Love Descends

"We conclude, therefore, that a Christian lives not in himself, but in Christ and in his neighbor. Otherwise he is not a Christian. He lives in Christ through faith, in his neighbor through love. By faith he is caught up beyond himself into God. By love he descends beneath himself into his neighbor."

    — Martin Luther On Christian Liberty (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2003), 62


HT: Of First Importance

Our Identity Foundation

"The Christian life is built upon the foundation of (1) facing who you really are and (2) trusting who Christ truly is. Everything you do will be shaped by the degree to which you act on the blessings that are yours in Christ.

If you only look at yourself and carry around a load of guilt, you will hide, excuse, blame, rationalize, and cover up your shame rather than enjoy the freedom of confession and the joy of forgiveness. You will not enjoy the lasting fruit that comes from following the wisdom that is already yours in Christ! Instead, you will reduce the Christian life to a simplistic list of rules and behaviors that never touch the real problems, and you will be blind to the gaps in your relationship to Christ. "

— Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp, How People Change,, page 65

Hat Tip: Of First Importance

Always Inclined Toward You

"For those who are in Christ, he serves as a mediator, bringing our prayers to God. And since God the Holy Spirit indwells those who are in Christ, our prayers are by the Spirit, through the Son, to the Father. He hears Your spoken words, unspoken thoughts, and unclear longings. This one fact is utterly astonishing. God's heart is always inclined toward you, his face is set toward you, and his ear open for you. This explains why the Bible invites us to 'pray without ceasing' about anything, anytime, anywhere."

- Mark Driscoll,   Who Do You Think You Are?: Finding Your True Identity in Christ, page 111

Realities for All

“The believer has died, is buried, is raised, is seated with Christ in the heavenlies, and so on. These are not plateaus for victorious Christians who have surrendered all and willed their way to victory, but realities for every believer, regardless of how small one’s faith or how weak one’s repentance.”

  — Michael Horton, Christ the Lord
  (Grand Rapids, Mi.: Baker Book House, 1992), 113-114

Hat Tip:  Of First Importance

Determining Factor

“The determining factor in our relationship with God is not our past or present, but Christ’s past and present.”

                                - Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones:

Hat tip: Peter Cockrell

Everything You Need .....And More

"You can never be richer than the man who has Christ and nothing else. Because the man who has Christ has everything He needs and more." 

- Tullian Tchividjian

You Already Are

Today I found some more great writing by Tullian Tchividjian  on the subject of Our New And Exalted Identity in Christ:

While the world constantly tempts us to locate our identity in something or someone smaller than Jesus, the gospel liberates us by revealing that our true identity is locked in Christ. Our connection in and with Christ is the truest definition of who we are....

...The gospel frees us from this pressure to perform, this slavish demand to “become.” The gospel liberatingly declares that in Christ “we already are.” If you’re a Christian, here’s the good news: Who you really are has nothing to do with you—how much you can accomplish, who you can become, your behavior (good or bad), your strengths, your weaknesses, your sordid past, your family background, your education, your looks, and so on.

Your identity is firmly anchored in Christ’s accomplishment, not yours; his strength, not yours; his performance, not yours; his victory, not yours. Your identity is steadfastly established in his substitutionary life and death, not your sin.

You’re free!

Now you can spend your life giving up your place for others instead of guarding it from others—because your identity is in Christ, not your place.

Now you can spend your life going to the back instead of getting to the front—because your identity is in Christ, not your position.

Now you can spend your life giving, not taking—because your identity is in Christ, not your possessions.

  If you are not reading his blog on a regular basis, why not?  Always some good Gospel stuff there!

You Are More

I heard someone perform this song at church on Sunday, and I just LOVED it.  Listen and be blessed.

"You Are More" by 10th Avenue North

But don't you know who you are,
What's been done for you?
Yeah don't you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

Self Forgetting Happiness

“Christian humility is a self-forgetting happiness in Christ.”

— John Piper "Using Our Gifts in Proportion to Our Faith, Part 2"
(Minneapolis, Minn.: Desiring God Ministries, Nov. 7, 2004)

Hat Tip: Of First Importance

I Am Not....But...

This is a perfect description of my life (and probably yours):

I am not what I ought to be.
Ah! how imperfect and deficient.
Not what I might be,
considering my privileges and opportunities.
Not what I wish to be.
God, who knows my heart, knows I wish to be like him.
I am not what I hope to be;
ere long to drop this clay tabernacle, to be like him and see him as He is.
Not what I once was,
a child of sin, and slave of the devil.
Thought not all these,

not what I ought to be,
not what I might be,
not what I wish or hope to be, and
not what once was,

I think I can truly say with the apostle,

“By the grace of God I am what I am.”

—Cited in Letters of John Newton, p. 400.

Hat Tip:  One of My Favorite Descriptions of the Christian Life – Justin Taylor

No Other Purpose

"The Church exists for no other purpose but to draw men into Christ. . . If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other reason."

 -- C.S. Lewis

Hat Tip: Jared Wilson at The Gospel-Driven Church

Approved

“The gospel brings me explosive news: my search for approval is over. In Christ I already have all the approval I need.”

- Dave Harvey, Rescuing Ambition (Wheaton, Ill.; Crossway, 2010), 56.

Hat Tip: Rick Ianniello

More Gospel Tweets

More Gospel Tweets from Tullian Tchividjian

• The gospel tells us that what God has done for us in Christ is infinitely more important than anything we do for him.
• The world says the more independent you become, the freer you’ll be; the gospel says the more dependent you become, the freer you’ll be
• The Gospel frees us from trying to impress people, prove ourselves to people, and make people think we’re something that we’re not.
• Isn’t it ironic that while God’s treatment of us depends on Christ’s performance, our treatment of others depends on their performance?
• We need God’s gospel rescue every day and in every way because we are, in the words of John Calvin, “partly unbelievers until we die.”
• Believing fully the truth that “salvation belongs to the Lord” means that you place ultimate trust in Christ’s efforts, not your own.
• Daily sin requires a daily distribution of God’s grace
• The hard work of sanctification is the hard work of constantly reorienting ourselves back to our justification.
• Grace can be defined as unconditional acceptance granted to an undeserving person by an unobligated giver.
• The law tells us what God demands from us; the gospel tells us what God in Christ has done for us because we could not meet his demands.
• Being justified by God and made acceptable on the basis of Christ’s righteousness not only pardons us for the past but empowers us for the present
• Paul never uses the law as a way to motivate obedience; He always uses the gospel.
• The gospel teaches us that being a slave to Christ is the essence of freedom, while being free to myself is the essence of slavery.
• When you understand God’s grace, pain leads to freedom because deep suffering leads to deep surrender!
• When we depend on things smaller than Jesus to provide us with the security and meaning we long for, God will love us enough to take them away.
• The gospel is the good news that God rescues sinners. And since both non-Christians & Christians are sinners, we both need the gospel.
• The gospel grants Christians one strength over non-Christians: the strength to admit they’re weak.
• The gospel frees us to realize that while we matter, we’re not the point.
• The Gospel alone can turn us into people who give everything we have because we understand that in Christ we already have everything we need
• The gospel isn’t just the power of God to save us, it’s the power of God to grow us once we’re saved.
• When we transfer trust from ourselves to Christ, we experience the abundant freedoms that come from not having to measure up.
• The gospel makes wise those who know they’re foolish and makes fools out of those who think they’re wise.
• It never ceases to amaze me that God’s love to those who are in Christ isn’t conditioned on how we behave but on how Christ behaved for us.
• Sin turns you inward; the gospel turns you outward. Sin enslaves you by making you big. The gospel frees you by making you small.
• In the gospel, God comes after us because we need him not because he needs us. Only the gospel can free us to revel in our insignificance.
• Mt. Sinai says, “You must do.” Mt. Calvary says, “Because you couldn’t, Jesus did.” Don’t run to the wrong mountain for your hiding place.