The gospel is not only for unbelievers, but for believers as well. The gospel keeps us grounded and keeps bringing us back to God and away from ourselves.
But two misunderstandings of the gospel can easily take root. First, we can look to the gospel with wrong expectations, expecting God to deliver blessing upon blessing because we belong to him. Second, we can believe that the gospel saved us, but to continue in the salvation we need to earn it by our own efforts. We fail to see the completeness of the gospel and we focus on self-improvement.
In 2 Corinthians 11:1-12:10, Paul turns the ideas of strength and weakness upside down to show that the gospel changes people. When we look to our strengths--either to receive more or to do more--we do not live by the gospel. Rather, we should see God's grace as sufficient for us, and look into our weaknesses, because in our weaknesses we find real, spiritual strength that comes from God and is for God.
But two misunderstandings of the gospel can easily take root. First, we can look to the gospel with wrong expectations, expecting God to deliver blessing upon blessing because we belong to him. Second, we can believe that the gospel saved us, but to continue in the salvation we need to earn it by our own efforts. We fail to see the completeness of the gospel and we focus on self-improvement.
In 2 Corinthians 11:1-12:10, Paul turns the ideas of strength and weakness upside down to show that the gospel changes people. When we look to our strengths--either to receive more or to do more--we do not live by the gospel. Rather, we should see God's grace as sufficient for us, and look into our weaknesses, because in our weaknesses we find real, spiritual strength that comes from God and is for God.
| 20121216_the_gospe_is_not_self_improvement.mp3 |
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