Sublime

“Let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God — what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.” ROMANS 12:2B (TEV)

Here is the insight embedded in these verses. The only answer to one culture is another culture—not just a concept, but a counterculture. A church should offer the world such a counterculture, a living embodiment of the gospel. The culture we live in is “a pillar and buttress” for many false gospels. For instance, one of the destructive lies that i

the all-important distinction is not between outward and inward, or between earning grace and expressing it, but between that outer and inner state which is evil all through (albeit, from time to time, appearing outwardly clean) and that outer and inner state which is being renewed all through.

Christ clarifies and specifies the nature, aim, and trustworthiness of all God’s dealings with us because Christ is where those dealings with us come to ultimate fruition.

Jesus Christ alone is the hope, treasure, joy, and purpose of pastoral ministry. Not church growth, not church planting, not church success, not church business, not church programs, not church activities, not church popularity. Let everything be a means to this end: the treasuring of Christ and the enjoying of his glory.

By asking what a text reflects of God’s nature that prompts the work of Christ, an expositor can examine any narrative, genealogy, commandment, proverb, proposition, or parable to see what it reveals of God’s justice, holiness, goodness, lovingkindness, faithfulness, provision, or deliverance.