Monday, December 5, 2011

Why preach the gospel to yourself

Here is one of the 31 reasons Milton Vincent gives in his book A Gospel Primer for Christians for believers to preach the gospel of Jesus to themselves:
The gospel encourages me to rest in my righteous standing with God (emphasis added), a standing which Christ Himself has accomplished and always maintains for me. I never have to do a moment’s labor to gain or maintain my justified status before God! Freed from the burden of such a task, I now can put my energies into enjoying God, pursuing holiness, and ministering God’s amazing grace to others.

The gospel also reminds me that my righteous standing with God always holds firm regardless of my performance, because my standing is based solely on the work of Jesus and not mine. On my worst days of sin and failure, the gospel encourages me with God’s unrelenting grace toward me. On my best days of victory and usefulness, the gospel keeps me relating to God solely on the basis of Jesus’ righteousness and not mine.
(Verses cited in part or whole: Matt. 11:28; Rom. 4:5, 5:1-2, 18-21, 6:1; Heb. 4:3, I John 2:1-2.)

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