Friday, March 10, 2017

CN | Rooted in Gospel Fluency: Good Fruit from Root of Jesus




Rooted: When We Get to the Root of Whose We Are and Who We Are in Jesus, This Good News Will Transform Us


Previous Gospel Fluency posts:

City Notes: Gospel Fluency Helps Us Connect with Jesus
City Notes: Gospel Fluency Reminds Us of Who We Are

The Gospel is the history-altering, world-restoring, and personally transforming Good News of Jesus. Part of living in the joy and freedom that God gives in Jesus is remembering who He is and what He's done so that we can confidently step into the abundant life only He can give. This post is based on Jeff Vanderstelt's book, Gospel Fluency: Speaking the Truths of Jesus into the Everyday Stuff Life featuring an adapted excerpt below that reveals more of how God meets us in our deepest needs.







Gospel Fluency: Jesus Is Clear That Our Actions Proceed from Inside Our Hearts


The fruit of our lives comes from the roots of our faith. Just as a thermometer detects a fever, what we see or experience tells us about the gospel health of our hearts. So we need to learn to trace the fruit back to the root.

Over the years, I have learned to ask four key questions in progressive order (to trace the fruit back to the root): 

(1) Who is God? 
(2) What has God done (which reveals who God is)? 
(3) Who am I in light of God's work? and
(4) How do I get I live in light of who I am?

For instance, 

(1) Who is God? One answer is that God is love. 
(2) What has God done (in other words, how do I know He is love)? He sent His Son to die for me while I was still a sinner. 
(3) Who am I in light of God's work (in this case, His sending of His Son to die for me)? I am dearly loved by God – I am God's son. 
(4) How do I get to live in light of who I am? I get to love others as God loved me.

When I am seeking to discern how I'm not believing the gospel, I reverse the order of those questions:

(1) What am I doing or experiencing right now?
(2) In light of what I am doing or experiencing, what do I believe about myself?
(3) What do I believe God is doing or has done? and 
(4) What do I believe God is like? 

In other words, I trace the fruit back to the root. If the fruit is not like Jesus, that is an indicator that my faith is not rooted in Him and His abundance.

Gospel Fluency: From the Fruit of My Fear and Trouble to the Root of My Not Trusting a Good God


When I believe the truth about God, I discover and know the truth about myself. When I believe lies about God, I also believe lies about myself. 

When I believe God is unloving, I can, in turn, believe I am unlovable. When I believe God is not my Savior, so I have to be the savior to my friends, spouse, and children. 

In order to grow in applying the gospel to myself, I need learn to pay attention to what I am believing in the moment. In the gospel, I come to know and believe that God is my Forgiver, Redeemer, and Restorer. He has power over sin and the ability to heal me from sin's effects. God's Spirit is our guide, teacher, and counselor. When those of us who belong to God confess out loud what we believe, the Spirit is right there with us to convict us of our unbelief and lead us to the truth that is in Jesus. 

Gospel Fluency: From the Root of God's Faithfulness to the Fruit of Belief in His Transforming Goodness and Grace


For example, here is an approach to when I realize I am not in control.

Confession of Unbelief in Jesus When Life Seems Out of Control (From Fruit to Root)

Fruit: What am I doing?  I have a desire for control. I'm anxious, afraid, and worried.
Who am I?  I'm not in control. But I believe I have to be.
What has God done?  I believe He has stopped loving me. I believe He has lost control of what's going. He's abandoned me.
Root: Who is God?  He's unloving. He's impotent. He is absent.

Turning to Belief in Jesus to Trust He is in Control (From Root to Fruit)

Root: Who is God?  He is love. He is powerful and in control. He is present.
What has God done?  Jesus died for me. He rose again from the dead. I have the Spirit of God in me through God sending the Spirit to me.
Who am I?  I'm loved. I'm not alone. I am more than a conqueror through Him.
Fruit: What am I doing?  I can receive His love, joy, peace, and hope right now.

So often, when we don't go beyond the fruit to the root, we end up aiming at behavior modification instead of gospel transformation. "I'm sorry, I promise I won't do it again" or "I'm going to try harder in the future" are among our typical responses. But we don't need more self-help and we don't need denial. We need deliverance. We need to meet our sinful beliefs with reminders of God's promises – all of which are "Yes!" and "Amen!" in Jesus. We are transformed by the renewal of our minds, just as Paul says in Romans 12:2. This isn't just behavior modification. This is much deeper. This is gospel transformation, which always leads to behavioral change.

God's salvation didn't just happen to us. It is also continuing to happen. He is actively saving us. The gospel is good news for our sanctification – the ongoing work of God saving us and conforming us daily into the image of Christ. Paul said that as we repent and believe the gospel – as we turn to, look at, and believe in Jesus – we are transformed, increasingly becoming more and more like Jesus: "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" (2 Cor. 3:18).

Next post: CN: Gospel Fluency Includes Growing in Trust (Bonus)

City Notes (CN) are meant to provide you with direct quotes from some books I've read this year, so you can get a taste of the overall theme of the book and then begin to chew on what your life might look like if you applied what you read.

Christ is all,

+ Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan

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