Day 17

See the Difference:

The Gospel vs. Instruction

Roger and Eileen Himes

www.ThePracticalGospel.com

This entire day will be devoted to showing two different lifestyles: one lived in instruction in principles, and one lived in the gospel. Hopefully, by the end of today, the difference will be as clear in your mind as it is in mine.

An instructed person senses that Christianity is all about them. It’s about their faith, their ministry, their doubts, their giving, their Bible study, and their church attendance. A gospel person is all about living life in God, and knowing him as ‘Abba Father.’ It’s all about Christ’s finished work on the cross, and what God has done, and is doing in them.

An instructed person ‘tags the cross of Jesus.’ They ‘tag the cross,’ in order to get saved, but then go back into some systematic system of instruction and living life in rote. They define life by means of good and bad things learned from The Tree of Knowledge. A gospel person does not tag the cross, they HUG the cross. They realize the cross has become The Tree of Life, and their whole life is fueled from this tree. They avoid the forbidden Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

An instructed person looks at ‘the fruit of the spirit’ in Galatians 5 and says, “Here’s a good check list to live by: I’ve got to become more loving, joyous, peaceful, patient, gentle, kind, faithful, meek, and self-controlled. This is a good yardstick to try to live by.” A gospel person looks at this same list and says, “This is what GOD is doing in my life. It is the Holy Spirit’s fruit, not my fruit. This is what he’s working into me. I’m going to let him work, to see how this good fruit develops in my life, respond to him, and let him have his way in me.

An instructed person reads II Timothy 2:15: “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who needs not be ashamed.” They say, ‘I must study the Bible so God will approve of me and I won’t be ashamed.’ A gospel person sees the same passage and says, ‘I study the Bible to discover how I’m already approved by God because of the cross. I have no need to be ashamed. My faith is in Christ’s finished work.

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GOSPEL TRUTH #33

An instructed person does not live in grace, but in law. Their focus is on SELF, and their betterment in ‘the kingdom of self.’ They wrongly think grace is God’s power to help them live better, and do more.

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An instructed person thinks that life is all about what they do for Jesus. To them, life in God is being a servant to him, trying desperately to determine God’s will, and then do his will. A gospel person knows life is about who they are in Jesus. They know that life is really about relating to God and connecting with him as a child does with his loving Father. They know Father reveals his will to them, and lets them help (Col 1:9).

An instructed person reads Philippians 2:12-13: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” This makes him really introspective, and he wonders if he truly is working out his salvation the way God wants. In fact, is he really saved? At times he is fearful. A gospel person reads the same passage and says, ‘Wow, is this encouraging! As I work his salvation out through events in my life, it is really HIM working his will and his good pleasure into me! It is really God completing the good work he has begun in me. Thank you Jesus!”

An instructed person sees living life as a destination to achieve and attain: heaven. A gospel person sees life as a journey whereby they are simply walking along holding Father’s hand. They know if God can’t get them into heaven, nothing they do can do it, so they trust in him.

An instructed person reads all the Old Testament examples of faith in Hebrews 11, and tries to model his life after the great people in what is called ‘the hall of faith.’ They know their faith isn’t perfect, but they know it is getting better as they work hard to have more faith. A gospel person reads Hebrews 11 and rejoices in the last two verses: ‘And all of these obtain a good report through faith, but didn’t receive the promise; God having provided some BETTER thing for us.’ They know that God’s faith in us is a gift like everything else in God’s kingdom (Eph 2:8).

An instructed person hopes Jesus will help get them through this world with as few scrapes and bruises as possible. They pray all the time to be protected from the world, and worldly events. A gospel person knows Jesus overcomes the world (John 16:33), and has come into knowledge of a profound truth: “As Jesus is, so am I in this world” (I John 4:17). They know they are equal heirs with Jesus (Rom 8:17). They know nothing can touch them that God can’t use for good, if they let him.

An instructed person is future focused. They are not sure about life, and what their authority is over Satan, and what their responsibilities are in obeying God. ‘How much power does Satan truly have in the world?’ A gospel person is cross focused. They know Jesus defeated Satan (Col 2:15), and totally destroyed his works (I John 3:8). They know they have all authority over him (Luke 10:19). They know their responsibility is to take every thought captive to Christ’s obedience, and also his finished work on the cross for them (II Cor 10:5).

An instructed person isn’t sure of their position in God, and just exactly how God sees them. Does he look on them with favor, or with disapproval because of something they did — or something they should have done that they didn’t do? A gospel person knows God sees them spiritually as sitting on his throne in heaven with Jesus (Eph 2:6). They also know that the entire spirit world sees the same thing that God sees. Therefore, every angel in heaven and every demon of hell sees them in this same way. Their concept of spiritual warfare is thus much different from others.

An instructed person asks, ‘What do I do to receive the favor and blessings and promises of God?’ He is always trying to figure out what it is that God will give him, and what he won’t give him. A gospel person knows that all God’s blessings are his, and all God’s promises are his (Eph 1:3, II Cor 1:20). He knows that God gives him all thing, He knows that Holy Spirit shows him all the things God freely gives him (I Cor 2:12).

An instructed person believes repentance deals with sin, and that he must repent of his sin each day to be sure he is right with God. A gospel person knows repentance is more about what we believe than it is about sin (II Tim 2:24-25). They know correct gospel belief, and repentance to know the truth results in good behavior because the gospel produces good fruit (Col 1:5-6).

An instructed person knows they are born again because of ‘the four spiritual laws,’ or some other means by which they became saved. It is always focused on some past event in life. A gospel person says, ‘Sure I’m born again. Jesus is the biggest thing in my life.’ Their focus is on what Jesus is doing now, not on an event sometime in the past.

An instructed person usually has a theology that hasn’t changed much in decades. What they believe now is what they have believed as long as they’ve been a Christian. It’s formed from deductive reasoning, or from ‘what my pastor says,’ etc. A gospel person lives in a vine and branch relationship with God, and thus the Lord is able to change their theology whenever he wants. They want their theology to change as they forever come into a greater knowledge of truth’ (I Tim 2:4). They welcome challenges to what they believe, because their focus is on whom they believe, not what they believe (I Tim 1:12).

An instructed person most often talks about their prayer life in terms of their faithfulness in prayer, and their prayer list. They will talk about a ‘journal’ of answered prayer, or about ‘tarrying with Jesus one hour.’ Perhaps they’ll talk about a 6:00 a.m. prayer meeting. A gospel person often doesn’t talk much about their prayer life. They may say they don’t really pray all that much at all except when God leads their thoughts to some person or situation. They may talk in terms of having fellowship with God in his gospel (Phil 1:5), worshipping God for who he is and thanking him for all he has done. Their prayer is more gratitude, praise, and fellowship than trying to gain something through petition.

An instructed person usually thinks about worship in terms of a ‘worship service,’ and whether they like the worship or don’t like the songs that are sung. They will talk in terms of ‘praise music’ vs. ‘worship music,’ and whether they dislike electric guitars or drums. A gospel person thinks more in terms of worship being a lifestyle, not a church service. They wake up, and go to sleep worshipping God. Worship is a constant attitude of gratitude — born in trust and love for a loving Father. This can only be reality living in Christ’s finished work.

An instructed person talks of communion in terms of caution about making sure you forgive others, and making certain you’ve confessed and repented of all your sins. They will say you can ‘eat and drink damnation to yourself’ if you don’t. A gospel person focuses on Jesus: ‘Do this in remembrance of ME!’ He didn’t say to do it in remembrance of what you did last week — or last night. Communion is a spiritual transfusion: receiving God in Christ’s body and blood.

An instructed person views church attendance as a commandment (like most other things). They will say they don’t forsake the assembling of themselves together. They usually have NO comprehension if the gospel is preached or not. They just feel the need to always warm a pew. A gospel person talk in terms of fellowship with others, and whether or not the pastor ministers the New Testament gospel as Paul says (II Cor 3:6).

An instructed person talks about revival in terms of what they want to see happen, and what they need to do in their lives to see things change the way they want. Revival is usually not much more than ‘putting your nose to the grindstone more,’ and ‘crucifying their flesh.’ A gospel person is always amazed that God chose them before the foundation of the world. They feel very special and loved, and want to express their love to him more. Revival to them is an increased passion for God. They talk in terms of their vine and branch relationship with Jesus that constantly fuels and revives their heart to seek his kingdom.

An instructed person talks about love in terms of Jesus’ words in Matthew: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Like most other things, love to them is something they do — a job they must perform — a principle they must adhere to. A gospel person thinks of love in the form of being loved BY God (I John 4:16), and then sharing what they receive with others (I Thes 3:12). “As you have received, so freely give.” They know human love isn’t worth a whole lot, and that it is only God’s love in us that makes any real difference.

An instructed person often fears death more than a gospel person. If you live life focused on rules, then whether or not you’ve kept the rules is going to be a primary concern when you die. They often think about standing before the judgment seat of God, and wonder what this means. A gospel person knows that Jesus has already stood before God’s judgment seat on their behalf, and what they will hear is, ‘Well done son… or daughter’.’ They know it all depends on Jesus, not on them. They know if Jesus can’t save them, nothing they do stands a snowball’s chance in hell!

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GOSPEL TRUTH #34

A gospel person lives focused on God’s grace, and the faith in them that his divine grace so consistently sows. Their focus is GOD, not SELF. They live like a child, in almost constant awareness of their Father’s love and presence. They then tend to see death as a child falling asleep on their Father’s lap, — and waking up on Father’s lap. Wouldn’t you agree that living life in the power of God’s gospel far exceeds being instructed in principles, laws, rules and formulas?

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