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.