Play

This morning we’re in the final week of a series that I’ve been calling Practical Christianity, in which we’re taking a look at how believing the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, shapes our day to day life. We’ve talked about how the gospel transforms your love life, your parenting, your work life, your relationship with money, your friendships, and the world. Today I want to talk about the relationship between the gospel and your personal growth. For example:

- Overcoming addictions, habits, challenges – how does the gospel help you stop overeating, or drinking, or spending beyond your means?

- Overcoming fears – failure, conflict, rejection, being alone, giving up control, giving up freedom – how does the gospel help you overcome your fears and anxieties?

- Dealing well with hurt, anger, and bitterness – how does the gospel help you deal with your past abuse, or with people who hurt you, or depression?

- Growing into maturity - How does the gospel help you become a more responsible husband, or mature parent, more stable individual?

This is such a crucial question. Let me begin by reviewing the three elements of the gospel on which I have been focusing:

1) Salvation and justification by grace – Although we have been created in the image of God, we have all been separated from God by sin, and all around the world people are trying to connect with God. But the gospel teaches us that our acceptance before God is not on the basis of what we have or have not done, but only by repenting of our sin and trusting in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Key passages we looked at included Romans 3:20-24 and Ephesians 2:8-9. Essentially, this means that you are accepted; therefore you obey, as opposed to you obey in order to be accepted.

2) New life – The gospel means that we have been born again (see Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John 3), and the rest of our life is about learning to live into this new nature (sanctification – we have been declared righteous; now we are made righteous). When we are born again, we are given God’s Holy Spirit in us, the power we need to overcome the struggles of this world.

3) A certain hope – Our deepest desires and needs are met not in anything or person in this world but in Jesus Christ and the hope of eternal life. Problems come when we put our ultimate hope in the things of this world. We have been adopted into His family and are now heirs of all that is His.

How does the gospel help us in our personal growth?