Gospel-Based Sanctification

Sinclair Ferguson reminds us that piety not marinated in the gospel will run out of gas–that imperatives minus indicatives equal impossibilities:

The first thing to remember is that we must never separate the benefits (regeneration, justification, sanctification) from the Benefactor (Jesus Christ). The Christians who are most focused on their own spirituality may give the impression of being the most spiritual … but from the New Testament’s point of view, those who have almost forgotten about their own spirituality because their focus is so exclusively on their union with Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished are those who are growing and exhibiting fruitfulness. Historically speaking, whenever the piety of a particular group is focused on OUR spirituality that piety will eventually exhaust itself on its own resources. Only where our piety forgets about us and focuses on Jesus Christ will our piety nourished by the ongoing resources the Spirit brings to us from the source of all true piety, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sinclair reminds us that the secret of gospel-based sanctification is that we actually perform better as we grow in our understanding that our relationship with God is based on Christ’s performance for us, not our performance for him. In fact, those who end up getting better are those who increasingly realize that their relationship to God does not depend on them getting better. This means that Christian growth does not happen first by behaving better, but believing better–believing what Christ has already secured for sinners.

Preaching the Gospel to Yourself

One of the most transforming disciplines you can develop is to preach the Gospel to yourself daily. In order live in full view of the cross and allow the truth of the Gospel to define every moment of your life, you must know it well and remind yourself of it often. The following are quotes from pastors and theologians who have helped me to look at the beauty of the multi‐faceted jewel that is the Gospel.

• “Reminding ourselves of the Gospel is the most important daily habit we can establish. If the Gospel is the most vital news in the world, and if salvation by grace is the defining truth of our existence, we should create ways to immerse ourselves in these truths every day. No days off allowed. . .Your audience is your own heart. And the message is simple: Christ died for you sins. It’s a matter of sitting down, grabbing your own attention, and telling yourself, “Hey, listen up! This is what matters most: You’re forgiven! You have hope! Your hope is based on the sacrifice of Jesus. So lets’ not view this day any other way. Let today be governed by this one defining truth.” (Living the Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney pg. 132‐133).

• “God did not give us His Gospel just so we could embrace it and be converted. Actually, He offers it to us every day as a gift that keeps on giving to us everything we need for life and godliness... We extract these benefits by being absorbed in the Gospel, speaking it to ourselves when necessary, and by daring to reckon it true in all we do.” (The Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent pg 5).

• “My hope lives not because I am not a sinner, but because I am a sinner for whom Christ died; my trust is not that I am holy, but that being unholy, He is my righteousness. My faith rests not upon what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, in what He has done, and in what He is now doing for me.” (Morning and Evening‐Sept 25 by C.H. Spurgeon)

• There is simply no other way to compete with foreboding of my conscience, the condemings of my heart, and the lies of the world and the Devil than to overwhelm such things with daily rehearsings of the Gospel.” (The Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent, p. 14)

• “You are loved and accepted by God through the merit of Jesus, and you are blessed by God through the merit of Jesus. Nothing you ever do will cause Him to love you any more or any less. (Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges, p 73)

• “Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee‐it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee‐it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument‐it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul.” (Morning and Evening‐ June 28 by C.H. Spurgeon.)

• “Learn to know Christ and him crucified. Learn to sing to him and say, ‘Lord Jesus, you are my righteousness, I am your sin. You took on you what was mine; yet set on me what was yours. You became what you were not, that I might become what I was not’.” (Martin Luther)

• Remember the Gospel! – “There is nothing in us or done by us, at any stage of our earthly development, because of which we are acceptable to God. We must always be accepted for Christ’s sake, or we cannot be accepted at all. This is not true of us only when we believe. It is just as true after we have believed. It will continue to be true as long as we live... it is always on His ‘blood and righteousness’ alone that we can rest.” (B.B. Warfield)

A biblically faithful Gospel is not that of unconditional love. It’s not “God accepts you as you are.” To think in this way greatly diminishes the cross. The Gospel is far better than unconditional love. God has contraconditional love for you. The Gospel says, “God accepts you just as Christ is.” Christ bears the wrath of God that we rightfully deserve because of our sin and gives us His righteousness that makes us wholly acceptable to God. God never accepts me as I am. He accepts me “as I am in Christ Jesus.” C.J. Mahaney writes, “The center of gravity is different. The true Gospel does not allow God’s love to be sucked into the vortex of the soul’s lust for acceptability and worth in and of itself.” (“The Idol Factory” by C.J. Mahaney) Rather, a true Gospel radically reorients people to look beyond themselves and to the cross for their acceptability, value and worth.

• “May the Lord bring us in contemplation to Calvary, then our position will no longer be that of the pompous man of pride, but we shall take the humble place of one who loves much because much has been forgiven him. Pride cannot live beneath the cross. Let us sit there and learn our lesson, and then rise and carry it into practice.” (Morning and Evening‐June 3 by C.H. Spurgeon).

There is no such thing as a Godless moment. He is unwaveringly working all things out for His glory. We must see every moment of our lives in response to the ongoing work of the Gospel in and through our lives. Every relationship, every opportunity, every conflict, every seeming coincidence is God working in you and me to transform every aspect of our lives by the power of the Gospel. Cling to the cross, regardless of the circumstance.

PRACTICAL WAYS TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO YOURSELF

• Meditate upon the Gospel (Isaiah 53:3-6; Romans 3:23-26; 5:6-11; 8:32-39; 1Cor 15:3,4; 2 Cor 5:21; Galatians 2:21)
• Pray the Gospel (Hebrews 4:16) – the whole reason we can enter into the presences of a Holy and Righteous God is because of the work Christ did on the Cross.
• Sing the Gospel (“Amazing Grace” – John Newton, “When I survey the wondrous cross” – Isaac Watts)
• Remember how the Gospel has transformed your life (1 Timothy 1:13)
• Study the Gospel – to grow in your passion for what Jesus has done, increase your understanding of what he has done (ordo salutis). David Prior said, “We never move on from the cross, only into a more profound understanding of the cross.”
• Practice incarnating the Gospel. Be a friend to sinners and engage in incarnational ministries.

What is the Gospel?

Les Lanphere