Gospel Reminders
We have a tendency to forget the gospel that salvation is through faith in Christ alone—nothing more, nothing less. Here, Bibianna shares her struggles with this and how we can remind one another of this gospel truth.
Who saves us?
Jesus.
More specifically, faith in Jesus Christ. Christians profess our faith in Christ and we continually speak about it and grow in our knowledge of it. But, we also struggle with remembering it, and living in light of it. What we know doesn’t always translate into how we live. As we begin our series in Galatians, we see that this was also the issue that the early church in Galatia faced.
I love the picture that the psalmist uses in Psalm 20, where he writes, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” God's people sing of their faith and trust in the name of the LORD as a contrast to the worldly, and often important securities of power and military might. Today, we have progressed technologically and may not use chariots and horses, but we still turn to substitutes to make us believe that salvation belongs to us, and not the Lord!
Writer Jerry Bridges describes these substitutes as “functional saviors”. He writes,
Sometimes we look to other things to satisfy and fulfil us—to ‘save’ us. These ‘functional saviors’ can be any object of dependence we embrace that isn’t God. They become the source of our identity, security, and significance because we hold an idolatrous affection for them in our hearts. They preoccupy our minds and consume our time and resources. They make us feel good and somehow even make us feel righteous. Whether we realize it or not, they control us, and we worship them.
What makes us secure? What do we think about? What, if removed, utterly devastates us? Or, what if we get, makes us delighted? All of us wrestle with this regardless of our ages and backgrounds, and continually need to rehearse the truth that we are saved through faith in Christ alone.
I was recently forced to fight to remind myself of these truths, and to work out my own struggles. I had some time to reflect on my past year of working in this role, and as I thought back on the year, a gripping fear also crept up on me. As I recalled all that had happened, various thoughts came to mind: Was this done well? Did that conversation go well? What would people think of me?
It was easy to base my identity and standing before God and man on my works. When I did “well”, I felt more secure. When I “failed”, I despaired. Perhaps you have also experienced it, and wrestle with it regularly? It could be striving for the approval of man—bosses, colleagues, spouse, family, children and even fellow church members. It could be working to secure financial security in a world of economic uncertainties. It could be pursuing health and to slow down or reverse the harsh effects of time and aging.
There are many ways that we struggle with living solely on the basis that we are saved through faith in Christ alone. We may subtly add to it, and also want to justify ourselves through our works. Throughout our Christian life, we will see our need for the good news again and again, as we will always be tempted to trust in other things apart from the saving work of Christ. In Paul’s letters, he prays for the churches again and again that they will grow in this regard. In Ephesians 4:14-19, he desires that they be strengthened with power through the Spirit and Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith, so that they can comprehend and know the extent of Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge. Similarly, turn to Philipians 1:9-11 and Colossians 1:9-10.
Christians never graduate from our need for the gospel. Timothy Keller writes:
We never “get beyond the gospel” in our Christian life to something more “advanced.” The gospel is not the first “step” in a “stairway” of truths, rather, it is more like the “hub” in a “wheel” of truth. The gospel is not just the A-B-C’s of Christianity, but it is the A to Z of Christianity. The gospel is not just the minimum required doctrine necessary to enter the kingdom, but the way we make all progress in the kingdom.
And because we forget so often, we need to be reminded. In my period of distress as I wrestled with my standing, I confided in close friends and share my struggles with them. They wisely listened and asked good questions and sought to point me back to Christ. We need friends and people around us who can do this for us, and for us to be open to them. Are there Christian brothers and sisters in your life who can do this for you?
Beyond just a group of friends, we are reminded weekly when we gather together as God’s people on Sundays. When we sing hymns that contain these truths, our eyes are turned away from the world and even from ourselves, and fixed on God alone. Our hearts are tuned to sing His grace.
When we participate in corporate prayer, we confess sins and lift our petitions and thanksgiving humbly, recognising who He is, and how salvation is in and through Christ alone.
When we hear the word preached, it trains us to “renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age” as we await our blessed hope, the appearing of our Saviour (c.f. Titus 2:11-13).
When we meet other church members after service, we are able to share and give space to people to share their lives. These relationships allow us to practise loving one another and applying the gospel in life.
Our weekly gatherings with God's people are important reminders and calls us back to focus on how we are saved.
One of my favourite lines that we sing often, is this verse in the hymn, "My Hope is Built on Nothing Less",
My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
A frame is shelter, and this hymn often reminds me that even the best earthly shelters and refuge for us is not the basis of our hope. Indeed, as the chorus goes on to emphasise,
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand:
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
What are we looking to save us today? Anything else is sinking sand—shaky and futile. As we continue to wrestle and persevere in the faith, let us do so with the confidence that our hope is built on a secure foundation. As we work through this Galatians series, let us also help each other to do so—through our care groups, families, and friendships with each other. We all need reminders, and we need to do so for each other.