that self-image must be destroyed at all costs.	When I am criticized, I struggle, but it I not essential for me to think of myself as a “good person”.  My identity is not built on my record or my performance but on God’s love for me in Christ.
My prayer life consists largely of petition, and it only heats up when I am in a time of need.  My main purpose in prayer is control of the environment.	My prayer life consists of generous stretches of praise and adoration.  My main purpose is fellowship with God.
My self-view swings between two poles.  If and when I am living up to my standards, I feel confident, but then I am prone to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people.  If and when I am not living up to standards, I feel humble but not confident – I feel like a failure.	My self-view is not based on my moral achievement.  In Christ I am simul iustus et peccator - simultaneously sinful and lost, yet accepted in Christ.  I am so bad that he had to die for me, and I am so loved that he was glad to die for me.  This leads me to deep humility and confidence at the same time.
My identity and self-worth are based mainly on how hard I work, or how moral I am – and so I must look down on those I perceive as lazy or immoral.	My identity and self-worth are centered on the one who died for me.  I am saved by sheer grace, so I can’t look down on those who believe or practice something different from me.  Only by grace am I what I am.

The Miracle of the New Birth

Monday morning Gospel reminders:
More on the power of the new birth from John Piper...
"What you need is for the miracle working God, to do the miracle in you."


Listen to the entire sermon series, You Must Be Born Again
or download the book, Finally Alive, for free.

Goodness vs. the Cross

Relying on Our Obedience?

The gospel shows us that our spiritual problem lies not only in failing to obey God, but also in relying on our obedience to make us fully acceptable to God, ourselves and others.
Every kind of character flaw comes from this natural impulse to be our own savior through our performance and achievement. On the one hand, proud and disdainful personalities come from basing your identity on your performance and thinking you are succeeding. But on the other hand, discouraged and self-loathing personalities also come from basing your identity on your performance and thinking you are failing.
Belief in the gospel is not just the way to enter the kingdom of God; it is the way to address every obstacle and grow in every aspect. The gospel is not just the “ABCs” but the “A-to-Z” of the Christian life.
The gospel is the way that anything is renewed and transformed by Christ — whether a heart, a relationship, a church, or a community. All our problems come from a lack of orientation to the gospel. Put positively, the gospel transforms our hearts, our thinking and our approach to absolutely everything.

— Tim Keller
Paul's Letter to the Galatians: Living in Line with the Truth of the Gospel
(Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2003), 2

The Goal of the Gospel

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God

1 Peter 3:18

"Gospel" means good news—but what makes the good news good? What is the goal of the gospel, without which it is no longer good? It is that Christ’s death brings sinners to God! Were it to bring us anywhere else we would be left hopeless. But the gospel is that God gives us himself—Christ died to give us Christ—, and this self-giving is his highest mercy to us and the best news for us! The most profound, most exceedingly gracious, final and decisive good of the good news is Christ himself as the glorious image of God revealed for our endless satisfaction.  - God is the Gospel, by John Piper, desiringgod.com

 Read the entire book for FREE here.