Foundational Ideas: The Gospel Affects Everything

As sin affected everything, so the Gospel will restore everything. God makes all things new. In the midst of our depravity, there was quite literally nothing we could do to save ourselves from continued descent. Only Christ, who came to redeem sinners, offers any hope. But we must not be so short sighted as to think that Christ’s only job was to rescue sinners.   No doubt that was a massive part of what he came to do, but he came to usher in his kingdom. There will be a day, because of his ongoing redemptive work that he will wipe every tear from every eye, when there will be no more crying, no more pain, and no more sorrow. He will restore what needed restoration.

We are called to participate in God’s redemptive work today. We should bloom where we are planted. When we love others, when we work for cultural renewal, when we promote a biblical worldview, we serve to improve the world around us. As believers, Christ’s work for us was much broader than we could ever have imagined. For further information, anything by Chuck Colson would be appropriate, though I also liked Matt Chandler’s book “TheExplicit Gospel” for understanding this Kingdom vision.

Foundational Ideas: The Fall Affected Everything

When sin entered the world (Genesis 3), the fall affected everything. Too often, we think of the effect of the fall was that it resulted in Adam and Eve getting kicked out of the garden, but all of creation was affected by the fall. Humans began to sin, to act and think in ways that were opposed to the will and holiness of God. But it was not just behavior, not just thought, emotions were also affected. Though God created us with emotion, the fall led to poor expression of our emotions. Our relationships were also affected. Larry Crabb writes about the notion of relational sin.  How we engage in relationships with others is affected by our own fallenness and our own selfishness.  Even biology, even culture are affected by the fall.  Sinfulness infects everything. The only hope for the great reversal is Christ’s ongoing redemption. One of the books that most deeply affected me here was Neal Plantinga’s Not the Way It’sSupposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin.

Foundational Ideas: Grace/Forgiveness

My license plates read “GRCE ALN”, for grace alone. Over the last few years, there is probably no concept that has more deeply affected what I believe. Since becoming a Christian, I have given intellectual assent to the notion of grace, but I have not really felt its effects.

Grace says that there is quite literally nothing that I can do to save myself from the wrath of God. My only hope is in the accomplished work of Christ on the cross, where he bore the wrath of God and rose to victory, saving me when I could not save myself. I brought nothing to my salvation apart from my sin.

The two authors who have helped me to see this most clearly have been Tullian Tchvidjian and Matt Chandler. Each of these men preach a message of radical grace, reminding believers that they were saved not based on anything they have done, but on what Christ has done.

I would recommend pastor Tullian’s book One Way Love and Barbara Duguid’s book Extravgant Grace if you want to learn more. One of the best things to read in this regard is Martin Luther’s Commentary on Galatians.  I would also commend the video below.