Good News

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17)

Tonight I had the privilege of watching the movie Luther with two men in my LifeGroup. The movie has become one of my favorites. That said, this post is not going to be a review. You can read a fine review of Luther at New Creation Person.

No, this post is about the discussion that the movie sparked after we watched it. We were talking about sermons, that appear pretty common to most churches, which are focused on “how to live the Christian life”. In my opinion, the how to (e.g. as parent, spouse, employee) are not normally tied to the Gospel of Christ. In fact, in some sermons the name Jesus Christ is hardly mentioned at all. Seems odd right, a sermon in a Christian church and Christ is not mentioned? It’s true!

I shared my concerns that the how to is meaningless and possibly destructive unless the who, what, and why are also presented. Let me explain.

Unless a person understands that:

1. he/she is a sinner subject to the wrath of God
2. Christ became flesh and lived a perfect life; died on the cross in his/her place for the forgiveness of sins past, present, and future, fully satisfying the wrath of God; and rose again on the third day
3. he/she must repent, turning from sin, and trusting in the forgiveness for sins that Christ offers
4. Upon receiving faith (trusting) in Christ, he/she is made a new creation and adopted as a son of God

they will miss apply the why of living the Christian life.

We are called to live a certain way as a Christian because of our status in Christ. We do not do good works or live in a certain way to earn anything. No, we do good works as evidence of the salvation we have received. They are the fruit.

Notice that Paul spends the first 3 chapters of Ephesians telling them who they are in Christ. It is not until Ephesians 4:1 that Paul says I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.

My concern is that when this order is reversed or worse (they are not even linked), we have the wrong motivation for “doing”. Are we trying earn points with God? Are we trying to avoid the wrath of God on our own? Are we our own savior?

If I understand that I should be living a certain way, say loving my wife as Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:25) and I refuse to forgive her infidelity, how do I deal with the guilt from not meeting God’s standard? The solution for the sin and guilt in marriage is Gospel.

All this to set up the heart of our discussion, how often do we need to hear the Gospel in our sermons? Once a year? Once a month? Twice a month? How about every single sermon! That is what I want and what the New Testament presents.

Consider the following:

• For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:2
• For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures 1 Corinthians 15:3
• but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles 1 Corinthians 1:23

Well, it is getting really late. I’d love to get your take.

Note: The White Horse Inn show “We Preach Christ Crucified” (3/8/09) covers this in great detail.

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