The Gospel Isn't An Appetizer

Most of us have a terrible problem with our faith. It's something that we all tend to drift toward if we're not really careful. In fact, Martin Luther called it our "default mode". Even 500 years ago, Luther understood that it's as if our hearts come with a factory setting that we will constantly be tempted to go back to in our relationship with God. That default mode is religion, the pursuit of a right standing with God based on our own hard work & goodness (which is just a toned down, less offensive word for self-righteousness).

So how does this work? Typically it goes something like this. Somehow we recognize our sin. We may be like the younger son in Jesus' Parable of the Lost Son, & we've rebelled & chased after all the stuff this world promises only find a bunch of broken promises. Through the Gospel, we're humbled, & we return to God repentant & looking for restoration in Jesus. Or maybe we're the older, morally upright brother. We've been working really hard to do the right thing & be a good person, but at some point the Gospel reveals the futility & emptiness that lurks at the end of that road as well. So we stop trying to slave away for God hoping to earn a place in His family, & instead we embrace that through faith in Christ we are His child. In an instant our sins are washed away, & we're justified before God through Jesus.

Then it begins to happen. And it usually doesn't take very long. We begin to drift toward the default mode of hard work, self motivated moral goodness, & religious goodness. We begin to measure our growth by how hard we try or by pointing out "those things" that others do that we don't. Starts sounding strangely like the religious, yet lost condition that some of us were rescued out of, doesn't it? In fact, for many of us it becomes so extreme that we begin to act as if our relationship with God is reliant on how good we are. Somewhere along the way we think we outgrow the Gospel. Sure, the Gospel is what saves us, but it's our hard work that keep us saved.

"It's Time For Us To Stop Viewing Our Justification As An Extension 

Of Our Sanctification & Start Viewing Our Sanctification 

As An Extension Of Our Justification."

What do I mean by that? Well answer this question? What saved you? Your hard work or the power of the Gospel? Well if the Gospel is the only thing that saved you & brought you into the family of God, why would you think that all of a sudden you can grow & become more like Christ in your own strength & goodness. Instead of outgrowing the Gospel, we need to be camp out in the Gospel. If you're trying to become more generous, it doesn't happen by just trying hard or by beating yourself up for being greedy. You & I become more generous by constantly meditating on the Gospel that reminds us of the generosity of God revealed in Jesus. When we walk with a constant awareness of how sacrificially generous Jesus was on our behalf, becoming more generous with something as trivial as our stuff will start to become second nature. The same is true in our marriages. We don't become better husbands or wives by working harder. We grow by constantly reflecting on the incredible love of Christ toward us & His submission to the Father's will. As we see the lengths Jesus was willing to go to for us, we'll become more loving toward one another & sensitive to each other's needs.

The Gospel isn't the appetizer to your relationship with God. It's not something that gets you started. It's the appetizer, soup, main course, & dessert! Tim Keller says it this way, "The Gospel then isn't the ABCs of the Christian faith. It's the A to Z of the faith." If you think you've grown to the point of moving on from the crucified & resurrected Jesus, then you might want to think about what exactly it is that you are growing. So stop snacking on the Gospel, & feast on the glorious depth & riches that it holds for us as we not only come into the family of God but as we grow as His children.