You Need More than Just Data in Preaching the Gospel to Yourself

There is a lot of (necessary) talk these days about preaching the gospel to yourself. This is truly a great need for every Christian. We all found ourselves slouching back to the self-promoting, self-worshiping default position of our hearts. That is, we forget the gospel.

But let’s be very clear about what it means to forget. We are not simply talking about forgetting facts or Bible verses. It is not like we somehow can’t remember the definition of substitutionary atonement or that Jesus came to save sinners. No, no, it is much bigger than this.

The Issue is Our Satisfied Delight
When we talk about forgetting the gospel we are talking about forgetting to see the glory of Christ in the gospel. That is, we forget to see the infinite value of Jesus as the redeemer. In this we see our infinite sinfulness, hopelessness, idolatry, and separation from God. The only thing we have to do with God apart from Jesus is to be on the wrong side of his barrel of divine wrath. So in seeing the beautiful sufficiency in Jesus, both his person and his work, we begin to delight in him as our Savior.

In other words, what we don’t just forget facts, but rather to delight in the glorious God behind the facts! Christ and his work is both historical and personal. That is, it happened in time and it happened for sinners like me and you! And the fact that it is successful and available for a rebel like me causes me to be amazed, humbled, refreshed and happy as I bask in the illuminating beams of the glory of Christ through the gospel.

More than an Upload of Data
Preaching the gospel to yourself is not just a mind exercise. You are not to be just reciting facts without the engagement of your heart. The gospel is to stir our minds with theological truth but that stirring also is like a divine oar in the water of our hearts, as it stirs us with rich gospel happiness.

In the gospel we are seeing the glory of Christ in his condescension for us; we see his infinite stooping to rescue infinite sinners and provide eternal righteousness. And then, one day, we’ll see his perfect righteousness and preserving power and unfailing love on full display as we, his bride, the church is wonderfully presented to him as holy, blameless, and beyond reproach. This is all done through his work as the husband par excellence washing us, his bride with his word (Eph. 5.25-27)

So yes, preach the gospel to yourself everyday, even multiple times a day. But do not treat it like you just need an upload of data. Because, in reality, you need much more than that. You need divine help through the Spirit to happily see the glory of Christ in the gospel that you might be transformed into his own image (2 Cor. 3.18)

Possibly Related posts:

1. Spurgeon on Gospel carving
2. If you don’t get questions about works and grace then are you preaching the gospel?
3. Getting Personal with the Gospel
4. Why Jesus is to be valued above all else, part i :: because we have issues
5. More of Him and Less of Me

7 Responses to “You Need More than Just Data in Preaching the Gospel to Yourself”

1. Tweets that mention You Need More than Just Data in Preaching the Gospel to Yourself- Irish Calvinist -- Topsy.com says:

   December 17, 2009 at 10:32 am

   [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Erik Raymond, The Reformed Hub. The Reformed Hub said: IRISH CALVINIST: You Need More than Just Data in Preaching the Gospel to Yourself http://bit.ly/6Ayp2S [...]
2. Brian Frahm says:

   December 17, 2009 at 10:49 am

   Thanks for this post Erik. Hit the spot this morning.
3. Erik says:

   December 17, 2009 at 1:37 pm

   Same here Brian…
4. Mike says:

   December 17, 2009 at 11:51 pm

   Erik, great post! One thing I do (so I don’t fall into a self-glorifying trap) in the car is keep small index cards with some of my favorite scriptures on them. I’ll read a couple of them and preach the gospel to myself, but I try to figure out how to connect the two scriptures together to Jesus Christ. It seems to help me focus on the true gospel of our Messiah. Great post, brother!
5. Erik says:

   December 18, 2009 at 10:13 am

   I appreciate that Mike, very good & practical counsel. The Scriptures are pointing to Jesus and I believe the Holy Spirit likewise aims to point to Christ (John 16.14).
6. You Need More than Just Data in Preaching the Gospel to Yourself « The Atlantic Baptist’s Blog says:

   December 18, 2009 at 9:57 pm

   [...] 18, 2009 by atlanticbaptist From the Irish Calvinist a very well written [...]
7. papapatriot says:

   December 18, 2009 at 10:07 pm

   We never out-grow the Gospel.
   We never out-grow our need of Christ.
   Thanks for the great post.