Reason #15 Obedience Born of Love

A wrong or weak understanding of God's love for us and His will for our lives can lead to a view that sees obedience to Him as a drudgery. On the other hand, we know that when we truly love someone it is never "drudgery" to do what pleases them, to honor them. If we truly love God it will be our joy to honor Him with our obedience.  

"To love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength is the greatest commandment in the law (Mark 12:28-30). If I could simply fulfill this one commandment, I would gladly fulfill all the others as a natural matter of course.

 So how can I come to love God with all of my being (1 John 5:3)? The Bible teaches that genuine love in my heart for God is generated by an awareness of His love for me (1 John 4:19), and nowhere is the love of God more clearly revealed than in the gospel (Romans 5:7-8, John 15:13, Ephesians 2:4-5).

Therefore, preaching the gospel to myself is a great way to keep God's amazing love before my eyes, so that I might experience its power to produce in me a passionate love for Him in return. Captured by His love in this way, my smitten heart increasingly burns to do His will and feasts itself on doing so (John 14:31, John 4:34, Psalm 40:8)."  -Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians, p.28

Reason #14: Cultivating Humility

At the root of our on-going struggle with sin lies the pride of our flesh. The humility God desires His children to exhibit and that every Christian should desire to know as a reality in his or her life, is something we must fight for until that day we are in the presence of  our Lord and are made like Him, perfect in holiness. The most powerful weapon, one that lays waste to sinful pride is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

"According to Scripture, God deliberately designed the gospel in such a way so as to strip me of pride and leave me without any grounds for boasting in myself whatsoever (Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Corinthians 1:27-29). This is actually a wonderful mercy from God, for pride is at the root of all my sin. Pride produced the first sin in the garden (Genesis 3:4-6), and pride always proceeds every sinful stumbling in my life (Proverbs 16:18). Therefore, if I am to experience deliverance from sin, then I must be delivered from the pride that produces it. Thankfully, the gospel is engineered to accomplish this deliverance.

Preaching the gospel to myself each day mounts a powerful assault against my pride and serves to establish humility in its place. Nothing suffocates my pride more than daily reminders regarding the glory of my God, the gravity of my sins, and the crucifixion of God's own Son in my place. Also, the gracious love of God, lavished on me because of Christ's death, is always humbling to remember, especially when viewed against the backdrop of the Hell I deserve.

Pride wilts in the atmosphere of the gospel; and the more pride is mortified within me, the less frequent are my moments of sinful contention with God and with others (Proverbs 13:10). Conversely, humility grows lushly in the atmosphere of the gospel, and the more humility flourishes within me, the more I experience God's grace (James 4:6) along with the strengthening His grace provides (Hebrews 13:9). Additionally, such humility intensifies my passion for God and causes my heart increasingly to thrill whenever He is praised (Psalm 34:2)."  -Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians, p.27

 

Reason #13: A Heart for the Lost

Christians can take classes, read books, attend seminars, and use other resources that help learn how to share the gospel with the lost. But unless these resources are tapped into by those with a genuine burden for the lost they will most likely never be practiced or utilized by those well-meaning students  who give time  and attention to them. I am convinced that the first step in any "evangelism training" ought to be "how to preach the gospel to yourself".  It is a deep and abiding appreciation for the gospel in our own daily life and experience that will give us a key ingredient in evangelism: a heart for the lost. Milton Vincent offers this as the 13th reason to preach the gospel to yourself daily:  

The more I rehearse and exult in gospel truths, the more there develops within me a corresponding burden for non-Christians to enter into such blessings. This is also what seems to happen to the Apostle Paul while writing the book of Romans.

In Romans 5 Paul exults in his righteous standing before God (Romans 5:1-11). In chapter 6 he speaks of the freedom from sin which Christ has accomplished in the lives of believers (Romans 6:1,2,6), a freedom which Paul latter confesses had not yet become fully realized in his own daily practice (chapter 7). Nonetheless, coming into chapter 8, he recounts the fact that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). With increasing flourish, he rehearses numerous gospel themes throughout the length of chapter 8, and he climaxes the chapter with a triumphant exclamation regarding the endless love of God which enables Christians to conquer overwhelmingly in all things (Romans 8:35-39). 

What effect do such gospel meditations have upon Paul? What emotions do they produce in him besides the obvious joy he feels when reciting them? Paul bares his soul at the very beggining of chapter 9: "I have great sorrow," he says, :and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself where accursed, separated from Christ, for the sake of my brethren, my kinsman according to the flesh."

Coming down from the heights of gospel meditation, Paul's heart is devastated by a burden for his fellow-Jews to experience the saving power of the gospel. His Burden existed long before he started writing, but undoubtedly intensified by his rehearsal of gospel truths in Romans 5-8, a rehearsal which inevitably leads his thoughts toward the plight of those outside of Christ.

Hence, if I wish to have a 'Romans 9' kind of burden for non-Christians, I should  become practiced at celebrating the gospel as Paul does in Romans 5-8. Over time, my joy in the gospel will become increasingly tinged with grief, and this grief-stained joy will lend a gospel-inspired passion to my ministry of evangelizing the lost. -Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians, p.25

Reason #12: Stimulated to Love Others

Perhaps the most compelling reason to preach the gospel daily to myself is how it effects the love I am to have for all people (Mark 12:31). We all know there are some people who are very difficult to love.  Love, as the world sees it, is based on the lovableness of the one to be loved.  The gospel however, reminds me that God loves me despite my own un-lovableness.

"When my mind is fixed on the gospel, I have ample stimulation to shoe God's love for other people. For I am always willing to show love to others when I am freshly mindful of the love that God has shown me (Titus 3:1-8). Also, the gospel gives me the wherewithal to give forgiving grace to those who have wronged me, for it reminds me daily of the forgiving grace that God has shown me (Ephesians 4:32). 

Doing good and showing love to those who have wronged me is always the opposite of what my sinful flesh wants me to do. Nonetheless, when I remind myself of my sin against God and of His forgiving and generous grace toward me, I give the gospel an opportunity to reshape my perspective and to put me in a frame of mind wherein I actually desire to give this same grace to those who have wronged me." -Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians, p.24

We love, because He first loved us. -1 John 4:19

Reason #11: My Inheritence in the Saints

 Keeping the gospel ever before us is a powerful way to to fully appreciate our brothers and sisters in Christ:

"The gospel is not just a message of reconciliation with God, but it also heralds the reconciliation with one another in Christ. Through the death of Christ, God has brought peace where there was once hostility, and He has broken down the racial, economic, and social barriers that once divided us outside of Christ (Ephesians 2:14-16; Colossians 3:11; Galatians 3:28; Revelation 5:9). 

Also, when God saved us, He made us members of His household (Ephesians 2:19), and He gave us as gifts to one another (Ephesians 1:18). Each brother and sister is a portion of my gospel inheritance from God, and I am a portion of their inheritance as well. We are significant players in each other's gospel  narrative, and it is in relationship with one another that we experience the fullness of God in Christ (Ephesians 3:17-19).

Hence, the more I comprehend the full scope of the gospel, the more I value the church for which Christ died (Ephesians 5:25), the more I value the role that I play in the lives of my fellow Christians, and the more I appreciate the role that they must be allowed to play in mine." -Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians, p.23

Saturday Song

"The Power of the Cross" is another beautiful song written by Kieth Getty that powerfully tells the story of Calvary. If you have not heard this song there is a link below to a video of  Keith & Kristyn Getty performing it. Like many songs, it can be found recorded by several different artists.

Sample of lyrics:

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev'ry bitter thought,
Ev'ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow. 

This, the pow'r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love. 

This, the pow'r of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Video:
"The Power of the Cross"

Purchase MP3s:
"The Power of the Cross"  Sung by Kristyn Getty
"The Power of the Cross"  Sung by Stuart Townend

Reason #10: Loving My Brothers and Sisters

 You would think that those who have become recipients of the gospel through faith in Jesus Christ would automatically love one another. But in Colossians 3:12-14 believers are exhorted  "as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity." This reminds us that the reality is we sometimes struggle to love others as we should. A key to the remedy is found in the words "as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved." As we recognize that God chose us to be recipients of His love it helps us to "put on love" for one another. Milton Vincent addresses this as he presents a tenth reason that Christians should preach the gospel to themselves daily:

"The more I experience the gospel, the more there develops within me a yearning affection for my fellow-Christians who are participating in the glories of the gospel. This affection for them come loaded with the confidence in their continued spiritual growth and ultimate glorification, and it becomes my pleasure to express to them this loving confidence regarding the ongoing work of God in their lives (Philippians 1:3-7). 

Additionally, with the gospel proving itself to be such a boon in my own life, I realize that the greatest gift I can give to my fellow-Christians is the gospel itself. Indeed, I love my fellow-Christians not simply because of the gospel, but I love them best when I am loving them with the gospel! (1 Thessalonians 2:8) And I do this not merely by speaking gospel words to them, but also by living before them and generously relating to them in a gospel manner. Imparting my life to them in this way, I thereby contribute to their experience of the power, the Spirit, and the full assurance of the gospel (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

By preaching the gospel to myself each day, I nurture the bond that unites me with my brothers and sisters for whom Christ died, and I also keep myself well-versed in the raw materials with which I may actively love them in Christ." -Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians, p.22