I'm Addicted
I'm addicted to the gospel. It burns inside of me. And it seems to get hotter ever day. I can't stop thinking about it, talking about it, writing about it, reading about it, wrestling with it, reveling in it, standing on it, and thanking God for it. For better or for worse, my focus has become myopic. My passion has become singular. Lesser things don't distract me as easily. I'm not as anxious as I used to be. I don't fret over things as much. I'm more relaxed. What others think of me (either good or bad) doesn't matter as much as it used to. I'm enjoying life more. The pressure's off. I actually think I'm beginning to understand the length and breadth of the freedom Jesus purchased for me.
Jesus plus nothing equals everything–the gospel– is daily becoming for me more than a theological passion, more than a cognitive reality. It's becoming my functional lifeline! And it's this rediscovery of the gospel's power that is enabling me to see that,
Because Jesus was strong for me, I am free to be weak;
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Because Jesus won for me, I am free to lose;
Because Jesus was Someone, I am free to be no one;
Because Jesus was extraordinary, I am free to be ordinary;
Because Jesus succeeded for me, I am free to fail.
This is beginning to define my life in brand new, bright, and liberating ways. I believe God wants this liberating truth to define your life as well…and the life of the church corporately. Because I'm telling you right now, when you begin to understand that everything you need and long for, in Christ you already possess-it enables you to live a life of scandalous freedom, unrestrained fearlessness, and unbounded courage. When you don't have anything to lose, you discover something wonderful: you're free! Nothing in this broken world can beat a man who isn't afraid to lose! And when you're not afraid to lose you can say crazy, counterintuitive stuff like, "To live is Christ and to die is gain!" That's pure, unadulterated freedom.
This is why I tweet as much as I do. I'm processing the gospel all day long in 140 characters. Therefore, from time to time I post some of my more recent tweets to show you how God is working the gospel deeper into me and what I'm learning. Twitter has become for me an online personal journal. I hope you can benefit from the things God is teaching me.
Enjoy…
•The banner under which Christians live reads "It is finished."
•Our security is in Christ's achievement for us, so now we're free to admit our weaknesses without feeling like our flesh is bring ripped off our bones
•Only when you realize that the gospel has nothing to do with your obedience but Christ's obedience for you, will you start to obey!
•At no point in time, either before God saves you or after, does your behavior determine God's love for you.
•Since a Christian's value and identity is anchored in Christ and is not anchored in being right, the gospel frees us to admit we're wrong.
•The gospel frees us from trying to impress people, prove ourselves to people, and make people think we're something that we're not.
•The gospel transforms us precisely because it's not itself a message about our transformation but Christ's substitution.
•The gospel frees us to realize that while we matter, we're not the point.
•"Doing" will become instinctive and spontaneous only when our hearts become deeply gripped by what's been done!
•Only the gospel can liberate us from the miserable, unquenchable pursuit to make something of ourselves by using others.
•Because everything we long for we already possess in Christ, we're now free to love people, not use them.
•Our improvement comes from God's approval; God's approval does not come from our improvement.
•Christ fulfilled all of God's conditions on our behalf so that our relationship with God could be unconditional.
•The gospel frees you from the pressure of having to make something out of yourself.
•Christian, the level of passion with which God loves you is not determined by the level of passion with which you love him. The Son's passion for you secured the Father's passion for you.
