The Gospel

The price we pay is to face ourselves. That is humiliating and painful. It’s why we shun the light. There are episodes in our past that we don’t want to think about—harsh words, acts of betrayal, broken promises, and worse. We shove these memories down into the darkness of our excuses and blame-shifting. We refuse to call sin “sin.” We feel too thr

Too often we regard God’s power as an added ingredient that turbocharges our own efforts.

But the one thing the gospel never does is nothing. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ refuses to be held at arm’s length with critical detachment. No one judges the gospel. It judges all, and it saves some.

As Christians, we should not be discouraged when we are misjudged and mistreated. It is part of gospel ministry. We should expect it and accept it for the Lord’s sake.

If we have suffered the loss of all things in order to gain Christ—no egos to protect or scores to settle—we are free to receive his power, courage, and love.

If we fail to love one another in ways so striking that we actually start looking like Jesus, then the world has the right to judge that we know nothing of him. They might be wrong. We might indeed be Christians. But the world is right to dismiss unloving Christians as unchristian. Jesus himself gave them that right.

Both Cain and Abel were sinners. But what triggered the conflict was that Cain’s deeds were evil and his brother’s were righteous, and Cain couldn’t stand it.

We should speak well of one another across denominational lines and humble ourselves in our own eyes by forgiving past injuries and promoting the common good in the gospel. Our loving Christ deserves a loving church in the world today!

How can we press more deeply into the power of God today? The answer will always be simple. All we can do is go back to our Lord and his grace: “Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:1). Does that answer seem too easy, even a letdown? Then try it. It is never easy. It means deliberately rejecting every other source of stre