In the previous post I outlined what the good news of Jesus Christ is, and I proposed that the same gospel that saves us eternally is also the power of God to sanctify us and free us from the power of sin today. First of all, why do I say this? Let's look at some Scripture:
1. In Romans, Paul spends 11 chapters explaining the gospel; but before he moves on to the next section of his book (on works that should be exhibited in the life of the believer), he bridges the two sections with the powerful words that I mentioned in an earlier post. "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as living sacrifices..." (Rom. 12:1). It is in view of what Christ has already done (chapters 1-11) that we live obedient lives (chapters 12-16).
2. The motivation behind Paul's chastisement of the Corinthians is rooted in the gospel. "Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor. 1:24). The Corinthians were confused about the nature of Jesus' kingdom. It's about weakness and foolishness in the world's eyes. Then Paul makes one of the most powerful cases for gospel-centered sanctification in verses 30-31 of 1 Corinthians: "And because of (God) you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'"
The only way that we are able to not boast in our good works is by relying upon what has ALREADY BEEN DONE for us.
3. In Ephesians Paul states that the overflow of the good news of Jesus is our rightly-ordered obedience: "For we are his workmanship [what's already been DONE], created in Christ Jesus for good works [what we need to DO], which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (2:10). So, works are not a mere human concoction. True obedience is a response to what has been done for us and in us, and even the works themselves are laid out ahead of time by our Sovereign God. Do you see how little I am in this equation and how big GOD is? That's the point.
Side note: Before moving on, I don't want anyone to think that I'm denying human responsibility. In fact, one of the biggest motivations for me to create this model was to help others understand the proper place of human responsibility. So... we'll get to that soon.
4. Galatians picks up on this idea of walking (as in Eph. 2:10): "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." Well, what does it mean to walk by the Spirit? I guess I always thought that it was some mystical experience in which I had to sit at my desk and wait to be smacked over the head by an intense feeling... at which point I could go and do whatever it is that He wants. I poke fun of this view while understanding that it's not necessarily wrong… just simply incomplete. To walk by the Spirit is, in the first place, to know the Word that Spirit has spoken (the Bible). Then, it is to receive the Living Word (Jesus Himself) through the message of the gospel. Romans 8:9 equates the Holy Spirit with "the Spirit of Christ." This makes sense because there is only one God, eternally existent in three persons. Walking in the Spirit IS reliance upon His moment-by-moment promptings, but the character and context and content of this prompting must be driven by the Word. All of this is to say that walking in the Spirit is as much about walking in what we already have received (salvation through Jesus and the written Word of God) as it is about hearing new revelation through our spiritual ears; and I would argue that the best way to stay in tune with the Holy Spirit's promptings is by immersing ourselves in the Word, which has, as it's focal-point, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
5. Philippians encourages us to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (2:12-13). These verses remind us of our dependence upon God in sanctification and of our responsibility in the process. The cool thing here is that these verses come right on the heels of one of the most beautiful hymns in all of Scripture, Philippians 2:1-11, which exalts the work of Christ in the gospel. It's like Paul is saying, "As you look to who Jesus is and all that He's done, go now and work out your salvation with fear and trembling." This seems to be the pattern in much of Paul's writing: in light of what's already been DONE, go and DO.
6. Colossians 3 wraps the putting to death of our flesh up in a glorious picture of who Jesus is and who we are because of what He's done.
I'm going to stop at this point because I think you get the picture. If Paul felt it necessary to remind his readers of the gospel BEFORE giving them commands, would it not behoove us to do the same to both ourselves and those around us?
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