I Need a Fresh Swig of the Gospel Tonic

Grace is intimidating and offensive. It arrests our pride and demands that we bow in submission to a loving God who would not compromise his holiness and righteousness in order to get us out of hell. Instead grace shows God to be great and sinners like us to be not great.

On the other hand Law is appealing. It gives us something objective to aim at and measure ourselves and others by. And as long as we have a breath we have a fighting chance that we can put together enough good days that we can somehow atone for our past sins and sneak in the back door of heaven. Law also makes us feel better when we look at others because, often times, they are not able to perform as well as we do. This gives us a sense of pride and accomplishment.

So yes we like rules. We like company in keeping rules. And we tend to like to say grace and Jesus, but at the end of the day we are far more comfortable at the foot of Mt. Sinai than at the foot of Calvary.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is clear and humbling. However, our sinful hearts in concert with the devil’s desire to subtly lure men and women from the grace alone gospel of Christ presents a sober warning for us. The enemy’s greatest desire is  to shackle men and women with the false hope of legalism.

And the cost of compromise is great.  If we are to be lazily enticed to the shackles of legalism then we compromise the glorious freedom that Christ died for believers to enjoy (Gal. 5.1).  And if we allow unbiblical thinking to pervade our understanding and application of the gospel then Christ is not glorified as he ought to be in and through us.

This joy sapping, Spirit quenching, Christ demoting tendency is a real battle for us as believers.

The dangerous reality of this tension demands that we are not wandering away from grace and into the bondage of a law.  We must wear a path to Calvary each and every day, and even multiple times a day, in order to truly have our minds and hearts calibrated with the truth of the Savior’s gospel.  This fresh swig of the gospel tonic will serve to refresh our hearts while exposing the foolishness and futility of turning aside from grace.

Possibly Related posts:

1. Getting Personal with the Gospel
2. Devotions for Passion Week
3. The Refreshing Tonic of Music and Preaching
4. Legalists Love to act like God by Making Rules
5. You Need More than Just Data in Preaching the Gospel to Yourself

5 Responses to “I Need a Fresh Swig of the Gospel Tonic”

1. Metalhead says:

   December 17, 2008 at 2:57 pm

   Incredibly well stated, Erik.
2. Brian says:

   December 18, 2008 at 10:21 am

   I couldn’t agree more. Thank you for the post, brother, and for the reminder to keep his mercies new in our hearts each morning…
3. Christmas Linkathon 12/24 at Phoenix Preacher says:

   December 24, 2008 at 1:34 am

   [...] Raymond needs a fresh swig of the gospel tonic and tells why legalism is so [...]
4. Ken says:

   December 29, 2008 at 12:09 pm

   Luther on John’s Gospel (chapters 6-8)… “Christ, however, declares here: ‘Let it be your one concern to come to Me and to have the grace to hold, to believe, and to be sure in your heart that I was sent into the world for your sake, that I carried out the will of My Father and was sacrificed for your atonement, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, and bore all punishment for you. If you believe this, do not fear. I do not want to be your judge, executioner, or jailer, but your Savior and Mediator, yes, your kind, loving Brother and good Friend. But you must abandon your work-righteousness and remain with Me in firm faith.’”

   I like your new layout.
5. seen around blogdom « ken stoll—aka recovering self-help junkie says:

   December 29, 2008 at 2:41 pm

   [...] The Irish Calvinist shares a needed reminder—I Need a Fresh Swig of the Gospel Tonic.     [...]