For the last several weeks I have been preaching through Galatians and of course it is saturated with the nature of the Gospel. In fact, the word 'Gospel' is used more times in Galatians than any other New Testament book; the exception being Romans where Paul used the word 'Gospel' the same amount of times as he did in Galatians. All that to say, you cannot study and preach Galatians without being confronted with the nature and power of God's glorious Gospel. Yet, one of the things that continues to amaze me is how fully orbed Paul was in his teaching on the Gospel; he didn't merely present the Gospel in terms of justification, he also presented it in terms of sanctification. For example, in Galatians 3:3 he asked, "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" Paul was saying, "How thick headed can you be? Why would you ever think that you would be justified by God's free grace and faith alone, yet sanctified through a combination of faith plus works?" That truth never ceases to stop me in my tracks and smack me across the face. Our sanctification is just as Gospel-driven as our justification.
I recently came across an old article written by Jerry Bridges in Modern Reformation magazine. He begins with these words, "Early in my Christian life I heard someone say, 'The Bible was not given to increase your knowledge but to guide your conduct.' Later I came to realize that this statement was simplistic at best and erroneous at worst. The Bible is far more than a rulebook to follow. It is primarily the message of God's saving grace through Jesus Christ, with everything in Scripture before the cross pointing to God's redemptive work and everything after the cross - including our sanctification - flowing from that work."
Amen, Jerry! I need those words, those are words of life.
