June 28, 2022

            What would it mean to you to “get your life right”? If you woke up one morning and said “Finally, I’ve gotten my life right, now I can follow God.” What would it take for you to be able to say that? 

          This is part of a conversation I had this week when I was selling off one of our used vehicles. I listed the vehicle for sale online and 3 hours later I was riding in the passenger seat with a man who wanted to buy it. He asked me what I did for a living and I told him, and he said “Man I just can’t get away from you church people.” I asked him what he meant and he started tearing up, telling me about problems at work and home. I offered to pray for him and he said “I know what I need to do, I just need to get my life right, I’ve got a lot of problems.”

          I asked my new friend what he meant and he said “I just have to stop doing some stuff.” When I asked him what he had to stop doing he just got kind of uncomfortable. I said “Can I help you with that?” He said sure, and I explained the gospel to him. The gospel is not “get my life right and God will accept me.” If someone preaches that to you, that person is preaching a false gospel. Jesus condescended himself to humanity so that he could fully and completely bear the sin, sorrow and shame of mankind. Those who hear the gospel and turn from their sin to follow Christ and faith are consequently hidden in Christ with God. That means that all of the righteousness and obedience that belonged to Jesus when God looked down from heaven and said “This is my son in whom I am well pleased” belongs to you if you belong to Christ.

          Those sins that you need to “make right” are wrong and harmful and worth getting rid of, but trying to do it by your own strength in order to “get your life right” is like a snake eating his own tail. Jesus makes you righteous, Jesus gives you the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit gives you the conviction and power (through those sufferings and trials of life, work, church, family, and so on) to have victory over sin and shame as you rely more and more on Him to redeem your utter wickedness. That’s the gospel. That’s why we do what we do. That’s why we get up every morning. That’s why all of this is worth it.

Thanks!

Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb Culp