The gospel is not only the most important message in all of history; it is the only essential message in all of history.
JERRY BRIDGES, The Discipline of Grace
What I know now is the gospel—the good news—wasn’t just for the single twinkle in time when You crossed me over from lost to saved.
The gospel is still good news to me.
Today.
Now.
I learned about discipline before I learned about grace. Discipline is good. You take me places with it.
- If I’m disciplined in study, You get me through the Bible over and over.
- If I’m disciplined in prayer, I can praise, confess, petition, and thank You every day.
- If I’m disciplined in memorization, I can hide chapter after chapter of Your words in my heart for use later.
Good things? Yes. Discipline opens up Your blessings.
But those blessings don’t come from discipline.
They come from grace.
Even discipline itself is a gift of grace.
If I pursue discipline without grace, I’ll fail.
- I can’t obey perfectly on my own.
- I can’t obtain righteousness at all on my own.
- I can’t serve those I love very well on my own.
I need Christ’s obedience, Christ’s righteousness, and Christ’s love.
At the cross, Jesus became grace, and grace is the gospel.
If discipline is good, grace is better. Because Jesus is best.
You saved me years ago; You save me today. I need saving from myself daily. Not just saving from hell when I die, but rescue from being sharp-tongued to my sweet husband, and deliverance from bitterness over hurts I could be coddling, and freedom from thinking I have to perform perfectly to deserve love.
I need grace not just for my past or future, but now.
There’s never a moment I don’t need it.
And there’s never a moment You don’t give it.
You are the gospel, the best news I’ve ever known.
* * *
When do you need the gospel?
More on Chapter 3, “Preach the Gospel to Yourself” at Challies.
Thoughts from
Chapter One, “How Good Is Good Enough?”
Chapter Two, “The Pharisee and the Tax Collector”
Next Week, Chapter Four, “We Died to Sin”
All chapter summaries
