A Car Accident & the True Gospel

Miles and Gillian flew back to Tennessee on Thursday. I hated to see them go as they are fun and encouraging friends, but it did provide me a vehicle for the first time. As I was pulling into the driveway yesterday, I scraped the left corner on their gate, knocking out the headlight and putting a dent in the bumper. I am obviously not used to driving on the opposite side of the road and sitting on the opposite side of the car. But I am not making excuses; I misjudged how much room I had. It was a minor accident, but enough to make me feel terrible. The last thing I want to do, after all the Buckleys have given me, is cause them any inconvenience.

James and Sandra were very gracious in the way they treated me, explaining that accidents happen and we move on. My natural tendency after something like that, though, is to feel like I need to earn their forgiveness. In the back of my mind, I can't help but think they are annoyed with me after something like that and I am required to restore their fondness toward me by doing nice things for them. I also naturally feel that I should avoid troubling them in any way, that I should just go hide somewhere out of the way.

But the truth is, James and Sandra are not annoyed with me at all; they see me no differently now than they did before I messed up. I am the one who puts that burden on myself.

Last night, I realized this is so often how we think of God. When we fail, we often feel like we need to do something to earn value again in God's eyes. We hate this feeling and so often we just give up and think that we can just hide from God. So we don't come before Him in prayer because we feel undeserving. If you feel undeserving, that's a good thing...because you are! And there's nothing you can do to earn His love. But, the Easter message tells us that you don't need to try to pay for His love by works; He has paid it all on the cross! For this reason, those who are in Christ are to go boldly before the throne of grace (Heb 4:16), not try to suck up to Him by good works or hide from Him because we don't measure up. We are to believe that our sins have been taken away and our just and holy God sees us as perfect through the blood of Jesus Christ! If James and Sandra, imperfect people that they are, know how to forgive me, how much more will our loving Father!

The True Gospel

At this point, though I have already been writing of it, I wish to clarify what I am calling the true gospel. It is what the Bible teaches has the power to save sinners, and it is this: Justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Justification merely means that we have a right standing and are accepted before God. Grace means unmerited favor; God giving us something we haven't earned. Faith is more than a mere belief that God exists, but trusting and treasuring the work of Jesus on the cross. When one does trust and treasure Christ, his/her life and actions will be different as a result of the grateful love that will come for and from Jesus, but the actions themselves do nothing to earn God's love. Men naturally believe we should add onto this gospel, that's why the "alones" are important. But when works or any sacraments or the church is added to the gospel, we are no longer trusting in Christ alone, but in Christ and whatever else we add, thus claiming that the cross merely began a process in which we save ourselves and robbing the cross of its real significance. So anyone who adds anything to this gospel is not preaching the true gospel. The true gospel is given in a clear and concise manner in Ephesians 2:1-10, the passage on which I will likely preach next Sunday (Apr 11). Paul wrote in Galatians 1:9 that anyone who preaches a gospel other than this shall be accursed.

It can be so hard to believe that we can't add anything to Christ's work in saving us. This is why even those of us that believe this need to be reminded of it repeatedly. Our "self-exalting theology" (as J. Piper calls it) would tell us that we must have some control or power to save ourselves. This is what every other religion in the world believes...that it's up to us. But the Scriptures show us that Christ has done what's necessary to save us in spite of us (read Eph 2:1-10 or Romans 8 or anywhere!) and that is great news! It is only through Scripture that we can understand the true gospel, and that's why "Christian" groups that neglect the Bible or elevate other sources of authority to the same level tend to add on to it. This is sad because, again, it is good news only when we don't have to add anything, and it's the reason I've come to Ireland! So I will share this gospel indiscriminately with atheists, Protestants, Catholics and whoever else. This Easter, I hope you believe this gospel because, as Gal 1:6-9 tells us, there is no other one.

A photos of my gracious hosts, James and Sandra Buckley