by Dr. Steven Riser

I. WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

• Rom.1:16, 17- The Gospel is God’s power: the only means to personal, permanent positive change.
• Col.1:6, 7 – The Gospel is continually bearing fruit and growing in our lives.
• 2 Peter 1:3-9 – If we forget what God has done for us in the Gospel, we won’t change for the better.

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide & the road is easy that leads to destruction & there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow & the road is hard that leads to life and there are few who find it.

II. THE WAY OF THE CROSS:

1. Defending: Do you find it difficult to receive constructive feedback about your weaknesses?
2. Faking: Do you strive to keep up appearances and maintain a respectable image?
3. Hiding: Do you try and conceal as much of your life as you can - especially the bad stuff?
4. Exaggerating: Do you tend to think and talk more highly of yourself than you ought?
5. Blaming: Do you quickly seek to blame others or your circumstances for your short comings?
6. Downplaying: Do you tend to view your sin as normal and inconsequential-not really that bad?

We primarily shrink the cross through pretending (hypocrisy) and/or performing (self-righteousness). We pretend when we make ourselves out to be spiritually better than we are - that’s hypocrisy. We perform when we reduce God’s standards to something we can meet in our own strength. Both are rooted in an inadequate view of who God is (holiness) and who we are in Christ (our true identity). What if, instead of growing in our understanding of God’s holiness and our sinfulness, we diminish both: God’s holiness and our sinfulness? Then we shrink the cross rather than enlarge the cross.

Why is this important? Since he who is forgiven much loves much, the bigger the cross, the greater our love for Christ. Lk.7:47 Col.1:23 says: we’re not to be moved away from the hope held out in the gospel. But rather… Col.3:16 says: we’re to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly as we teach and admonish with wisdom. Growing in our awareness of our sinfulness isn’t fun, but it’s (radical self-confrontation) essential to growth. The increased awareness of our sin can be a crushing weight if we’re not resting in Christ’s righteousness. Our subtle tendencies toward pretending can take many forms: dishonesty (I’m not that bad), comparison (I’m not as bad as others), excuse making (I’m not really that way), false righteousness (look at the good things I’ve done). Because we don’t want to admit how sinful we really are, we deny and distort the truth.

If we’re not rooted in God’s acceptance of us through Christ, we try & compensate by earning God’s approval through our performance. We try & gain God favor by living up to our mistaken view of His expectations. How do these tendencies of pretending and performing find practical expressions in our daily lives? When our lives are not firmly rooted in the Gospel we rely on false sense of righteousness to give us a sense of worth and value. These false sources of righteousness disconnect us from the power of the Gospel. They are also a way of judging or excluding others. Counterfeit sources of righteousness lead us into more sin, the sin of judging others. We become self-righteous when we favorably compare ourselves with others. 2 Cor. 10:12:

We do not dare to (classify or) compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.

Do you want to know if you have a tendency toward performance? Ask: As God thinks of me right now, what is the look on His face? Do you picture God as angry, upset, disappointed or even indifferent? If you imagine Him as anything but over-joyed with you, you have fallen into the performance or self-righteousness trap. The gospel truth is that in Christ, God is deeply satisfied with you! When you fail to root your identity in what Christ has done for you, you root your identity in performance driven Christianity. Living this way saps the joy and delight out of following Christ. Just as pretending driven living minimizes our SINFULNESS, even so, performance driven Christianity minimizes God’s HOLINESS. Our subtle tendencies of pretending and performing show that failing to believe the gospel is at the root of our more observable sins. How do we learn to apply the gospel to our unbelief? As we preach the gospel to ourselves, we find ourselves freed from the false security of pretending and/or performing. Instead, we can live in the true freedom and joy promised by Jesus. (John 8: 31-32; John 15: 11)

III. BELIEVING THE GOSPEL:

Do you believe and live the Gospel? If so, how do you know? What remedies in the Gospel will keep us from shrinking the cross and depending on our own self effort? According to 2 Pet.1:9, what is one of the primary reasons we don’t grow spiritually? We’re forgetful! The good news God has for us is that a vibrant belief in the gospel frees us from ourselves & produces true and lasting spiritual transformation... At the root of our nature is a struggle for righteousness and identity. We long for God’s approval and significance because we’re designed by God to find these things in Him. Paul said in Rom.10:3 in reference to the Jews: “They do not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own.” Sad to say, too many Christians do the same thing.

Pretending and performing are 2 ways of seeking to establish our own righteousness. When we pretend, we’re trying to make ourselves better than we are. When we perform, we’re trying to please God by what we do. Pretending and performing are vain attempts at self-righteousness and to find our identity apart from Jesus. If we’re going to experience personal spiritual transformation, we’re going to have to continually repent of these sinful patterns of pretending & performing. Our souls must become deeply rooted in the truth of the gospel so that we anchor our righteousness and identity in Jesus and not in ourselves. More specifically, the gospel promises of Christ’s righteousness and our adoption must become central in our thinking and living. Rom.3:21-22 speaks of “righteousness from God that comes though faith in Christ to all who believe.” What’s the only alternative to Christ’s righteousness? Self righteousness.

The solution: 1) repent of any false sources of righteousness and learn 2) to preach the truth to ourselves, 3) to live graciously (the Gospel) and 4) to learn to show others the radical kindness (grace) of God. The Apostle Paul says in… 1 Cor.1:30-31: For it is from God alone that you have your life through Christ Jesus. He showed us God's plan of salvation; he was the one who made us acceptable to God; he made us pure and holy and gave himself to purchase our salvation.” “If anyone is going to boast, let him boast only of what the Lord has done.” If God’s alternative to self-righteousness is Christ’s righteousness, what is the key to our identity? The key to our identity is the fact that God has adopted us into his family by virtue of our union with Jesus. The Spirit confirms that truth within each believer. (Rom.8:15-16; Gal.4:7) Our identity is GRACE-BASED! How many Christians know who they are in Christ or how many are prone to forget who they are in Christ? We must repent of our orphan like mentality and draw on our true identity as children of the King!

When you enter this sanctuary, I challenge you to read the framed poster & reflect on who you are in Christ! If you are seeking to find significance and identity a part from Christ, you’re looking in the wrong place! There’s nothing ultimately significant about spending eternity a part from Jesus Christ. There’s no greater source of identity than being a child of the King and by grace being a member of the family of God. Amen? The good news is that Christ has done everything necessary to secure God’s love and acceptance of us. 1) God’s majestic holiness should lead us to WORSHIP as well as personal transformation. 2 Cor. 3: 18 2) Our exceeding sinfulness should lead us to a life of GRATITUDE to God in response to His grace.

At the root of our visible sins lies our struggle for righteousness and identity. Christ has provided an answer to the need for righteousness and identity in: 1) who he is, 2) what he has done and 3) how he relates to us! We must realize that pretending & performing are vain attempts at building our righteousness and identity. We must realize that pretending and performing keep us from living Gospel centered lives! We must repent and believe anew the promises of the gospel. As we walk in this way, the Gospel will take root in our souls and the cross of Christ will become a bigger reality in our lives. You think about that. Amen.