Tag Archive for gospel

Mike Hall | August 24, 2011
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Is Heaven Without Christ Really Heaven?

 

 

“The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—is this:

If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?

And the question for Christian leaders is: Do we preach and teach and lead in such a way that people are prepared to hear that question and answer with a resounding No?”

—John Piper, God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God’s Love as the Gift of Himself (Wheaton, I: Crossway, 2005), p. 15.

HT: Justin Taylor

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Mike Hall | August 12, 2011
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Loving Your Neighbor As Yourself

London RiotsThe Gospel Is The Best Riot Control

I have watched with some interest the riots that have been going on in England. It saddens me to see people hurt and policemen put in harms way. There is no excuse for violence of any kind, but I do understand where it comes from. It stems from a lack of love for ones neighbor that can only be generated by the application of the gospel. Where the gospel has dominion there is peace and where it is not there are riots like we see going on in London.

Im am not speaking of some kind of theocracy or heaven on earth when I refer to the gospel in this manner. I believe Jesus meant it when He said that, “my kingdom is not of this world.” What I am saying is that when the gospel takes root in hearts, it brings people together it does not divide and cause violence. This seems counter-intuitive to modern thinking because people have been conditioned to think that religion or “fundamentalism” causes bigotry, hatred, and violence. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. If modern western sensibilities founded on government education and psychological conditioning were the answer then why are Londoners rioting?

There will be many professors, doctors, and social scientists that will analyze what has happened in London for years to come and I’d be willing to bet that none of them will cite a lack of the gospel as the contributing factor. Be that as it may the scriptures are crystal clear:

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

- Ephesians 2:13-16

The gospel is the best riot control I can think of.

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Mike Hall | August 1, 2011
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Getting From the 90′s To The 80′s

Golf SwingWe Have A Specific Regimen For Becoming Skillful At Gospel Living

Let me begin by saying that I don’t consider myself a golfer. Anyone who has played with me (i.e. my brothers Blake, Ryan, and Joel) would wholeheartedly concur. Despite my low skill level I do understand something about the game. Especially as it relates to the work required to become better at it.

If you want to get your golf score down into the 90′s your task may be tough but it is easily managed. Unless you have absolutely no hand/eye coordination, a golfer who shoots in the 100′s can get his score down into the 90′s in a matter of weeks if he works hard and has a good instructor. Taking your score down to the next level is a completely different story. Unless you are unusually gifted, getting your golf score down from the 90′s to the 80′s or below consistently can take years or may never happen. What is it about the adjustment down from the 90′s that makes this transition so difficult? The answer is that going from the 90′s down to the 80′s means becoming more of a finesse kind of player. This kind of player must understand nuance, detail, and precision.

Living according to the gospel is much like that transition. You can be brought into the family of God in salvation but really learning to live gospel centered and in family with your brothers and sisters in Christ requires fine tuning. This fine tuning comes to us by and large through living as family with fellow believers which is why the body of Christ suffers from a lack of skillful, finesse, powerful Christians. There is no secret to being one of those it just requires following the plan that the Lord has laid out for us in His word. It is precisely when I get out of the habit of living that gospel centered, family life with other believers that I become more sloppy. My score , as it were, begins to slip back up into the 90′s and I loose my precision and focus and become wore worldly.

Hebrews 10:24-25 says:

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

That is how a believer becomes skillful at living according to the gospel. That is how we get our “score down”.

How about you? Are you getting more skilled at gospel living by doing life with other believers?

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Mike Hall | July 27, 2011
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There Is Only One Body

Boy Pointing UpThe Gospel Unites All Into One Body

There is only one plan used by God to reconcile all people to Himself and that plan is the gospel. God is not dealing one way with one group and a different way with another. The gospel represents a new covenant of grace that was sealed by the blood of Christ. This new covenant was a fulfillment of the old covenant which was based on works. How can anyone read the Pauline epistles and come away with any other view.

Consider the following passages:

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

- Ephesians 2:13-16

Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

- Colossians 3:11

For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

- Galatians 3:26-29

In case you are wondering what in the world this has to do with community, I am about to tell you. The ability of the gospel is rendered powerless if it cannot unite all people into one body. There is only the gospel and this gospel unites all who receive Jesus into one family. The new covenant of grace manifested in the gospel leaves no room for divisions or dispensations.

And that is the gospel truth. N’est-ce pas?

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