No End to Gospel Exploration

Justin Taylor post:  Is the Gospel Influencing Your Daily Life?

From Tim Keller’s foreword to J.D. Greear’s new book Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary :

The angels never get tired of looking into the gospel. This means there is no end to gospel exploration. There are depths in the gospel that are always there to be discovered and applied, not only to our ministry and daily Christian life, but above all, to the worship of the God of the gospel with renewed vision and humility.

The underlying conviction in my preaching, pastoring, and writing is that the gospel—this eternally fascinating message craved by the angels—can change a heart, a community, and the world when it is recovered and applied.

It is one thing to understand the gospel but is quite another to experience the gospel in such a way that it fundamentally changes us and becomes the source of our identity and security.

It is one thing to grasp the essence of the gospel but it quite another to think out its implications for all of life. We all struggle to explore the mysteries of the gospel on a regular basis, but we should strive to immerse ourselves in it and allow its message to influence our life daily.

A key part of the book is J.D.’s “gospel prayer”:

1. In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make You love me more, and nothing I have done that makes You love me less.
2. Your presence and approval are all I need for everlasting joy.
3. As You have been to me so I will be to others.
4. As I pray, I’ll measure Your compassion by the cross and Your power by the resurrection.

For more on the book, see this discussion with Trevin Wax.