Why do we hold on to past sins?

"We are not nearly as vigorous in appropriating God's forgiveness as He is
in extending it."
-Jerry Bridges

Read Hebrews 10:17-18

Tension

There are numerous "tensions" found in the Bible. However, there is one that I'm thinking about a lot right now...

Exodus 20:12 and Luke 14:26...

Giving 2 Corinthian-Style

For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.
-II Corinthians 8:3-5

Notice in the last phrase the order of the giving of the Macedonian church which I think might be the Philippian church that Paul writes to later. They gave themselves first to the Lord. Next, they gave to missionaries like Paul. They commit themselves to God, then they gave to other believers in need.

Why should they do this? What is there motivation? This is what I interpret to be the driving force of why they (AND WE) should give abundantly.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
-II Corinthians 8:9

Yes, we are commanded to be generous with our money. However, we should not be guilted into giving. Rather, we can turn to the Gospel for what Jesus thought about giving. In comparison to God, we are the poorest of the poor. We bring nothing to the table. However, here's the sweet part, He became poor to the point of death. For what? In order that we may have richness in Him.

So when we are given the opportunity to give, we can look at the Gospel and see it as a clear motivation for giving generously. It's a really sweet way to reflect the Gospel for others.

By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others...
II Corinthians 9:13

Wow. Boom goes the Paul and Gospel dynamite.

Something I've been learning a ton about in the past year or so is the centrality of the Gospel. My brother gave me a sick book that focused on it and I started listening to sermons by C.J. Mahaney and Tim Keller. C.J. really focuses on how the Gospel is really the fuel to any Christian's life. Our motivations as Christians should flow from the Gospel, and in order for this to happen, we must be learning and growing in knowledge of the Gospel. That's why Paul says the Gospel he delivered to the Corinthians was "of first importance." I feel like I could type all day on this one and I only got into the first 5 verses. However, since I'm going to class soon, I'll just give some links to some sweet stuff that has been really helpful for me when it comes to Gospel centrality.



Tullian Tchividjian speaks at DesiringGod 2010 about Gospel Math
The Gospel Primer - Milton Vincent (This is the book my brother gave me. It's very short but by far my favorite book second to the Bible. If you promise to read it within a month or so, I'll give you a copy)
Of First Importance Blog
Tim Keller Article


If you have an hour (or if you don't), you should watch the Tullian Tchividjian talk on Gospel Math. He was just one of the seminar speakers, but this was my favorite talk at the conference.

Also, the Gospel Primer is great for devotions time because it has short chapters that set your mind on the Gospel before going off into your day.

The Of First Importance Blog (Nice name huh?) is very similar to the Gospel Primer but is a daily blog with each post containing Gospel truth.

What Paul Does With The Gospel

In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
I Corinthians 9:14-16

In the past year or so I've been really interested in the idea of preaching the gospel to oneself. This seems to me to be evidence that Paul does it on a regular basis. The sweet part about proclaiming the Gospel to others is that we are reminded of the truths contained in it. There are many Gospel truths that have rocked my world in the last week, month, year, etc. And when I proclaim these truths to others, its just as good for me too because I am reminded of them.

Side note: I have a sick (short) book that has just rocked my world when it comes to preaching Gospel truths to myself. Probably the most helpful book I've read outside the Bible. Let me know if any of you are interested in this.

Also what this text tells us is that the Gospel should be free from pride. The central theme of the Gospel is the work that Christ has done for us. If we are to boast at all in it, it would be taking away from that central theme. Pride and the Gospel are totally at odds with each other.

One more section of scripture that stood out to me was 10:32-11:1.

...just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
I Corinthians 10:32-11:1

This was really helpful for me. At first glance, one would think that Paul is a total cheeseball. Then it points to me being a cheeseball. "I try to please everyone in everything I do..." Yeah Paul, you and I both seek to please people. However, here's the difference. Whereas I'm looking for people to approve of me and think better of me, Paul isn't seeking his own advantage. Rather, he is seeking to please them in order that he might have influence with them so that they may accept the Gospel he proclaims and be saved. I was really convicted of this, a lot of times I try to justify my people pleasing with attempts to share the Gospel, but more often than not, I'm only looking to make myself look good. This was good for me to read. What do you guys think?

Filled

"On the most basic levels, I desire fullness, and fleshly lusts seduce me by attaching themselves to this basic desire. They exploit the empty spaces in me, and they promise that fulness will be mine if I give in to their demands. When my soul sits empty and is aching for something to fill it, such deceptive promises are extremely difficult to resist.

Consequently, the key to mortifying fleshly lusts is to eliminate the emptiness within me and replace it with fullness; and I accomplish this by feasting on the gospel. Indeed, it is in the gospel that I experience a God who glorifies Himself by filling me with His fullness. . . . This is the God of the gospel, a God who is satisfied with nothing less than my experience of fullness in Him! . . .

Indeed, as I perpetually feast on Christ and all His blessings found in the gospel, I find that my hunger for sin diminishes and the lies of lust simply lose their appeal. Hence, to the degree that I am full, I am free. Eyes do not rove, nor do fleshly lusts rule, when the heart is fat with the love of Jesus!"

-Milton Vincent

American Idol

Even though Ezekiel is really wordy and tends to be a tad repetitive, I was really convicted of sin when I was doing some catchup reading last night. Check out Ezekiel 9 sometime. Basically, God sends out the executioners of the city throughout Jerusalem in Passover style. There is a "man clothed in linen" who goes out before the executioners and marks the heads of the people who aren't idolaters. When the executioners go out through the temple and city, they kill everyone who does not have a mark on his or her head including elderly, women, and children.

This is really convicting for me. Obviously God has strong feelings about idolatry. I've been thinking a lot about idols lately. Idols take a very different shape in the present day as opposed to the 500's BC, but the concept is the same. It is something worshiped that is not God. The idols in the Old Testament tended to be very obvious, i.e. golden calfs, mountains, etc. However, the idols now are a little more subtle. They can be sports, grades, social status, television and movies, ministry; and the list goes on. Imagine there is a visitor who comes to the United States who has no presuppositions of the culture or religious climate of the country. If they were to observe people's day-to-day lives, they would probably see people waiting for the weekend idolizing free time, or observe people studying the "word" (ESPN.com) for a prediction for this week's "worship time" (NFL game), or see people doing just about anything to gain social status whether it is serving others with the motive of getting others' approval or cutting others down in order to seem superior.

By no means am I saying I don't have idols. I love the feeling of doing ministry and sharing my faith. However, sometimes I see ministry as an 'end.' It becomes an idol for me really easily because my motivation is not to bring God glory, but instead to make my name great or impress others. It's pretty twisted, huh? Does this mean that I should stop doing ministry? I don't think so... However, I think there needs to be a change in mindset to "God is good. He brought others into my life when I didn't know the gospel. I worship Him. Therefore, I am humbled by the opportunity to share God with others."

After I read Ezekiel 9 I took inventory of the idols in my life and wrote them down. I found that it was really helpful to see them outside of my "justifying head." In order to kill those idols you need to see Christ for who He is and put Him in the place of those idols. Find out how your life is ordered around worshiping these idols and look to find how you can order your life around the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Joy

“Heartfelt confidence that, because of Christ, our all-controlling God is 100% for us, is the key to indomitable joy.”

- John Piper