I continue my series of posts from Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way by J.I. Packer and Gary Parrett with Part 2, letters I-P [read Part 1]:
I— Intimacy Through the Gospel we are invited into a living relationship with the living God. In the love proclaimed at the heart of the Gospel God has adopted us into his family. “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called the children of God, and that is what we are” (1 John 3: 1). The Holy Spirit empowers us to believe the Good News and is sent into our hearts, enabling us to cry, “Abba, Father” (Gal. 4: 6). Rehearsing the Gospel in our worship, teaching, preaching, fellowship, and service helps us to nurture and celebrate this unfathomably intimate relationship.
J— Jealousy We learn and teach the Gospel because we are called to be jealous for those we serve. The apostle Paul declared to the Corinthian believers, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him” (2 Cor. 11: 2). If we think jealousy is unbecoming in the apostle, we should remember that God himself is a jealous God (Exod. 20: 5). True love that is covenant based is properly jealous concerning the parties in that covenant. We must keep the true Gospel before the eyes of those whom we teach and serve so that they will avoid what Paul feared for the Corinthians— that is, that they should “be deceived by the serpent’s cunning” and “somehow be led astray from [a] sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11: 3). Deeper acquaintance with the true Gospel will help believers recognize and reject the preaching of “another Jesus” and “a different Gospel” (2 Cor. 11: 4).
K— Knowledge We continually learn the Gospel, even as believers, because the Gospel is the revelation of the knowledge and wisdom of God. Though the message of Christ crucified seems foolish to many in this age, “to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ [is] the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1: 23– 24). The Gospel is “a message of wisdom among the mature” (1 Cor. 2: 6), a message that is “God’s secret wisdom” that has been hidden for ages (1 Cor. 2: 7). But “God has revealed it to us by his Spirit” (1 Cor. 2: 10). “‘ Who has known the mind of the Lord that he would instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2: 16). Would we grow in the knowledge of God’s wisdom? Would we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ? Then let us remain steadfast in the Gospel.
L— Love The Gospel is the revelation of God’s abounding love: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5: 8). We do well to immerse ourselves and the saints we serve in that Good News. The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, for example, is an ongoing, multisensory reminder of Christ crucified (1 Cor. 11: 26). God’s Gospel love also calls forth love as response. The Lord’s Supper both declares God’s love and demands that we love one another in turn (1 Cor. 11: 27). John, “the beloved apostle,” makes these truths very clear. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4: 10– 11). And again he writes, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4: 19). Would we see love grow in the hearts of God’s people and reach to their neighbors— both saints and sinners? Then we must school them continuously in the Gospel of love.
M— Mission And why must we continually learn and teach the Gospel? We do so that we may not lose sight of the great work that God is doing in our day. God is actively engaged in the wondrous work of reconciling all things to himself. It was for this that the Son of God came forth. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor. 5: 19). And this work continues in and through us, the body of Christ, gathered and dispersed throughout the world today. The very work for which the Father sent the Son, the Son has now sent his church to continue (Matt. 28: 18– 20; John 20: 21). And he promises to be with us always. Being in his presence must be taken as seriously as doing the work of true mission, for mission can only have power and a cutting edge when Christ is indwelling us and we him.
N— Narrative We must ever study the Gospel because it is the apex and summary of the great narrative of God’s redemptive activity in the world. As we saw in chapter 4, it is into this Story that we have been called. In an age when many deny the existence of a single metanarrative that applies to all persons it is more critical than ever that we know the biblical narrative and tell it faithfully to others, asking God to convince hearers as we do so that this is their Story as well.
O— Obedience The Gospel calls forth obedience (Rom. 1: 5) in at least three ways. First, we must obey the Gospel by believing and receiving this Good News (John 6: 29). Second, the faith that saves works itself out in obedient living by God’s empowering grace (Phil. 2: 12– 13). Third, we are to obey Jesus’s command to bring this Gospel to the nations (Matt. 28: 18– 20). In our ministries of teaching and formation these calls to obey the Gospel must be clear and unequivocal.
P— Passion Passion comes from the Latin passio, meaning “suffering.” We celebrate each year the passion of our Lord when we attend to the historic remembrance of Holy Week. Likewise, whenever we partake of the Lord’s Supper together we “proclaim the Lord’s death till he comes.” It is given to us not only to believe in Christ the Suffering Servant but also to suffer for him ourselves (Phil. 1: 29). Paul saw his own suffering for the Gospel and for the building up of the church as an active participation in the afflictions of Christ (Col. 1: 24; Phil. 3: 10– 11). We must be forthright in teaching our congregants, by word and by example, that this is part of our calling as well.
I— Intimacy Through the Gospel we are invited into a living relationship with the living God. In the love proclaimed at the heart of the Gospel God has adopted us into his family. “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called the children of God, and that is what we are” (1 John 3: 1). The Holy Spirit empowers us to believe the Good News and is sent into our hearts, enabling us to cry, “Abba, Father” (Gal. 4: 6). Rehearsing the Gospel in our worship, teaching, preaching, fellowship, and service helps us to nurture and celebrate this unfathomably intimate relationship.
J— Jealousy We learn and teach the Gospel because we are called to be jealous for those we serve. The apostle Paul declared to the Corinthian believers, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him” (2 Cor. 11: 2). If we think jealousy is unbecoming in the apostle, we should remember that God himself is a jealous God (Exod. 20: 5). True love that is covenant based is properly jealous concerning the parties in that covenant. We must keep the true Gospel before the eyes of those whom we teach and serve so that they will avoid what Paul feared for the Corinthians— that is, that they should “be deceived by the serpent’s cunning” and “somehow be led astray from [a] sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11: 3). Deeper acquaintance with the true Gospel will help believers recognize and reject the preaching of “another Jesus” and “a different Gospel” (2 Cor. 11: 4).
K— Knowledge We continually learn the Gospel, even as believers, because the Gospel is the revelation of the knowledge and wisdom of God. Though the message of Christ crucified seems foolish to many in this age, “to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ [is] the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1: 23– 24). The Gospel is “a message of wisdom among the mature” (1 Cor. 2: 6), a message that is “God’s secret wisdom” that has been hidden for ages (1 Cor. 2: 7). But “God has revealed it to us by his Spirit” (1 Cor. 2: 10). “‘ Who has known the mind of the Lord that he would instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2: 16). Would we grow in the knowledge of God’s wisdom? Would we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ? Then let us remain steadfast in the Gospel.
L— Love The Gospel is the revelation of God’s abounding love: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5: 8). We do well to immerse ourselves and the saints we serve in that Good News. The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, for example, is an ongoing, multisensory reminder of Christ crucified (1 Cor. 11: 26). God’s Gospel love also calls forth love as response. The Lord’s Supper both declares God’s love and demands that we love one another in turn (1 Cor. 11: 27). John, “the beloved apostle,” makes these truths very clear. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4: 10– 11). And again he writes, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4: 19). Would we see love grow in the hearts of God’s people and reach to their neighbors— both saints and sinners? Then we must school them continuously in the Gospel of love.
M— Mission And why must we continually learn and teach the Gospel? We do so that we may not lose sight of the great work that God is doing in our day. God is actively engaged in the wondrous work of reconciling all things to himself. It was for this that the Son of God came forth. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor. 5: 19). And this work continues in and through us, the body of Christ, gathered and dispersed throughout the world today. The very work for which the Father sent the Son, the Son has now sent his church to continue (Matt. 28: 18– 20; John 20: 21). And he promises to be with us always. Being in his presence must be taken as seriously as doing the work of true mission, for mission can only have power and a cutting edge when Christ is indwelling us and we him.
N— Narrative We must ever study the Gospel because it is the apex and summary of the great narrative of God’s redemptive activity in the world. As we saw in chapter 4, it is into this Story that we have been called. In an age when many deny the existence of a single metanarrative that applies to all persons it is more critical than ever that we know the biblical narrative and tell it faithfully to others, asking God to convince hearers as we do so that this is their Story as well.
O— Obedience The Gospel calls forth obedience (Rom. 1: 5) in at least three ways. First, we must obey the Gospel by believing and receiving this Good News (John 6: 29). Second, the faith that saves works itself out in obedient living by God’s empowering grace (Phil. 2: 12– 13). Third, we are to obey Jesus’s command to bring this Gospel to the nations (Matt. 28: 18– 20). In our ministries of teaching and formation these calls to obey the Gospel must be clear and unequivocal.
P— Passion Passion comes from the Latin passio, meaning “suffering.” We celebrate each year the passion of our Lord when we attend to the historic remembrance of Holy Week. Likewise, whenever we partake of the Lord’s Supper together we “proclaim the Lord’s death till he comes.” It is given to us not only to believe in Christ the Suffering Servant but also to suffer for him ourselves (Phil. 1: 29). Paul saw his own suffering for the Gospel and for the building up of the church as an active participation in the afflictions of Christ (Col. 1: 24; Phil. 3: 10– 11). We must be forthright in teaching our congregants, by word and by example, that this is part of our calling as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment