Walk in the Fear of God by Means of the Cross

Walk in the Fear of God by Means of the Cross

Jay Wegter

Adapted from: Gerhard O. Forde, On being a Theologian of the Cross, Reflections on Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation, 1518,

Eerdmans, 1997, and adapted from: Gardiner Spring, The Attraction of the Cross, Banner of Truth, 1983.

I. By the cross of Christ we come to know the ruinous nature of sin.

A. The cross is a monument to the world that man deserves to die (Gardiner Spring). The intensity

of our moral depravity and the infinite demerit of our sin are taught by the cross. Nothing but the deepest disaster (human rebellion against God) could have justified the sacrifice of the eternal Son of God. The cross shows us man‟s helplessness and depravity (G. Spring, p. 26) (Is 53:4-9; Gal 2:22).

Man‟s state is hopeless without the cross. The eternal Son of God was smitten by the sword of divine justice in the „room and place‟ of man. We can no longer doubt that man is vile and deserving of the wrath of God. This lesson the cross teaches us is repulsive to sinners—it offends because it convicts us of our sinfulness and of our ill desert (what we deserve). The cross is the proof of human guilt inscribed in blood (Spring, pp. 206-207). The cross is the great divider of men. Its flames of justice burned against God‟s beloved Son. Now by that bloody propitiation (atoning sacrifice) God is satisfied; but inextinguishable fury will burn against that man who disowns the substitution of God‟s Son, and nothing can protect that individual from coming wrath (Heb 2: 1-3; 10:26-31) (Ibid, p. 28).

B. The cross, by showing man‟s ill desert, reveals the human condition. The cross kills our

optimism that man can be improved. The perennial „theology‟ of our fallen race is one of human potential. The cross says the opposite: that we are condemned—that the Fall wrecked our humanity and left it floating like debris on the surface of the ocean. The cross „cure‟ is drastic; for it slays the hope of survival of self. Our natural carnal religious optimism suggests that we have the ability to place our feet on the „river bottom‟ of our depravity and walk upstream against the current. We instinctively assume that we must try to do our best and that God will make up for our shortcomings (Forde, p. 18). Scripture tells us that the law way is a dead end, “the law is not of faith” (Gal 3:12).

II. By the cross of Christ our religious ‘instincts’ are overturned.

A. The cross reveals our best works as deadly sins. Not just dead works; but „deadly works‟

because they keep us from total trust in Christ. “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb 9:14)? Our good works (prior to salvation) are deadly sins because they cause us to defend against naked trust in the mercy of God. „Good works‟ prior to salvation actually work against unconditional grace. Prior to salvation, any trust in works our works blocks full reliance upon the compassion of God in Christ (Forde, pp. 32-33, 37).

The cross of Christ is intended to kill our religious aspirations. “For not knowing about God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes” (Rom 10:3-4). Argues Luther, deadly sins are found in pious places. Our works entice us away from bare trust in God‟s mercy. Thus, works are deadly sins where there is not the fear of God. The fear of God keeps us from trusting in our works and attempting to make them a support of the soul. The cross of Christ slays self assurance because genuine fear of God causes a man to be pleased with God, not with self. “Therefore, the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith” (Gal 2:24) (Ibid, pp. 38-40).

B. Man‟s religious sensibilities of „self-help‟ are demolished by the cross of Christ. Our authors

agree that from birth we are attracted to a „Romish‟ religious scheme. We could summarize the Romish religious mindset as, “Do your best and God will do the rest.” This slogan does not seem pernicious on the surface, but it is spiritually deadly to the soul. Perhaps the reason why we do not recognize that this slogan is hostile to the cross of Christ is he because the church today is so weak on the gospel. Our intent at this juncture is not to degrade our Roman Catholic friends; but to point out that the doctrines of Romanism never rise above the impotence of natural religion.

In natural religion, we instinctively assume that we must try to do our best and that God will make up for our shortcomings (Forde, p. 24). Natural religion suggests that our works make us fit objects of divine mercy. The false professor of Christianity appears to trust in Christ alone; but his profession is in word only, and not in heart. Secretly he cleaves to his own righteousness. The cross shows the wickedness involved in self-trust, evincing that person‟s hostility to God‟s free salvation.

But why would a religious sinner oppose free salvation in Christ? The answer is that the self-righteous man is reluctant to be under obligation to Christ alone (owing all to Him for time and eternity). The preference of the natural man, contends Gardiner Spring, is to rely on his own wretched performances over the great work of Jesus the Lord (Spring, p. 54).

By way of example of self-trust, the Roman Catholic mass is a pernicious system which magnifies outward ordinances above heart religion. The elements of bread and wine are supposedly transformed into the literal blood and body of Christ, and then offered to God in a way that is considered effectual in procuring pardon. This is openly hostile to the finished work of Christ at Calvary‟s cross (Spring, p. 58).

C. All false religion, even that which mistakenly goes by the name “Christian,” is a divergence

from the truth of the cross that salvation from beginning to end is the work of God. Roman Catholicism is a radical error which incorporates a doctrine of human works of supererogation. This is an anti-cross system which proposes that all Jesus has done for men is to enable them to merit the favor of God for themselves. In that scheme Christ‟s “deserving” (merit) makes them “deserving”—His merit consists in giving merit to the obedience of faithful Catholics. It is as if Christ has opened a „fund‟ of surplus merit (over and above what God requires) in order to make up for forfeited merit. We must understand why this is hostile to the cross and deadly to the eternal souls of men (Spring, pp. 84-85).

The Romish scheme above suggests that by means of religion and morality a man may liquidate some of his debt to God. This makes a man an enemy of the cross and of God because it constitutes an open denial that salvation is all of God. Men are Romanists by nature— they hope to make a sort of claim on divine mercy by means of moral conduct and religion. Even their hardships experienced in the course of life are placed in the mix of personal merit (Spring, p.

208. We wouldn‟t be telling the truth if we did not stress that this Romish concept (that mercy can be merited, and Christ will make up the deficit) will send a man to hell as much as any other damnable heresy will (Spring, p. 208).

Catholicism teaches that Christ‟s righteousness is infused into us (imparted to us or transferred to us so that we become acceptable to God). This is NOT the justification purchased by Christ‟s finished work on the cross. The biblical gospel teaches that the true believer is treated as righteous NOT due to infused righteousness; but because of Christ, his covenant Head is righteous. This makes all the difference in the world. For Christ‟s righteousness is an alien righteousness which is imputed to believers (set to their account). God justifies through faith alone. The cross of Christ furnished this completed justification. This is why God accepts believing sinners—there is no other way for your cause to be good. Faith in the cross is faith in God‟s testimony concerning His Son. God cannot lie (Heb 6:17-20). He is the Author of the cross and its accomplishments (Jn 3:16-21) (Spring, pp. 92-96, 99).

D. It is easy, even for religious men, to reject the testimony God has given concerning His Son.

Our fallen race is naturally inclined to reject it. For, the cross contains principles which are at war with the idolatry of self. As long as the sinner‟s selfishness, pride, and love of sinning are undisturbed, he will resist God‟s testimony concerning the cross. Selfishness, pride, and love of sinning must receive a deadly wound from the cross. Only then will the person confide in God. Saving faith is self-renouncing. It has God, not self, as its ultimate object of trust (Ibid, p. 104).

The impenitent, stubborn heart battles against the conviction of the Spirit. There is no more fierce or severe struggle. Pride and self-righteousness are tenacious. The Spirit‟s quickening power brings the elect sinner low and makes him willing to exercise dutiful, penitent, humble, submissive faith in the cross—he goes from an enemy to a friend of God.

Every saved person has this testimony from the book of Isaiah in common, “Then you will say on that day, I will give thanks to Thee,O Lord; for although Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, and Thou dost comfort me. Behold, ‘God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord God has become my salvation.’ Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation” (Is 12:1-3) (Ibid, pp. 10, 113).

E. To trust in the cross alone for salvation is to repudiate all other proposed places of refuge.

Gardiner Spring observes that whenever a man has been awakened to the danger of sin by the Spirit of God, no matter that person‟s background (cultural or religious), that man will embrace the unqualified conviction that the cross is his only hiding place. And, with that conviction comes the utmost horror of all former refuges of lies (Is 28:14-22). Saving faith reaches up to he cross in an exercise of both intellect and affection—the will consents and that person suddenly regards all former refuges as lies; false hopes and worthless as spider webs. “I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (2 Tim 1:12) (Ibid, pp. 38, 100).

III. Where there is no fear of God, men retain their controversy with God.

A. The cross brings a redemption which presupposes that the sinner deserves eternal death.

Men will admit that they are sinners; but they have no inward sense of measure of their ill desert (what they deserve from God‟s justice). They don‟t (and cannot) feel it would be right for God to inflict upon them this terrible eternal doom of perdition. Thus, every man who lacks the fear of God has a quarrel or controversy with God concerning what sin deserves. Only when by the illumination of the Spirit men reflect on who God is and what they are in themselves with they have fewer difficulties with eternal punishment (Ibid, pp 129, 133).

B. The reality of our ill desert due to sin is a withering alarming subject. It elicits shame, blame,

embarrassment; it crushes and brings a person low. The mind naturally revolts, considering it to be a „conflict of interest‟ to dwell upon the turpitude of their crimes against heaven. The controversy with God is a pitched battle over the issue of what personal sin deserves. Men remain God‟s enemies because they hate His inflexible justice. They cannot bear the truth that God is right and man is terribly wrong. Man‟s bias keeps him disguising, discounting, and covering his sin and running from the enormity of his guilt (Prov 28:13).

When he hears about the holiness and justice of God, a conflagration erupts in his conscience. If his iniquity were displayed comprehensively but for a moment, he would cry out for the rocks to fall upon him rather than face God: “And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand” (Rev 6:15-17)? The sinner (while the controversy remains) prefers no God to the doctrine of a God who threatens man with hell (Ibid, pp. 134-137, 147-148).

IV. The fear of God causes the sinner to place his hope in the cross.

A. The fear of God utterly slays self-assurance. The awakened sinner comes to understand that if

God should mark iniquities—who could stand (Ps 130:3)? If God‟s wrath is kindled, you are gone (Ps 2:12; Jer 15:14). As long as a person comforts himself that his works are only dead and not deadly, he continues to offend God and draw glory from Him. The fear of God is inseparable from ongoing naked trust in His mercy through Christ. This trust involves continual rejection of all creaturely support and consolation in one‟s works. Holiness and divine law seal off all pious-religious escape routes. Faith in the cross means that all our security is from God alone and his forgiveness. “But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou may be feared” (Ps 130:4) (Forde, pp. 42-47).

B. It takes the cross to shock us into seeing the hopelessness of self-reliance—only then will we

take responsibility for sin. While a person is doing what he is in himself, he sins and seeks himself in everything. Man, by his own will, CANNOT prepare himself for grace. Attempts to do so are a denial of God‟s power to save. Doing one‟s best (and relying on it) means that the will is yet bound to self (Luke 18:9-14). The Law of God „cross-examines‟ us so that we might despair of a solution in ourselves and be „cross-justified’ (Gal 3:22-27). Only the gospel of the cross can take us off of self—transferring our trust from self to Christ (Ibid, pp. 50, 54, 58-59).

C. God can only be known by means of the cross. Only those „bankrupted‟ of self-righteousness

receive grace. We must be brought to a place where we utterly despair of our own ability. Any speck of trust in doing our best and we have not despaired. God refuses to be known except by the cross. God „hides Himself‟ in the cross and refuses to be known any other way (Ibid, pp. 65-66, 80).

D. God makes Himself known through the cross by first of all crucifying our self-righteousness.

The natural man feels he must do his best—as if his efforts can play a part in mollifying God; placating God; and in some ways obligating God. Carnal supports of the soul aim at winning God‟s favor and repairing the self. These efforts are all doomed to fail. All cross-less, grace-less religion amounts to nothing more than sinful man imagining he can do something to protect himself, and find safety from the terror of divine majesty. Any confidence in carnal supports of the soul gives evidence that a person does not know God (nor truly fear Him so as to flee to Christ alone for refuge) (Ibid, pp. 79-82).

IV. What the cross does to us

A. Before we can see God in the cross we must see ourselves in the cross—this means that the

cross functions first as a „mirror‟. God conceals His divine majesty in the cross. He works sub contrario in the cross—that is He works through abject weakness which is contrary to His reasoned attributes of strength. The net effect is to arrest us—to kill our religious aspirations; for the cross reveals our best works as deadly sins. We are startled by the cross to find that sin has been multiplied through our supposed morality; for the law makes sinners worse and it makes them proud and presumptuous. The law does not improve sinners. The law way of finding God is a dead end street. The cross is designed to make us despair of our natural moral and religious powers (Rom 3:19-20; 8:2-4; 5:20-21; 7:13ff.) (Ibid, pp. 25-26, 31-32).

To be face to face with the message of the cross is unnerving. Your conscience can no longer defend you. You look in the „mirror‟ of the cross and you behold the fact that your sins have done this. We will only see God in the cross when we first see self in the „mirror‟ of the cross. Luther explains this as follows:

You are the one who is torturing Christ thus, for your sins have surely wrought this . . . Therefore when you see the nails piercing Christ‟s hands, you can be certain that it is your work. When you behold the crown of thorns, you may rest assured these are your evil thoughts, etc. (Ibid, pp. 7-8, 77).

The Reformer‟s point is this: that the cross closes in on us so we understand we are crucified with Christ. His story becomes our story. The cross cure is drastic—it has to kill you before it can make you alive (Ibid, pp. 13-15).

B. The cross doesn‟t just inform; it attacks and afflicts us. The knowledge of God comes when

“God does Himself to us” (Ibid, p. 90). In other words, because we are sinners, God can only be known through suffering. The false god of natural religion is constructed around our projects (our resolutions and moral reformations). We invent a god who is amenable to our designs and goals and then we solicit his compliance. The God of Scripture is the polar opposite of the human improvement scheme—for He strikes at our usual religious aspirations which we attempt under the wisdom of the law. By means of the cross, He demolishes our religious sensibilities. We feel naked, exposed, flushed out of hiding. Our instinctive response is to want to return to the ‘safety’ of doing something (Ibid, pp. 88-90, 93).

The natural man regards his moral and spiritual state much as an athlete does his game, “I just have to work on a couple of principles here; I can compensate; I can do this.” The cross comes to extinguish the religious desires of the old Adam and Eve—to show us the utter ineptitude of our will in pleasing and knowing God by law. Resentment and a turbulent conscience arise when our religious sensibilities are attacked. This is why the cross offends—men love the opposite of the cross. They want man-centered natural wisdom, man‟s glory, human power, and human deeds. The cross exposes all of these false integration points as idolatrous (Ibid, pp. 93, 99).

The cross proclaims that God is the Governor of the world and that He is right and we are wrong. Every true Christian on every continent acquiesces to the rectitude of the penalty— God is right and we are terribly wrong, “I deserve eternal death!” By means of the cross, the proud heart of the sinner is humbled, he accepts the punishment of his iniquity revealed in the gospel; he submits to God. Then, and only then, his controversy with God terminates; for the believer truly approves God‟s sentence. There can be no acceptance of the gospel while the sinner quarrels with God‟s justice and God‟s law. To oppose God‟s precepts and penalties is to be a stranger to divine mercy (Forde, pp. 148-150).

V. The cross and good works

A. Good works begin only when by the cross the old Adam is put to death and the new man

appears (2 Cor 5:17; Col 3:10). The cross must slay the old man‟s fleshly orientation: „that by good works one is going to become righteous‟. The cross reverses everything—giving us new values; for Christ is the Creator of the new man (our works cannot make a new man). Christ is the Architect; the Builder; and the Blueprint of the new man (Col 3:10).

Being righteous before God without works clears the way for works. When the reality of justification sinks in; preposterous joy hits us—a new day dawns when we understand by the Spirit that the righteousness we have in Christ is complete in itself. It is like the joy and ecstasy of being in love. Justification in Christ is all-sufficient. “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness” (Rom 4:5) (Ibid, pp. 104-106).

B. Now in Christ good works are God‟s works in the believer (Eph 2:10; Gal 2:20). We have all

we need in Christ. For, faith restored by grace plants all new motives in us. A good work is good only IF it is done out of faith, hope, and love. The cross of Christ takes away the possibility of doing something meritorious before God.

The power to do good comes from the wild claim that everything has already been done in Christ. The outrageous assertion that in Christ all that God demands has been fulfilled has become the basis for good works. Therefore, none of our works now affect our acceptance with God; for Christ dwells in us by faith and works through us (Gal 2:20) (Ibid, pp. 109-111).

C. The believer is aroused to work through living faith in Christ‟s work. In the gospel order, the

impetus to do good works comes entirely from being moved, aroused, and motivated by the completed work of Christ who dwells in the believer through faith. Says Luther, “Deeds of mercy are aroused by the works through which Christ saved us.”

Those who find their all and all in Christ are motivated to be imitators of God. “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma” (Eph 5:1-2). It was Augustine who said that Christ must first be a sacrament for us BEFORE He can be an example. His point is that our motive to walk as Jesus did will only be true IF Christ is our righteousness; status; standing; favor; sonship; and acceptance before God. (Note that in all non-evangelical forms of Christendom the order is inverted; Christ is an example to follow first—AND, in so doing human works are made a support of the soul) (Ibid, pp. 111-112).

D. The cross is the only way of holiness. Christians gain victory over sin by enjoying the favor

of God and by living in communion with the cross. Joy in the cross is evidence of the love of God and the hatred of sin. The cross subdues hearts—making friends out of enemies; for the cross is the refuge of the polluted and the condemned (2 Cor 5:14-21).

The motives and influences whereby persons become holy are not found in a purely legal dispensation. A legal spirit operates by fear—and it awakens no holy affections. Those under the rule of law alone are slaves and not children (Gal 3:21-24; 2 Cor 3:4-11). But the law plays a vital role in leading us to the dispensation of mercy in Christ (Gal 3:24-29).

VI. ‘The truth of the cross is our only theology’ (Luther)

A. In contrast to instinctive religion, the cross differs from all other methods of changing man.

The cross does not attempt to harness natural inclinations. The cross works AGAINST natural inclinations. For the cross considers nothing accomplished until the living God has displaced every idol and the soul is disrobed of every badge of loyalty to other masters—the power of the cross secures this change. Of course this is another reason why unsaved men hate the cross; for the cross is utterly clear concerning God‟s ownership of us (Spring, p. 305).

B. The power, wisdom, and truth of the cross is seen in:

• Its intrinsic excellence as the power and wisdom of God
• Its binding obligations to believe and follow Christ
• Its perfect fitness to reverse man‟s ruin
• Its effectiveness in securing everlasting life beyond the grave
• Its power to attach the conscience to confidence in the Son
• Its ability to give the knowledge of self and of God

CONCLUSION: How you view your character (whether objectively or not) is revealed in how

you treat the cross. The cross is the test of character. Christ is appointed for the rise and fall of many (Luke 2:34). To reject the cross is to be an enemy of God (Phil 3:18-19). Friends of the cross are those who love God‟s character, hate their sin, and who therefore serve God. The godly renounce every other confidence but the cross of Christ. Their sole dependence is upon Christ who is able to save them to the uttermost (Heb 7:25-26). Thus, the cross is the test which reveals a person‟s source of trust for salvation (Ibid, pp. 205, 209, 306).

Believers are to keep the Gospel on the Throne of Conscience

I. Every true believer knows what a battle it is ‘to labor to enter His rest’ (Heb 4:11).

A. It is no small effort to consistently enjoy gospel rest in Christ and to make the „verdict‟ of

heaven at Calvary the verdict of one‟s conscience. Everything seems to war against that heavenly verdict: the world; the flesh; the devil; even religion. Each of these pushes for personal performance, measuring up, and achievement as the ground and basis for quieting the conscience. The conscience is a tireless researcher, always collecting evidence of our moral failures and shortcomings—the conscience looks into the smallest details of a person‟s life, examining motives and intents of the heart—and frequently accusing the individual of transgressions in the thought life. Our great temptation is to do what is wholly natural to us—namely to do the bookkeeping of conscience by means of law. In the law approach to conscience management, the individual argues for peace of conscience from the vantage point of strengths and performance—as if achievements have the power to outweigh demerits.

So engrained is the attempt to quiet the conscience by means of law, one may accurately say that „law works’ is the religion with which we were born. It comes natural to us. We are all self-justifiers by nature (Luke 10:29; 1615).

B. In the law approach to conscience management, we function like the Pharisees of old who

“cooked the books of conscience.” In other words they „bribed‟ their consciences by selecting things they were good at and then using those isolated areas of achievement as their overall ethical „scorecard‟. This bribery of conscience is not unique—it is the human condition. Whether your area of achievement is money, charity, theology, health, outward morality, sports, parenting, or community service—each of us is tempted to make our area of achievement our scorecard to offset the accusations of conscience.

It‟s like the boy who had filled the side of a barn with arrows he had shot. Each arrow had its own target and each arrow was in the bull‟s eye of its target. The amazed farmer asked the boy how he had achieved such a feat. The boy answered, “Easy, I shoot the arrow first and then draw the target around the arrow.”

That‟s a perfect illustration of trying to manage the conscience by law. We discover what we are good at; then we „draw the target around it‟ as if our isolated little standard is the same as God‟s universal standard. No wonder Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites. Jesus said to them, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You tithe mint and dill and cummin, but have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel Matt 23:23-24). Jesus likens their selective obedience to straining at a gnat while swallowing a camel. The religious leaders of Jesus‟ day treated their practice as „normal‟, but Jesus ridicules it as pseudo-obedience.

C. Attempting to manage the conscience by law is futile because it always involves a radical

departure from universal obedience (all areas of life commanded by God), and a radical dumbing down God‟s requirements (Rom 10:1-4). When law is on the throne of conscience there is an accompanying „lowering of the market‟ in regards to God‟s requirements. In other words, the bar is lowered to the level of what carnal man is capable of—this is a patent refusal to submit to God‟s righteousness (Rom 10:3). It is an attempt to placate the conscience and offset guilt by appealing to the moral value of things that are humanly achievable.

D. All false religion incorporates the management of conscience by law. People speak false peace to

their consciences; then they take it to the next step. They tell themselves that because they have been successful at quieting their consciences; therefore, they have also been successful at protecting themselves from God. But this is a cruel deception; a day is coming when the conscience will operate in perfect synchrony with God‟s holy standards.

On judgment day, God‟s law; God‟s verdict of damnation; and the sinner‟s conscience will all be in perfect agreement. In other words, when the lost person stands before the Lord, the conscience will no longer accept bribes or alibis. The ability to justify self will be altogether absent (Rev 20:11-15). Every mouth will be closed (Rom 3:19). The conscience of the unbeliever will rise up to its full moral stature to take its eternal revenge by ceaselessly condemning its ungrateful host. How we as believers need the gospel constantly applied to conscience. True believers must not slip back into the patterns of self-justification that are so indigenous to our natures. The gospel must remain enthroned in conscience.

When Paul gives a condensed version of his testimony in Philippians 3:3-14, he sets into sharp contrast the false hope of gaining righteousness before God by law-keeping against the true hope of God-given righteousness that comes by faith in Christ (3:9). This vital point that Paul is making is missed by so many—namely that in order to have righteousness by Christ alone; one must repudiate all false sources of righteousness. There can be no admixture of Christ our righteousness with a spurious source of righteousness.

It is not an easy thing to stay free and stand firm in Christ alone (Gal 5:1ff.). Like the Galatians of old, we tend to move away from rest in Christ toward performance-based models of Christian living. Our lower nature has a kind of „lust for law‟ that makes us hungry for personally accumulated merit. We are inveterate „merit-mongers‟—always wanting to take every achievement; every virtue; and every personal exponent, and plow it into our bottomless appetite for shoring up our self-concept. Of course this principle of personal value and exoneration by means works is a two-edged sword. The same law that says I may take credit for my achievements becomes a ruthless accuser when I fail. How does the gospel deal with this „addiction‟ of merit collecting?

E. The cross of Christ pierces our ego-driven, self-justifying motivations. The cross always brings

us back to the freeness of God in bestowing grace—the cross takes us back to our utter inability to obligate God (Rom 11:33-36). When we feed on the truth of the cross it keeps us in a posture of dependency—and for good reason: ongoing faith in Christ involves repeatedly consenting to have Christ labor for us; in our place; as our Substitute—so that God can be infinitely kind to us for Christ‟s sake—not our sake. The gospel enthroned in conscience keeps us in that frame of mind where we continually consent to have Christ represent us. I have chosen the word “consent” because, like the apostle Peter, we must consent (against our inner resistance) to have Christ stoop so low as to wash the filth from our person.

“Consent” is a fitting word to describe faith‟s submission to Christ. Consent describes how faith desists from self, renouncing self as a source, and turning wholly to Christ for our acceptance with God. This issue of consent is why the gospel is so counterintuitive. It goes against all of our natural instincts about what gives us security, significance, lovability, acceptance. In our carnal reasoning, we demand to carry these things ourselves—at least to some degree. But God has brought us to Himself through Christ, and it is in Christ alone that we stand (Rom 5:1-2). Therefore, our entire status before the Father is held by Christ.

Christ not only holds us up; He holds up the reputation of the Godhead. The gospel of Jesus Christ reveals God‟s righteousness (Rom 1:16, 17; 3 24-26). And the gospel, in displaying God‟s righteousness, lets „God be God‟. In the gospel we discover that God makes His own righteousness the cause of our salvation. God‟s righteousness, given to us in Christ, places the believing sinful creature in right relation with the holy God of the universe. We can never outgrow our need for the gospel—for in it the glory of God is revealed (2 Cor 4:4-6). And in it is the good news of our relationship with God as it is settled in Christ is unfolded.

II. The gospel goes against all of our religious instincts and habits of self-defense and

conscience-bribing. Spiritual discipline is needed in order to keep the gospel

enthroned in the conscience.

A. Gospel-based Christian living is of the N.T. model of sanctification, communion, and service.

Paul exhorts his readers, “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (Col 3:15). “The peace of Christ; the word of Christ; and the Word of His grace” are all synonyms for the gospel. Paul wants his readers to have the gospel reigning in their consciences as the uncontested regent; but there is daily opposition to the reign of the gospel (Col 3:15). Think how many circumstances and emotions try to „kick down‟ the door of peace in our hearts each day.

Only when the gospel is enthroned and allowed to reign in the conscience is it able to consistently speak peace. When the gospel is allowed to „rule‟, it functions like an umpire; it makes the call as the final arbiter. As such the gospel enthroned puts an end to all internal disputes. It prevents life‟s vicissitudes from kicking down the door of peace.

Our problem is that we tire of not measuring up. In our own strength we want to go to war against the inner voice of condemnation and inadequacy. We want to show that we can measure up if given a fighting chance. We have something to prove. The first inklings of pride rise up in us, and alas, we become weary of grace; we want to move past being God‟s object of pity, and we grab the reigns, hitch ourselves to law and demand that we carry our own worth through performance.

Working in tandem with this tendency to prove ourselves is the fact that the conscience is wired for strict justice; it is suspicious of mercy and compassion. This is why the conscience needs to be constantly informed by the gospel. The conscience of the believer must frequently behold by faith the historic fact that objective justice has been accomplished against the believer‟s sins in the offering of Christ.

B. When the gospel is enthroned in the conscience, it keeps Christ in view as offered by the Father

for all my transgressions. The gospel enthroned makes the knowledge of Christ 3-D to the eye of faith—for the gospel displays Christ as the sum total of all that the Father is toward me. The gospel exhibits Christ as „Source Person‟. This is why it is true that the gospel alone possesses the power to take me off of the treadmill of self performance—for the gospel takes me off of self-reliance and puts me on Christ.

The actions of resting, leaning, and trusting Christ are not just for forgiveness and eternal life. According to the Galatians 2:20, Christ is living His life through the believer. That means that the gospel exhibits Christ as our very life now (Col 3:3-5; Jn 15:5; Gal 5:25; 1 Jn 4:9). Thus the gospel is not merely our entrance into the Christian life; the gospel opens up the doctrine of the exchanged life—Christ‟s life now in power and love exchanged for my weakness and selfishness.

At the moment of salvation, the Spirit of God brings the sinner into union with the Lord so that all of the benefits of Christ‟s life, death, and resurrection were applied to the believer. Our entrance into Christianity was accomplished when God the Holy Spirit united us with Christ—at that point of our calling, Christ‟s finished work brought life to us (1 Cor 12:13; Rom 6:3-7). The reality of Christ having taken our place at Calvary is set forth in all its grace and power in 2 Corinthians 5:21. “And He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The only reason I am a saved sinner is because Christ exchanged His life for mine at Calvary—that is the heart of the gospel.

Believers rightly regard this exchange to be the cause of their salvation; BUT most believers do not base their Christian walk and new identity upon this exchange. According to the apostle Paul, believers should be constantly reckoning this exchange (Rom 6:11; Gal 2:20; Col 3:5). The pivotal truth is that the exchange is not only our entrance into the Christian life; but also the source of the Christian life (1 Jn 4:9). The gospel ruling and reigning in the conscience informs us of the reality of Christ living through me now. Gospel reckoning involves contemplating Christ and our position in Him—this is essential if we are to be radically identified with Christ in our walk. By reckoning our co-crucifixion and co-resurrection in Christ, our deadness to sin and our life in God are brought into our daily experience (Rom 6:11-14). It is the exchanged life lived out. It is the value of the cross brought into our most intimate life choices Now what happens when we allow the law to usurp the rightful rule of the gospel? What takes place in our lives when we permit the law to crawl back up and take its seat on the throne of conscience? First of all, the law calls out to flesh resources—it puts me back upon relying on my efforts. Paul says in Galatians 3:12 that the law is not of faith. In other words the law says do this and live. The law does not tend to push us towards the divine enablement of God‟s Spirit. Instead the letter of the law puts our human strength (or weakness) to work.

C. Since the law is not of faith, it shifts our reliance from Christ to self. It tends to blind the heart

to the offices of Christ. Under the reign of law we cease feeding upon Christ as our all-sufficient Prophet, Priest, and King. Israel‟s history bears out the fact that law is a woefully inadequate means of managing and controlling the sinful appetites of the flesh.

The law as an external constraint is coercive and demanding; but it fails to supply an adequate motive and power source for obedience. Instead of mortifying sin; the law as a harness to control the flesh tends to stir up truancy (Rom 5:20). It divides a man into two parts: his secret heart affections (which are carnal) and his religious self, which may be outwardly conformed to law. This is a dangerous arrangement; because given a chance (if he thinks he won‟t be caught), the man will often give expression to the carnal objects of his heart affections.

D. The law, as an inferior method of controlling the flesh, is answered by the superiority of the new

covenant. The new covenant unites our deepest heart yearnings for happiness to Christ Himself. Unlike the law, the new covenant provides the motive and the power source for obedience. Christ‟s infinite love demonstrated at Calvary produces real ontological changes in the believer. The redeemed sinner becomes a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). The love of Christ animates him and controls him (2 Cor 5:14-15). The Spirit of God energizes his obedience (Gal 5:16-25). The law no longer is an irritating straitjacket to externally restrain—it is written on the heart as a new inclination and life principle (Heb 8:8-12). Instead of duty-driven, the believer takes delight in his spiritual exercises.

It is common for N.T. believers to forget the gospel, or discount its total relevance for Christian living. When that happens; we ought to keep in mind that our default response is to manage the conscience by law. Under law as king of conscience, the individual loses sight of Christ‟s glory. The wealth of being united to Christ fades from view because under law, the believer has returned to the toil of carrying his own eligibility for God‟s acceptance. The conscience becomes a place of turmoil and disputes. Self-loathing reenters—self-recriminations multiply. The individual becomes defensive, self-protective, private, critical, irritable, and controlling. Those sins are costly to our walk with God and our relations with others. These sins are symptoms of demanding to qualify ourselves and carry our own eligibility.

E. The gospel applied is always the answer—it brings integration to the soul in a way that the law

has no hope of doing. The gospel conducts a kind of heart surgery. It brings back together the parts of our soul that sin has broken apart and fragmented. Christ brings completeness; wholeness; healing to sinners (Is 53:5).

When the gospel is on the throne of conscience, we consent to have Christ carry our eligibility and qualification for God‟s acceptance of us. The gospel proclaims that Christ, by His propitiation, has cleared away every obstacle that stood in the way of us enjoying the unbroken reception of the Father‟s love (1 Jn 4:9-11).

Now we all know that this unbroken enjoyment is contested. We have to fight for joy by means of the gospel. What remains of indwelling sin is always seeking to rob us of peace. Our new transgressions and our old ones are always calling for a courtroom „trial‟ in our conscience. The conscience wants to schedule new legal trials. The conscience is a kind of courtroom, a place of law, prosecutions, evidence, and verdicts. Our problem is that we are better at listening to ourselves than talking to ourselves. We put the law back on the throne of conscience and then we listen to all its arguments and wind up taking sides against ourselves as if there has been no atonement made on our behalf. We slip into mental passivity and find that the old habits of listening to the accusations of conscience are allowed to hold greater sway over us than the gospel. The mental „tapes‟ of accusation play in an endless loop and we wind up giving more authority to the taped messages of condemnation than to the authority of the gospel. Years of self-loathing have cut deep grooves. Like water seeking its lowest level, we easily slip back into the familiar and we find that our thoughts are again flowing in the deep grooves of self-rejection.

F. Preaching the gospel to the self is how to “erase the old tapes and record new ones.” We ought

to be about the business of composing gospel sermons to preach to ourselves—gospel sermons with very precise and specific application. These gospel sermons are designed to display to our conscience that real justice has been done against our sins in the crucifixion of Christ (1 Pet 2:24; 3:18).

These sermons must contain the practical value of justification—that Christ is my eligibility for God‟s acceptance, love and favor. Christ carries my lovability! Christ is my completeness. He is my wholeness, my “Okay-ness” if you will. I am a broken wretch united to a perfect Savior. That is the arrangement of God‟s grace. I am a broken sinner; but I wear the perfect robe of Christ‟s imputed righteousness. To deny that by re-enthroning law is to put oneself into competition with Christ—it pits self against Christ for who will carry out the task of Savior and Source Person.

Only when I keep consenting by faith to rest in Christ as my status; favor; acceptance; sonship; righteousness; and lovability will His love be free to animate my heart affections. God wants my heart affections unhindered by agitations and inner disputes. He desires to be able to pass His hand over my heartstrings to make the spontaneous music of worship. Only when I am living by faith in Him will the lust for law and the demands of self-assertion lose their magnetic pull. The gospel enthroned in conscience keeps displaying the sufficiency of Christ to the eye of faith and to the demands of the justice. There is no other source of pervasive peace.

Questions revealing true salvation or the lack thereof

I. Questions from the Sermons of George Whitfield (Select Sermons of George

Whitfield), Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1958).

A. The Grace of God in the Gospel versus Human Merit.

1. Do you expect to be saved at last because of what you have done in part or in whole and because

of your faithfulness?

2. Do you expect to be saved at last only because of God‟s eternal love and sovereign grace given

to sinners in Christ (Titus 3:5-7)?

3. How long have you loved God? Was there ever a time when you hated God and had enmity in

your heart toward Him? Can you recall when the sin of unbelief governed your heart?

4. Did the Spirit ever convince you of your inability to close with Christ (to completely trust Him

and surrender yourself to Him for salvation)? Did you ever cry to God for faith and for mercy in

your helpless condition (Rom 5:6; Titus 3:1-3; Rom 7:14)?

B. Mortification of Sin.

1. Do you find it necessary to constantly watch, pray, resist, and fight against your corruptions so

that they do not rule over your life (Rom 7:22-25)?

2. Is your indwelling sin the burden of your heart? Do you cry out, “Who will deliver me from this

body of death?” Have you ever felt that God might justly curse and damn you for your

indwelling corruption if you were not a believer (Rom7:24)?

C. Proper Conviction of Sin.

1. Was there a time when God wrote bitter things against you, when the burden of your sins was

intolerable to your thoughts? Was there a time when you were conscious of the fact that God‟s

eternal wrath might justly fall upon you on account of your actual transgressions against God?

Have you ever been crushed over your sins? Did this level of conviction of sin ever pass

between your soul and God (Rom 2:1-11; John 3:36)?

2. Have you ever justified God in your damnation? Have you ever owned the fact that by nature

you are a child of wrath, and that you deserve to be cut off from God and to be eternally

miserable? (Eph 2:1-3).

3. Have you ever been troubled not simply over outward sins, but over the sins of your heart, your

nature and for the sins of your best duties and performances? Have you ever been brought to see

that the best of your religious duties are as filthy rags in God‟s sight (Is 64:6; Rom 8:5-7)?

D. Spiritual Life and Growth.

1. Do you rest upon your profession of faith, or are you always building yourself up in the

righteousness of Christ? In other words, are you resting upon a decision you made years ago, or

are you always preaching the Gospel to yourself (Jude 1:20; John 15:4)?

2. Do you trust in your former conversion, or are you always pressing forward, trusting in the

righteousness of Christ which is outside of you? Do you preach the Word of His grace to

yourself as a habit of life and as a vital part of your communion with the Lord (Acts 20:32, Phil

3:8-11)?

3. Do you rest upon the experience of your first conversion, or do you frequently flee to Christ and

his blood, loathing your own self-righteousness (1 Cor 3:11; Phil 3:9; Rom 7:18)?

4. Has God spoken peace to your heart? Have you felt the power of God on your soul as you

opened the Word of God (Heb 4:12-13; Rom 8:16; 14:17)?

II. Questions from the Writings of Richard Baxter (Richard Baxter, The Reformed

Pastor, The Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1656, r.p. 1979).

A. The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

1. Have you ever been made to feel the greatness of your sin and misery? Have you felt your sin

as a heavy load upon your soul? Have you ever felt the everlasting misery due your sins and

with that burden the knowledge that you are a lost person (Acts 2:37; Luke 18:13)?

2. Have you gladly received news of a Savior, casting your soul upon Christ alone for pardon by

His blood (1 Cor. 15:1-4)?

3. Do you believe that nothing can prevent you from going to hell but the sacrifice of the Son of

God (Heb. 2:1-3)?

4. What becomes of men when they die? Are you a sinner by nature; do you have any sin? Were

you born with sin? What does every sin deserve? What remedy has God provided for the

saving of sinful miserable souls?

5. Has anyone suffered in our place whose sacrifice God accepts? Who are those whom God will

pardon? Who shall be saved by the blood of Christ (Mark 1:15; Luke 13:5)?

B. The Need for Regeneration.

1. What change must be made upon all who shall be saved? How is that change affected (Jn 3:5-

8)? Have you ever found that regeneration, this great change, has taken place upon your own

heart (Titus 3:5-7)?

2. Did you ever find the Spirit of God by the Word of God, come into your understanding with a

new heavenly life which has made you a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17)?

3. Have you had that change upon your soul that causes you to despise the world and to set your

hope and affection upon things above? Do you order your life so as to be happy in the life to

come? Is this the case with you—that you lay up your happiness and hopes upon things above

(Matt. 6:21; 1 John 3:1-3)?

C. The Necessity of Repentance.

1. Can you truly say that the sins of your past life are a grief to your heart (Rom 6:21)?
2. Can you honestly say that your heart has turned from sin, now that you have the holy life you

shunned before (Rom 6:22; Rom 12:1-2)?

3. Can you truly say that you do not live in willful practice of any known sin? Can you say that

there is no sin you are not willing to heartily forsake, and no duty you are not willing to perform

(Col 3:5-10ff.)?

4. Have you resolved to cast all sins from you that defile your heart and life (Acts 26:18-20)? Do

you present the members of your body to God each day for obedience (Rom 6:10-17ff.)?

5. Can you honestly say that the glory and honor of God is as dear to you as your own life (1 Cor.

10:31; Col. 3:23; 2 Cor. 5:9)?

D. Sanctification and Indwelling Sin.

1. Do you understand that it is not possible to go the way of heaven without knowing it for certain?

Do you possess assurance of salvation (2 Pet 1:9-11)? Do you frequently call upon Christ as

Deliverer to get you past the many obstacles and enemies which block your way to heaven (Eph

6:18; Heb 2:18; 4:16)?

2. Are you aware of a bitter conflict between the flesh and the Spirit: Do you live by the power of

the Spirit and mortify (put to death) the deeds of the flesh (Rom 8:12-14; Gal 5:16-18)?

E. Living Unto God and Loving God.

1. Do you see great happiness in the love and communication of God in the life to come which

draws your heart from this present world (Col 3:1-4; 1 Pet 1:13)?

2. Have you taken the everlasting enjoyment of God for your happiness? Does God have most of

your heart, love, desire, and care? Are you resolved by divine grace to let go of all the world

rather than jeopardize the joy of God (1 John 2:15-17; James 4:1-5)?

3. Can you truly say, even with your failings and sins, that your care and bent in life is to please

God and enjoy Him forever (2 Cor 5:9)? Do you regard your worldly business to be that of a

traveler and a pilgrim, and your true home to be heaven (Phil 3:20-21; 1 Tim 4:10)?

4. Is your heart set on God and the life to come? Is your chief business to prepare for everlasting

happiness? Do you honestly regard your time in this world to be chiefly for the purpose of

preparing for another existence?

5. Do you live so as to learn more of the will of God? Do you believe heaven can be had without

pains? Is heaven worth your labor (Heb 6:11-12; Heb 12:14; 1 Pet 4:18; Matt 7:13-14)? Do

you see all of this life as preparation for the next life?

III. Questions from the Writings of Matthew Mead (Matthew Mead, The Almost

Christian Discovered, Sola Deo Gloria Publications, Ligonier, PA 1661, r.p. 1989).

A. Common Faith versus Saving Faith.

1. Does your faith go no further than agreeing with the facts of the gospel? Is your faith primarily

a mental assent to the truth of the gospel and the historic facts of Christ‟s life (James 2:19-20)?

2. Does your faith rest upon, and cast the soul wholly upon, Christ for grace and glory, pardon,

peace, sanctification, and salvation? Is your faith a united act of the whole soul, understanding,

will, and affections; all concurring to unite the soul to an all-sufficient Redeemer? Is it a faith

that purifies the heart and gives strength and life to all other graces (Gal 6:14; 1 Thess 1:9; Rom

12:9-21)?

3. Does your faith take hold of Christ so as to “close yourself up in the wounds of Christ,” and by

His stripes gain healing to your own soul (Is 53:5-6)?

4. Does brokenness of heart over sin accompany your faith? Does your faith produce confession

of Christ as Lord wherein your will is engaged to choose His ways and own them as yours

(Luke 9:23-26)?

5. Does your faith produce a willingness to persevere and endure hardship for the interests of

Christ (Rom 8:17-25)?

B. Communion with God.

1. Can you honestly say that you delight in God (Ps 37:4)?
2. Do you enjoy communion with God? Do you fear and revere God and yet love Him as well (Is

66:1-2; 1 Jn 1:3)?

C. God’s Commandments.

1. Do you welcome the examination of your heart by the Scriptures (Ps 139:23-24)? Do you

regularly examine yourself by Scripture?

2. Do you delight after the Law of God in the inward man (Heb 8:10)?
3. What is the source of peace to your conscience (Heb 9:14)?

IV. Questions Drawn from the MacArthur Study Bible (John MacArthur, The

MacArthur Study Bible, Word Publishing; 1997) p. 2191.

A. Evidences that Neither Prove nor Disprove One’s Faith:

1. Visible morality: Matt 19:16-21; 23-27
2. Intellectual Knowledge: Rom 1:21; 2:17ff.
3. Religious Involvement: Matt 25:1-10
4. Active Ministry: Matt 7:21:24
5. Conviction of Sin: Acts 24:25
6. Assurance: Matt 23
7. Time of Decision: Luke 8:13, 14

B. The Fruit/Proofs of Authentic/True Christianity

Does your life exhibit the following evidences of salvation?

1. Love for God: Ps 42:1ff; 73:25; Luke 10:27
2. Repentance from Sin: Ps 32:5; Prov 28:13; 1 Jn 1:8-10
3. Genuine Humility: Ps 51:17; Matt 5:1-12; James 4:6,9
4. Devotion to God‟s Glory: Ps 105:3; 115:1; Is 43:7
5. Continual Prayer: Luke 18:1, Eph. 6:18, Phil 4:6
6. Selfless Love: 1 Jn 2:9; 3:14; 4:7
7. Separation from the World: 1 Cor 2:12, James 4:4, 1 Jn 2:15-17
8. Spiritual Growth: Luke 8:15; Jn 15:1-6; Eph 4:12-16
9. Obedient Living: Matt 7:21; Jn 15:14; 1 Jn 2:3-5

C. If list “A” is true of your life yet list “B” is not, the validity of your profession may be in question.

If list “B” is true in your life, then list “A” will be true of your life also.

V. Direction to Those Whose Lives do not Manifest the Evidences of True Salvation. (Matthew

Mead, The Almost Christian Discovered).

A. Seek to attain a thorough work of God in your heart. Do not rest until such a change is wrought

upon you. All those whom God intends to pardon and save are regenerated by God‟s Spirit. In

the act of giving them His grace, God gives them a new heart (Jn 3:5-7).

B. God‟s grace in giving this change begins with conviction of sin. As Richard Baxter observes,

God brings a conviction that will make a man feel his sin as the heaviest burden in the world.

The man will be crushed in his heart over his sin. God‟s Spirit will make him understand that

he is liable to God‟s wrath and curse. He will make him see that he is a lost man facing

damnation unless pardoned by the blood of Christ (The Reformed Pastor, p. 250).

C. There is no true conviction of sin until one breaks off all false peace of conscience (Heb. 10:22).

A false peace of conscience keeps a man from seeking after Christ. God‟s peace is a peace that

keeps a man from sin (Phil. 4:7). The sinner‟s peace is a peace with sin.

D. The sinner must be wounded for sin and troubled under it before Christ will forgive him and

give him peace. God makes a man truly sensible of the bitterness and misery of his sin before

he allows the man to experience mercy. The sinner must see the vileness and unprofitableness

of his sin before he is able to profit by Christ‟s righteousness.

E. One must be convinced of the misery and danger of one‟s natural condition. Until a man sees

the corruption of his heart and the wretchedness of his state by nature, he will never leave off

self-righteousness to seek help in Another (Rom 10:1-4).

F. One must be convinced of the utter insufficiency of anything below Christ Jesus to minister relief to

the soul. Duties, performances, prayers, tears, self-righteousness, religious practice avail nothing in

themselves. Only an infinite righteousness can satisfy for us. Our sin has offended an infinite God.

Your case requires infinite mercy to pardon you, infinite merit to reconcile you to God; infinite

power to renew your heart, and infinite grace to save you from hell.

G. You must know that a sinner can never come to Christ by his own power, for he is dead in sin, and

in a state of enmity against Christ. He is an enemy of God and the grace of God. No man comes

immediately out of deadness of soul into conversion and belief in Jesus Christ without divine

preparation by the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:8-11). Central in this preparation is sound conviction of sin

(Luke 5:32, Luke 19:10, Is 61:1).

H. Get sound convictions over your sin. Without them you will never seek after Christ for

sanctification and salvation.

I. Never rest in your convictions until they end in conversion. Some rest in their conviction of sin as if

sorrow over sin is the same as forgiveness. Seeing one‟s need of grace is not the same as a work of

grace.

J. Let your conviction of sin work repentance. Do not slight your conviction of sin. Only by following

the conviction of sin will a man turn to Christ who is ready to pardon and save. Therefore, seek to

have your convictions improved and deepened (not slighted). Do not rest in your convictions until

they rise up to a thorough close with the Lord Jesus Christ and end in a sound and perfect

conversion.