Good News for The Prone to Wander
April 7, 2022 | by: John Lee | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
This past Sunday, I briefly brought up how we are all prone to wander from the gospel. We are prone to develop a Jesus+ theology. Many of us would not dare to say we do such a thing, yet the reality of our lives tends to prove otherwise (I’ll be the first to admit it!). A Jesus+ Theology gets at least two fundamental things wrong: 1) That Christ’s work is not enough (Heb. 10) and 2) That we view ourselves much more highly than we should (Gal. 6:3).
With that, it isn’t enough to merely know that we are prone to cultivate a Jesus+ Theology. So, what are some particular ways we are prone to add to the gospel? We often tend to describe our walk with the Lord in ways that are utterly contingent upon us. We believe that God’s disposition toward us changes based on what we do or don’t do, how we feel, or even what others say of us. Our Christian life is often characterized by an anxious preoccupation to keep God pleased with us rather than enjoying communion with Him through Christ by His Spirit. In this, we can begin to see some of the ways we might add to the gospel. Often a Jesus+ Theology is formed when we merely want to fit Jesus into our lives rather than have our lives utterly collapse in complete dependence and trust in Him.
Ask yourself this question. What are some things that you do (or don’t do) that make you feel that God loves you more or is at least more pleased with you? Now, to be sure, joyful obedience to God’s Word is vital to the Christian Life. Jesus even says that if we love him, we will keep his commandments (John 14:15). The problem is not that God’s Word is too high of a standard. The problem is that we are sinful and rather than turning to the Lord for mercy, we’d much rather create a system, a pseudo-gospel, that we can achieve on our own.
As you answer the question from a few sentences before, you will begin to see the various ways you are prone to add to the gospel with a hint of your own self-righteousness. But what is the reality of how we all measure up before God’s Word? Paul writes in Rom. 3:10, “there is none righteous, no not one.” He goes on to write in Rom. 10:4, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” In other words, if God were to base his pleasure or love for you based on what you could do, no one measures up and we’d all still be left under the holy, just wrath of God. But, hear this good news from 2 Cor. 5:21, “For our sake he made [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” So, while you and I deserve nothing but God’s wrath, Christ took upon himself and satisfied the wrath of God for our sins and in turn credited His perfect righteousness to us. This we receive not by working harder, better, faster, or stronger but by the grace of God through faith in Christ alone. God’s pleasure and love to all who are in Christ is not measured by what we bring to the table but by what Christ has provided. God has provided in Christ what we could not provide nor produce ourselves. This wonderful truth is truly good news. So, hear these words speaking of the unbreakable hold Christ has on all His people from Rom. 8:38-39 afresh again, “38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
So, what is the remedy for our hearts that are so prone to wander from the gospel day to day? It’s to set your gaze upon Christ rather than self. It is diving deeper into the gospel whereby our hearts are more and more convinced and captured by the truth that Christ is the loveliest treasure (Phil. 3:7-9), the greatest portion (Ps. 16:5), and the everything to your life. Consider some of these Scripture passages:
Col. 3:1-2: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
Phil. 4:8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” I add, that of these, Christ is the par excellence.
Isa. 26:3: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
Heb. 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
As we behold the majesty, beauty, and wonder of Christ, His person and work, we can begin to experience more deeply and truly how His steadfast love is better than life (Ps. 63:3). We can never love Christ too much! To set your gaze upon Christ is more than intellectual assent but an empty-handed trust that all of God’s promises are “Yes” and “Amen” in Him (2 Cor. 1:20). If we are in Christ, God is never going to forsake or leave us, but rather, he blesses us with every spiritual blessing in Him (Eph. 1:3). It is this love of God to us in Christ Jesus applied to our lives by the Spirit that is the fuel to our joyful obedience, growth in godliness, and the very remedy to our proneness to wander from the gospel.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor John
