I don’t think my friend and colleague Randy Corbin would object to my sharing his Monday E-Memo with you. His message hit me so strongly this week that I thought it was worth passing on. Enjoy, be challenged and be edified!
“Preaching the Gospel to Ourselves” by Dr. Randy Corbin
I still need the Gospel.
Even though I have experienced the blessing of salvation at 10, the crisis of the baptism/filling of the Spirit at 13, the clear call to gospel ministry at 14, and the various times of fresh surrender through the years, I still need the Gospel.
John Piper has convinced me that daily I need to declare to myself the Gospel, i.e. what Jesus has done (I Corinthians 15:1-8) and the call of Jesus to repentance, surrender and obedience. (Cf. “Brothers, We Are Not Professionals” by John Piper) I now contend that salvation, sanctification, and surrender to the call to ministry is never once and done. It certainly begins with a crisis but it can so easily collect dust and distractions.
This self-declaration is more important than my pulpit declarations. Unless I am continually reminding myself of sin’s damnation, my wrongs and lukewarmness, and over it the fact that Christ died for those sins and provides power for forgiveness and obedience, then my preaching is powerless and hypocritical.
There must be forward movement in my life. And, that forward movement means humble repentance, confession of my sins, asking for forgiveness, and obedience as I journey on to become like Jesus. I have not arrived. In many ways, I have only begun.
Should I ever make the mournful mistake of pulling off the journey to build a home of satisfaction and to commend myself for ascending such heights, I am in need of this Gospel more than ever. Obviously pride, apathy, and self-aggrandizement have entered my heart and I have sullied my spirit. My only hope is the Gospel: a renewed response to the invitation of the Gospel to wash me of my sins.
God is continually reminding me of where I need “salvation.” It is in my failure to love as Jesus loved: lost neighbors, rude strangers, aggressive drivers. It is my failing faith when a granddaughter has a life-threatening illness, when I have pulled back on my prayers for a lost relative after months of praying, when I take a biased attitude toward a political liberal, when I allow other gods into my life.
Francis Chan, earlier this year, told of having a friend come to him to report that a certain person got saved the night before. “Wonderful,” Chan responded, “What part of him got saved?”
It does seem that we get saved in parts. And, I am continually finding new parts in my life that need to be saved. Have you made the same discovery?
For that reason, I/we must always be preaching the Gospel to myself/ourselves!
