Monthly Archives: January 2011

One of the best selling self-help books ever published was I’m OK–You’re OK, written by psychiatrist Thomas Harris.  Hugely popular in the 1970’s, the book set forth many psychological ideas that are still alive and well among both secular and Christian psychologists today.  Without delving too deeply into the premise of the book, I’m OK–You’re OK outlined four “life positions” in an attempt to help people understand their communications and relationships. The four positions were:

1. I’m Not OK, You’re OK

2. I’m Not OK, You’re Not OK

3. I’m OK, You’re Not OK

4. I’m OK, You’re OK

The problem with the premise of this book, along with every other secular (unbiblical) approach to understanding human behavior and relationships is identified by one word: SIN!  Without an understanding of the nature of sin, there is absolutely no hope of comprehending why, as sinners, we are NOT OK!  We are not “OK” and never will be “OK” in our own righteousness, no matter how many self-help books we read or how much good we might think we do.  Scripture flatly asserts that all our good works are as “filthy rags” in the sight of holy God (Isaiah 64:6), because our deeds are soiled by wrong motives, sinful desires, or selfish ambition.

So if we are “Not OK” how can that be OK?  Because Jesus is more than OK!

If we have placed our trust in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, we are cleansed by the precious blood of the spotless Lamb, and by faith we are clothed in His perfect righteousness.  We are OK in the sight of God, because when God looks at us He sees only His sinless Son.  We did nothing to gain our acceptance before God (justification) and we do nothing to remain in His favor (sanctification).  It is, from the first stirring of faith to final glorification, all because of Jesus.

Quite simply, we know full well that are “Not OK” by way of personal experience.  It is only the Gospel that can convince us that even though we have sinned—willfully, grievously, and repeatedly—and fall far short of the glory of God, we are still OK with God because of what His Son Jesus has accomplished on our behalf. 

“It is finished!” was the young Warrior’s triumphant cry from Calvary’s cross (John 19:30). And in that victory shout, feel His hand upon your shoulder and sense the warmth of His smile as He reassures you yet again: “My child, I chose you before the creation of the world . . . and there is nothing in heaven or on earth that can separate you from My Father’s love” (Ephesians 1:4-5; Romans 8:38-39).

Do you realize how freeing it is to know you are “Not OK” and yet that’s still OK with God because of Jesus?  Thanks to Christ’s atoning work on our behalf, we can finally get off the performance treadmill and rest in the unconditional and radical love of our Savior.  When the truth of the Gospel seizes us, we stop performing to gain our acceptance because we are already accepted in the beloved . . . and that is more than OK!

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!  

Go back with me to the Garden of Eden and with the eyes of faith picture our first two parents attempting to hide their sin-stained shame from God with fig leaves.

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.  Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.  And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  (Genesis 3:6-8)

It would be silly if it wasn’t so sad.  In the context immediately following the first sin, nakedness represented shame, guilt, and humiliation.  Here are the parents of all humanity attempting to cover their glaring shame, guilt, and humiliation with a few fig leaves, and God immediately rejects their feeble attempt to do for themselves what only He could do: cover their sin.  The flimsy physical covering those fig leaves provided was wholly inadequate as a spiritual covering.  Only the promised Seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15), the Lamb of God, would be able to take away the shame, guilt, humiliation and debt caused by their terrible rebellion.  Fig leaves are no substitute for the Gospel!

So why are we still trying to hid behind fig leaves today when the Gospel has freed us from our sin-stained past?  Why do we still feel it necessary to pretend our way into our Promised Land?  What compels us to hide behind all manner of masks?  There is only one reason we still sew fig leaves together to hide our shame: we do not believe in the power of the Gospel.

So . . . have you been in the loin cloth business lately? If you don’t think you are sewing your own covering of fig leaves together, prayerfully consider your answer to this question: when was the last time you confessed your sin to someone else?  I am not talking about confessing to another brother or sister in the Lord when you failed to witness to a co-worker, skipped your morning devotion, or forgot to pray over the meal.  James instructed us to “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16).  I’m talking about confessing what is really going on in your life right now when no one is looking—baring your soul, unburdening your heart, getting real with someone and getting right with God. 

You see, the Gospel frees you from hiding behind whatever fig leaves you think you need to make you look better than you really are.  The Gospel is about great sinners who are in need of an even greater Savior—and that is exactly what you have in Jesus.  He is big enough to handle every scandalous sin and terrible transgression, having paid for them in full on Golgotha’s Hill.  Let me close with these words from the great reformer Martin Luther, writing to a friend who was hiding behind fig leaves:

Therefore my faithful request and admonition is that you join our company and associate with us, who are real, great, and hard-boiled sinners.  You must by no means make Christ to seem paltry and trifling to us, as though He could be our Helper only when we want to be rid from imaginary, nominal, and childish sins.  No, no!  That would not be good for us.  He must rather be a Savior and Redeemer from real, great, grievous, and damnable transgressions and iniquities, yea, from the very greatest and most shocking sins; to be brief, from all sins added together in a grand total.   

As long as we hide we can never be healed.  Jesus invites us into a real and radical love relationship with Him and He wants all of us—the good, the bad, and the ugly.  What a Savior!  What a Friend! 

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

At this time of year, many set pen to paper and write down all the things they resolve to do to make sure the new year turns out better than the year just concluded.  Some want to lose weight.  Some want to get out of debt.  Some resolve to give more to ministry; others want to save more.  Still others want a happier home life.

So . . . what is it for you?  What are you resolving to do this year that will make 2011 better than 2010?  Let me suggest one thing above all else:

PREACH THE GOSPEL TO YOURSELF EVERY DAY!

No matter what we resolve to do, resolution will not make this year better than last year.  Never has a life been made better by resolution in the long run.  Sure, we can change behavior for a season and see measurable change in our lives.  We can be less slothful and more disciplined.  We can be less impatient and more forgiving.  But inevitably, if our resolution is not accompanied by transformation through the power of the Gospel, we will find ourselves in pretty much the same place at the end of this year as we were last year.  And that is a place no child of God should be! We have been commanded to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18), not to remain mired in inertia!

Resolutions become reality when we keep the Gospel before us.  When the eyes of our faith stay fixed on the Gospel—virgin birth, sinless life, atoning death, triumphant resurrection, and glorious ascension—cold hearts thaw, hard hearts soften, and distant hearts draw near to Jesus.  It is only by trusting in Christ’s promise to finish what He started in us (Philippians 1:6) that we are empowered to keep getting up every time we fall.

Growing in grace means more than growing in Christian character, as important as that is.  To grow in grace is to grow in the awareness of our spiritual bankruptcy and the knowledge of the yawning chasm that lies between sinful man and a holy God that was bridged by Jesus Christ. 

When I speak of a man growing in grace, I mean simply this: that his sense of sin is becoming deeper, his faith stronger, his hope brighter, his love more extensive, his spiritual mindedness more marked — J. C. Ryle  

Resolution becomes reality as our understanding of God’s astonishing, unmerited favor becomes more real to us.  Deep down, we know we are great sinners, both by nature and habit, and yet we are loved by an even greater Savior who laid down His life for us.  Scripture emphatically assures us that “neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).  You are loved in spite of your past failings and you are loved in spite of your future failings!

The truth of the Gospel is the only power that can remove the merit-oriented mindset we bring into our faith and turn our resolutions into reality. 

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!