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Wake Up! Thoughts on Wilson’s Book + a Giveaway

Gospel Wakefulness was one of our favorite 2011 books – but you don’t have to take our word for it:

“This book is indeed one of the best books I have read this year. In fact, it is going in my top 5 list of books for 2011. I highly recommend this book.” – Chris

“I recommend reading Gospel Wakefulness because  it will surprise you at times and perhaps even shock you with the Gospel, but it will not disappoint you. Reading Gospel Wakefulness will be a breath of fresh air for those who have been in the Church their entire lives and are tired of playing games with God.” —Dave

“I would encourage anyone who embraces the Gospel of Christ to read this book. It will help you fall in love with the Gospel again and help you learn how to live your life in the Gospel. Also, pastors and other church leaders, this is a book that you must read. It will help you be awakened to the Gospel again which will allow you to lead your church with the Gospel as first priority.” – Austin

“I echo the sentiment of Matt Chandler when he says of this book, “My eyes filled with tears and my heart flooded with joy on numerous occasions…God used this book to strengthen and dare I say re-stimulate the sufficiency of the Christ and His gospel in my own heart.  Through reading this book I began to ache for more of Christ.  My heart was truly stirred…At every turn you see Wilson pointing to Jesus and saying “Behold”.  Eventually, it’s gonna click and we’ll catch glimpses—beautiful, brilliant, radiant glimpses—of the beauty of Christ.  Eventually we’ll simply become fixated.” – Mike

“Occasionally I read a book that does more than inform or inspire. Sometimes I read a book that stirs me. A book that hits me in the solar plexus of my soul, and Gospel Wakefulness is such a book.” – Alvin Reid

Gospel Wakefulness was also featured on many “Best of 2011″ lists. Here are a few:

  • Trevin Wax: “Anyone hungry and thirsty for righteousness will be refreshed by the invigorating streams of truth that flow from Gospel Wakefulness. Jared Wilson wants us to delight in the gospel to the point that sin becomes bitter and Christ becomes our supreme treasure…“
  • Aaron Armstrong: “Wilson’s exuberant passion for the gospel is on full display and will leave you further amazed at the grace of God in Christ.”
  • Nick Rynerson: Jared Wilson’s newest book, Gospel Wakefulness is one of the most theologically rich, passionate, well written things that I have read in a long time. If you haven’t checked it out, I highly, highly recommend it.
  • Steve Kroeker – “This was the book I was most anticipating in 2011 and it did not disappoint…Favourite book I read in 2011.”
  • Justin Buzzard – “Now I have better words to explain what started happening to me in my early 20s. Read Wilson’s book and Tullian’s book (Jesus + Nothing = Everything) together. A gospel double-decker.”
  • Todd Gragg – “Wow!  From the first page to the last Wilson never lets up with the Gospel, and I am thankful for that.  I am closing out this year by reading this book for a second time this week.  I imagine I will read it many many more times in the coming years.”

We’d love to give you a copy of Gospel Wakefulness. Simply tweet one of the quotes below and we’ll randomly select winners on 2/3/12.

Tweets:

  • Flavorless salt is only good for walking over. Nobody flocks to a dimly lit city. http://cway.to/yNS6SP #wakeup
  • Those who find themselves utterly captivated by the gospel can hardly be entertained by anything else. http://cway.to/yNS6SP #wakeup
  • Gospel wakefulness means treasuring Christ more greatly and savoring his power more sweetly. http://cway.to/yNS6SP #wakeup
  • To honestly proclaim the greatness of Christ requires honestly confessing the bankruptcy of our own souls. http://cway.to/yNS6SP #wakeup
  • Our flesh wants to be rid of guilt, not sin. But gospel-wakened people want to be free of sin itself. http://cway.to/yNS6SP #wakeup
  • Is a storm raging? Jesus walks on it. Jesus commands it. Jesus rests in it. http://cway.to/yNS6SP #wakeup
  • Brokenness is non-negotiable for gospel wakefulness, but so is joy. http://cway.to/yNS6SP #wakeup
  • If we ground our hopes for sanctification in our own obedience, we will rush headlong into despair. http://cway.to/yNS6SP #wakeup
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January 31, 2012 | Posted in: Spiritual Growth,The Gospel | Author: Lindsay Tully @ 10:16 am | 0 Comments »

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The Idolatry of Spiritual Laziness

by Jared Wilson from Gospel Wakefulness

Let’s talk about laziness.

Laziness is idolatry. It is closely related to its opposite—workaholism. Both the sins of laziness and workaholism are sins of self-worship. The behavior looks different, but the root idolatry is the same. And the problem we face is that the law cannot do for either of these sins what grace does. There is no saving power in law. Further—and this is the crucial point in this particular discussion—there is no sustainable keeping of the law apart from the compulsion of grace. We can (and should) command repentance from sin, but it is grace that enables repentance and belief that accompanies it. Repentance problems are always belief problems. When we are set free from the law’s curse, we are set free to the law’s blessings. The difference-maker is the gospel and the joyful worship it creates. Any other attempt at law-abiding is just behavior management.

So we cannot cure spiritual laziness by pouring law on it. God turns dry bones into living, breathing, worshiping, working bodies by pouring gospel proclamation into them. When we truly behold the gospel, we can’t help but grow in Christ and with the fruit of the Spirit. Paul captures the essence of this truth in 2 Corinthians 3:15–18:

Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

The law cannot lift the veil. It cannot supply what it demands. But when by the power of the Spirit we turn to behold the Lord—not just see him, but behold him—the veil is lifted and we are transformed bit by bit, so long as we are beholding. This is not self-generated. It comes, Paul says, “from the Lord who is the Spirit.” Vicky Beeching’s song “Captivated” captures this truth well with these lyrics:

Beholding is becoming, so as You fill my view
Transform me into the likeness of You.

According to 2 Corinthians 3:15–18, beholding is becoming. See how Psalm 119:18 relates “beholding as becoming” to obedience:

“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” What must happen for a lazy person to be able to become diligent? He must behold the wondrous things in God’s law.

Does he just decide to do that? No. Okay, well, yes, sort of. But he must be moved to decide to be diligent from a force outside of himself. His eyes must be opened by the Spirit. And in this opening, the law and his keeping of it become wondrous, not tedious. This is really what we’re aiming for with gospel centrality, and it’s what gospel wakefulness (super)naturally produces: obedience to God as worshipful response, not meritorious leverage. We are fixing our eyes on the finished work of Christ so that we may be free, and therefore free to delight in the law, not buckle under it.

Religious people can’t delight in the law like the psalmists do. They have to be set free—and feel free—from its curse first. This is where accusing gospel centrality of facilitating antinomianism becomes nonsensical. Generally speaking, people aren’t lazy because they think they’re forgiven for trespassing the law; they’re lazy because they think the law doesn’t apply to them. The truth is that we worship our way into sin, and we have to worship our way out. When people are lazy (or restless), they do have a sin problem, but the sin problem is just a symptom of the deeper worship problem. Their affections are set somewhere else. And wherever our affections are set is where our behavior will go.

So gospel wakefulness does not mean or produce laziness. But what gospel wakefulness does to the work of obedience is something we cannot muster up of our own power. It is the difference between driving our car and pushing it. Or, better, it is the difference between seeing the Christian life as a rowboat and seeing it as a sailboat.

Jared C. Wilson is the pastor of Middletown Springs Community Church in Middletown Springs, Vermont. He is an award-winning author whose articles and short stories have appeared in a number of periodicals, and has written the popular books Your Jesus Is Too Safe and Gospel Wakefulness, as well as the curriculum Abide. Wilson lives in Vermont with his wife and two daughters, and blogs daily at GospelDrivenChurch.com.

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December 21, 2011 | Posted in: Idolatry,Pursuit of Holiness,Sanctification/Growth,Sin & Temptation,The Gospel,The Grace of God | Author: Angie Cheatham @ 8:00 am | (3) Comments »

Posted in Idolatry, Pursuit of Holiness, Sanctification/Growth, Sin & Temptation, The Gospel, The Grace of God | 3 Comments »

Interview with Paul Tripp & Justin Holcomb: Marriage, Parenting, and Grace

Here’s a great interview from The Resurgence. Justin Holcomb and Paul Tripp cover everything from dating to parenting and all the grace between. Paul Tripp is author of What Did You Expect?: Redeeming the Realities of Marriage and Justin Holcomb is author of Rid of My Disgrace. Original post from The Resurgence.

Background:

  • Paul Tripp’s Life: 0:20
  • Daily Drive for the Gospel: 1:15
  • Scholar, Counselor, Pastor: 2:45
  • The Relationship between Law and Grace: 3:44

Marriage and the Gospel

  • Law, Gospel, and Marriage: 7:00
  • The Power of Worship in Marriage: 9:45
  • What Is Our Hope in a Broken Marriage? 13:04
  • How Do I Know If I Have Flawed Dating Expectations? 14:15
  • Importance of a Lifestyle of Repentance and Forgiveness: 17:40
  • Why We Get Angry With Our Spouses: 19:12

Parenting in Grace

  • Parenting in Faith: 20:25
  • How to Discipline Children through the Gospel: 25:08
  • Having Sexuality Conversations with Your Kids: 32:00

People Can Change

  • What Happens with Pornography in Marriage: 37:55
  • Can People Really Change? 43:57
  • Grace Is a Process, Not an Event: 48:08
  • Encouragement for Ministry Work: 55:06
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December 14, 2011 | Posted in: Marriage,Parenting,The Gospel | Author: Angie Cheatham @ 8:00 am | 0 Comments »

Posted in Marriage, Parenting, The Gospel | No Comments »

Dads: Know the Difference Between What the Gospel Requires and What it Produces

By Voddie Baucham (from Family Shepherds: Calling and Equipping Men to Lead Their Homes)

Family shepherds must know the difference between law and gospel. We must know the difference between committing ourselves to leadership in our families because it’s “right,” and looking to Christ as the Good Shepherd who, by his grace, will conform us to the will of his Father as we trust and obey him.

We must also know the difference between condemning our family with the law and shepherding them with the gospel. We must know the difference between what the gospel requires and what the gospel produces.

WHAT THE GOSPEL REQUIRES
All the gospel requires from us is repentance and faith.

  • This is the message Jesus conveyed: “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matt. 4:17; see also Mark 1:15).
  • This was Peter’s message on the day of Pentecost when, filled with the Spirit, he turned to the crowd and said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
  • And again: “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19).
  • This is also the message Paul proclaimed at Mars Hill: “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).

It’s absurd to expect obedience from men who are “dead in the trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1)—men who “are in the flesh” and who consequently “cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8). This is the heart of Paul’s argument in Galatians. There he makes it clear that we are “justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Gal. 2:16). It is not our good works, our righteousness, our obedience that triggers the gospel’s effect in our lives; rather, the gospel calls simply for our repentance and our trust in Christ. This distinction must mark our understanding and proclamation of the gospel.

WHAT THE GOSPEL PRODUCES
While repentance and faith are what the gospel requires, what the gospel produces is obedience to all the Lord’s commands.

  • This is clear when John writes: Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (1 John 2:4–6)
  • This is in keeping with Paul’s comment in 2 Corinthians 5:17 on the nature of true conversion: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has Family come.”
  • This, of course, is to God’s glory, not ours; for it’s God who has made us “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9).
  • Make no mistake: “It is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). Our obedience is produced by God, not by us. This obedience is the fruit or evidence of the work of the gospel in our lives.
  • Those who love the Lord keep his commandments (John 14:15, 21).
  • Moreover, Jesus associates the keeping of his commandments with abiding in his love (John 15:10), not trying to earn it.

WHY THESE DISTINCTIONS MATTER
All this may seem like splitting theological hairs, but I assure you these distinctions are crucial. Confusing what the gospel produces with what the gospel requires will lead either to a sterile works-righteousness on the one hand or to lawlessness on the other.

For example, if we work toward getting our unbelieving children to do that which only the gospel can produce in the life of a believer, and fail to point them to the undeniable truth that there’s nothing in and of themselves whereby they may obey in a manner that will satisfy God’s righteousness, then we’re essentially telling them they can please God on their own—something the Bible says is impossible (Rom. 8:8).

On the other hand, if we merely throw up our hands in surrender, never calling our children to repentance and never holding up to them the mirror of God’s unattainable standard of righteousness, then our children will think themselves safe and secure when in fact they stand condemned before a holy and righteous judge. They must know that in the Lord’s sight, “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isa. 64:6).

Thus, we must teach our children to view the law as “our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith (Gal. 3:24). Only then does the gospel have its full impact.

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November 28, 2011 | Posted in: Men, Husbands, Fathers,Parenting,The Gospel | Author: Angie Cheatham @ 3:00 pm | 0 Comments »

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Grateful for Expiencing Grace

Timothy George has a great section in his book Amazing Grace: God’s Pursuit, Our Response where he speaks of the varied ways we experience grace. May his reflections lead your heart to gratitude and worship as you celebrate Thanksgiving today!

Grace is not an impersonal force or a divine quality to be studied only in the abstract. There is no hell on earth so deep but that God’s grace can go deeper still. Thus, the New Testament states that Jesus “is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him” (Heb. 7:25). We experience grace on many different levels in our lives:

  • We experience grace as pardon. God’s forgiveness and justification remove our guilty standing before him—our real guilt, not just our guilty feelings. The psalmist claims that God’s pardoning grace removes our guilt of sin “as far as the east is from the west” (Ps. 103:12).
  • We experience grace as acceptance. In Christ we who were distant from God, covered with shame, have been embraced, welcomed, and accepted—not because we are acceptable, but solely because we are loved.
  • We experience grace as joy. This delivers us from the frantic quest to be “happy” through stuffing our lives with fleeting pleasures and “joyrides” that only leave us sadder, more depressed. Real joy comes from knowing God and serving him.
  • We experience grace as peace. God’s shalom answers the anxieties and insecurities that threaten us from every side. The standard New Testament greeting is “grace and peace.” Grace and peace are twins; they belong together, related as cause and effect.
  • We experience grace as power. Most people do not so much lack the knowledge to live as they should as they do the ability to carry out what they already know is right. God’s grace acts as an antidote to our impotence. It transforms, energizes, enables.
  • We experience grace as hope. This is hope not in the loose sense of a vague general wish that may not come true, as in “hopefully it won’t rain tomorrow.” In Titus 2:11–13, Paul connects the grace of God with the “blessed hope” of Jesus’ return in glory, a great motivation for confident Christian living.
  • We experience grace as love. God’s grace and love are so close that, at times, we cannot distinguish them. The Bible says that “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18), and God’s gracious love counters the nagging fears and doubts all of us have.
  • We experience grace as gratitude. The most basic response we can make to grace remains a life of thank-yous to God. As Lewis Smedes points out, true gratitude involves “a sense of wonder and sometimes elation at the lavish generosity of God.”
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November 24, 2011 | Posted in: The Gospel,The Grace of God | Author: Angie Cheatham @ 8:00 am | 0 Comments »

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