“What has Jesus done?” becomes more important than “What would Jesus do?”

How to Avoid Christless Christianty
Mon, Nov. 22 2010 09:16 AM EDT


Scripture is of no use to us if we read it merely as a handbook for daily living without recognizing that its principle purpose is to reveal Jesus Christ and his gospel for the salvation of sinners. All Scripture coalesces in Christ, anticipated in the OT and appearing in the flesh in the NT.

In Scripture, God issues commands and threatens judgment for transgressors as well as direction for the lives of his people. Yet the greatest treasure buried in the Scriptures is the good news of the promised Messiah.

Everything in the Bible that tells us what to do is “law”, and everything in the Bible that tells us what God has done in Christ to save us is “gospel.”

Much like medieval piety, the emphasis in much Christian teaching today is on what we are to do without adequate grounding in the good news of what God has done for us in Christ. “What would Jesus do?” becomes more important than “What has Jesus done?”

The gospel, however, is not just something we needed at conversion so we can spend the rest of our Christian life obsessed with performance; it is something we need every day – the only source of our sanctification as well as our justification.

The law guides, but only the gospel gives. We are declared righteous–justified – not by anything that happens within us or done by us, but solely by God’s act of crediting us with Christ’s perfect righteousness through faith alone.

Preachers, read that paragraph over and over.

As I’ve said here before, don’t make the mistake of assuming that people understand the radical nature of gospel indicatives, so that your ministry is focused primarily on the imperatives.

The commands in the Bible are like a set of railroad tracks. The tracks provide no power for the train but the train must stay on the tracks in order to function. The law, in other words, never gives any power to do what it commands. It shows us what a sanctified life looks like but it has no sanctifying power. Only the gospel has power, as it were, to move the train. This is why the Bible never tells us what to do before first soaking our hearts and minds in what God in Christ has already done.

The fact is, that any obedience not grounded in or motivated by the gospel is unsustainable. No matter how hard you try, how “radical” you get, any engine smaller than the gospel that you’re depending on for power to obey will conk out in due time.

Preach the gospel!

William Graham Tullian Tchividjian (pronounced cha-vi-jin) is a Florida native, the new pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, a visiting professor of theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, and a grandson of Billy and Ruth Graham. A graduate of Columbia International University (philosophy) and Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Tullian is the author of Do I Know God? Finding Certainty in Life’s Most Important Relationship (Multnomah), Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different (Multnomah) and Surprised by Grace: God's Relentless Pursuit of Rebels (Crossway). Tullian is also a contributing editor to Leadership Journal. He speaks at conferences throughout the U.S. and his sermons are broadcast daily on the radio program Godward Living.

The two enemies of the Gospel

Are You Holding Back?
By Colin Smith

"Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith." Romans 1:5

God calls you to a life of obedience through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. God calls you to find in Christ what you do not have, to receive from Christ what you cannot offer, to accomplish through Christ what you cannot do.

The two enemies of the Gospel

The Gospel always lives in the presence of two enemies-one is called "legalism," the other is called, "antinomianism." Legalism says, "Obey God's command, so that you may believe His promise." But if you have to clean up your life before you come to Christ, how will anyone ever be able to come?

Antinomianism says, "Believe God's promise, so that you can ignore God's command." There will be some in every church who, having made a decision for Christ, live carelessly and sin presumptuously. There are others who, falling many times by the same temptation, are overwhelmed by the sense of their own unworthiness.

The Gospel says something radically different, "Believe God's promise, so that you may obey His command." The gospel answer to antinomianism is that God calls you to a life of obedience. The gospel answer to legalism is that God calls you to a life of faith.

Are you holding back because you think you cannot change?

Come to Christ and you will find you begin to love what you used to hate, and you begin to hate what you used to love. The obedience that is beyond you by nature, is possible for you through a living union with Christ that the Bible calls "faith." Through this bond He will give you new desires, new strength and new life that you did not have before.

Are you holding back because you have problems and wounds?

Stop looking at yourself. You won't find the answer there. God is calling you to a faith in Christ and a life of obedience that flows from His life in you.

Are you holding back because you have doubts and questions?

Come to Christ with your doubts and questions, "Lord, I believe. Help me overcome my unbelief" (Mark 9:24).

Are you holding back because you do not think you need Christ?

Your obedience is far from complete. God commands you to repent and obey the Gospel (1 Peter 4:17).

Are you holding back because your sins are many?

Look at the cross. The Savior is there for sinners. He is there for you. The blood of Christ has the power to cleanse you from every sin. This Savior is able to take you from a slimy pit and set your feet on the rock (Psalm 40:2). He is able to present you faultless and with great joy in the presence of Almighty God (Jude 1:24). Come to Him and find hope in Him today. Christ calls you to the obedience of faith.

What are u proclaiming?

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on..

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say.... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say.... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Your love for Jesus changes the Bible from a rulebook to a love letter

Could you prove you're a Christian?
Keith Manuel

Posted on Mar 18, 2008

ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP)--A recent article in The New York Times discussed the difficulty facing some American-born Jews, now living in Israel, to prove the authenticity of their heritage. One young woman went with her fiancé to the Tel Aviv Rabbinate to register to marry. This governmental court asked her to prove she was Jewish.

If a court of law asked you to prove you were a Christian, how would you do it?

Some might answer, "I'm a member of a church." The court could rightly ask, "How difficult is it for a non-Christian to join a church?"

There are some churches so anxious for someone to join that after a "three minute drill" during the invitation, a person can be welcomed into full fellowship. They are voted in and everything!

If being a member of a church proves you are a Christian, then why are so few church members choosing to worship Christ regularly?

Others appearing before the court might answer, "I've been baptized." Really? If you've been around a Christian church for any length of time, you can pick up enough church lingo to answer the questions correctly. Is baptism proof of Christianity or merely proof you got wet? Unless one lives in a non-Christian culture, baptism can become a rite of passage instead of a radical declaration of a commitment to Christ.

Then there's the genetic answer, "My parents were Christians so I must be one." The Bible says you become a Christian through personal acceptance of the Gospel, not by your parents' acceptance of the Gospel.

So where is the proof? How could I prove to a court that I am a Christian? The Bible's criteria of proof are your love for God and your love for others.

Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commands." A person once challenged Jesus to identify the greatest commandment. Jesus answered in summary fashion by saying love God and neighbor.

The proof to the world of your Christianity is your unwavering love for God. Despite circumstances or trials, you love and trust God. When you don't see the "big picture," you trust God is guiding you to the glimmer of light at the end of an immense tunnel.

Your love for Jesus changes the Bible from a rulebook to a love letter. It turns worship from a noun into a verb, a day into a week.

When you surrender your life to Jesus, you begin to love others. You see the needs of others as more than physical and emotional, but spiritual. Then your love constrains you to meet that need.

An authentic walk with Christ allows you to look deep inside, to the Jesus in other people. Jesus said, "When you see someone hungry, thirsty or in need of clothes and you take care of the need, you take care of me."

If a court ever called on you to prove the authenticity of your faith, I think you should point the judge to the faithful hymn that says, "They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love. Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love."

Keith Manuel is an evangelism associate on the Louisiana Baptist Convention's evangelism & church growth team.

The church is the transformative agent of Christ’s love within culture through the direction of Scripture and the power of the Spirit

Pass the Popcorn Analysis: Engage culture without assuming it

By Jay Smith

Published: May 28, 2008

(ABP) -- I’ve got to be brutally honest; I’m not a Rob Bell fan, although many of my students are. He has two best-selling books: Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith (2005) and Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality (2007).

Additionally, he has completed three “teaching” tours, the most recent in 2007, where he visited America with his “The Gods Aren’t Angry” tour. Each tour was staged in a secular venue with theatrical lighting and the ever-hip, culturally relevant Bell at its center.

Although I disagree with much of Bell’s theology, this does not mean that I don’t appreciate what he is attempting: an engagement with culture. “Culture” is the matrix of human activity and structures that give life significance. In Christian theology, culture, like humankind, has experienced the Fall.

As sensationalist and provocative as his titles are, Bell is attempting to be relevant to “fallen” postmodern culture. Many young believers and spiritual seekers, feeling disenfranchised from the modern church, have flocked to Bell’s tours, podcasts and books. In Bell, they have found a kindred spirit -- someone who has experienced their disenchantment with the modern church, yet one who seems to have found a way to connect them to an authentic, relevant faith in God through Jesus Christ.

Regardless of what position you take on Rob Bell, he forces each of us to deal with the issue of culture and its relationship to our theology. This is an age-old struggle. It is the struggle of the Israelites with the Canaanites, Jesus and the various Jewish sects, as well Paul and the Greco-Roman culture of his day.

Theology and culture are locked in an eternal struggle until the end of days.

Interestingly, Christians can claim that the Bible lands on both sides of the debate. On one hand, Paul seems to encourage an engagement with contemporary culture in the form of his sermon on Mars Hill (Acts 17:22ff).

On the other hand, Paul states that we should not “conform” to the world in his letter to the Romans (Rom12:2).

But if it is an age-old struggle, why then has it erupted with such a vengeance today?

A simple explanation is that culture is changing at a faster pace than ever previously understood. Technology advanced at such a rapid pace in the 20th century that it outpaced our ability to understand its moral implications. So, culture becomes a swamp of ethical and theological questions amidst a global technological explosion.

Complicating this situation, it would also seem that some of the philosophical concepts that helped sustain our modern culture are being questioned today. Thus, although the scientific, technological and philosophical ideals of modernity have been a great benefit to us, these ideals simply aren’t enough to sustain us spiritually.

Consequently, we now live in a culture of difficult change where the very basis of modern Christianity is being questioned at every turn. How are we to proceed as faithful followers of Christ in such a chaotic cultural climate? How can our theology meet this challenge?

Let me suggest a two-fold answer: engagement, not assumption.

First, we must engage culture, which I believe to be the very heart of our Christian mission. This is the legacy of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20) and the witness of Paul on Mars Hill (Acts 17). The church is the transformative agent of Christ’s love within culture through the direction of Scripture and the power of the Spirit (Luke 10:25-27).

Nevertheless, in this engagement, we do not assume or acquiesce to culture. Christ transforms it (Romans 12:2; 1 John 2:15).

As Christians, we have something unique to offer to our world -- the witness of Jesus. As Baptists, we affirm the centrality of Christ and the authority of Scripture as our sole rule of faith. That is the “what” of our assumption.

The Scriptures, as the book of the Spirit, then give guidance in regards to the “how” of our practice. What the Scriptures do not address directly will stand in tension with our engagement of culture.

A vigorous attempt to understand and engage culture, without surrendering to its secularizing philosophical tendencies would benefit the church well in the third millennium.

So Rob Bell and others of the emerging generation, you’ve thrown down the gauntlet to us all. Thank you.

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-- Jay Smith is assistant professor in the School of Christian Studies at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas.