Centrality of the Gospel

So you have heard me probably mention the gospel and importance of living in light of the gospel. The gospel is not just something that we preach to non-believers, but something that as believers we preach must to our hearts everyday. I do not know about anyone else, but for me this has been a revolutionary discovery for me in the last 10 years.

In the last couple of years Dave and I have been learning a lot about morality, and the difference between morality and Christianity. It is a shame because a lot of people, including myself, seem to think they are more or less the same thing. If I am a Christian, I am moral. If I am moral, I am a Christian. Now, I wouldn't have necessarily said it like that, but I certainly live like that. I posted about that before, so I will leave that alone.

One of these days I need to post about my journey over the last 15 years. Dave should probably do that as well, as we seem to have similar stories about how we have journeyed to Christ and how we currently understand God. I struggled so much in college with what I was taught about God. Is there such thing as a second blessing, can I really loose my salvation, will I ever be able to say I haven't sinned since 1982? That is a lot of pressure! Especially since I liked to say "hell" and other words like that (though most of my friends found that amusing...except when I used it while speaking to a professor during class...YIKES!). I try not to say that anymore...at least not around the girlies...wouldn't that be nice? Instead of Hadleigh saying Wacka, Wacka, she will be walking around saying, "What the hell?"

The nice thing about my whole journey is that at every step and point it pushed me closer in to Christ, and deeper into scripture to find truth and understand God. How did he save me, why did he save me, how does that all work together. How am I sanctified, what is my responsibility as a believer.

I once asked Dr. Kooistra (coordinator of Mission to the World), if I do not HAVE to read my Bible to gain "points" or to get into heaven or to be better or to be sanctified, why SHOULD I read my Bible, and what is my responsibility in my own Christian life? He responded as Martin Luther probably would have responded, "All of life is repentance! Our responsibility is to repent, and you need to repent because you think you can go a day without reading His word or asking for His guidance." Wise words.

So, here is the link you have all been waiting for...Tim Keller's article "The Centrality of the Gospel". We had to read a portion of it for our study of Galatians this week...when Paul criticizes Peter for being a hypocrite. Good stuff.