What if we do not see these instructions merely as commands to follow, but rather reflections of how we as a gospel community display the work of Christ? We gospel because we’ve been gospeled:
What if we do not see these instructions merely as commands to follow, but rather reflections of how we as a gospel community display the work of Christ? We gospel because we’ve been gospeled:
- We love one another (John 13:34, 1 John 3:11) because God is love (1 John 4:8).
- We fellowship with one another (1 John 1:7) because of the Trinitarian fellowship of our God (2 Cor. 13:14)
- We forgive one another (Eph. 4:32) as God in Christ forgave us (Eph. 4:32).
- We accept one another (Rom. 15:7) because we’re accepted by God in Christ (1 Peter 2:5).
- We serve one another (1 Peter 4:10) as Jesus came to serve and give his life as our ransom (Mark 10:45).
- We teach one another (Col. 3:16) because Jesus is the true word of God incarnate (John 1:14).
- We are patient with one another (Eph. 4:2) because God’s kindness and patience leads to repentance (Rom. 2:4).
- We bear one another's burdens (Gal. 6:2) as Christ Jesus bore our griefs and transgressions (Is. 53:4).
- We pray for one another (James 5:16) as Christ did for us (John 17) and continues to do (Rom. 8:34).
- We submit to one another (Eph. 5:21) as Jesus submitted to the will of the Father (Phil. 2).
- We encourage one another and build one another up (1 Thess. 5:11) just as Jesus builds his church (Matt. 16:18).
Do we see the gospel as something we do or as something we expect others to do for us? Do we understand that to gospel we must first be gospeled? May we be obedient to gospel one another as a display of Christ Jesus’ gospeling of us.
HT: The Resurgence
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