The Call of the Gospel: Personal Transformation
This month we began a series unpacking our vision at WDBC. So, “What does transformation look like?” The beginning of Jesus’ ministry, recorded in Luke 5-6, provides a great framework for understanding the various facets of transformation. This post describes the personal facet of our transformation, which occurs as we hear the ongoing call of the gospel to receive the grace Jesus gives.
The best gifts are the ones you don’t see coming; the ones you don't deserve. Recently somebody surpised me out of the blue with an extravagant gesture of generosity. It’s hard to describe how thrilling it is when that happens to you.
Shock gives way to gushing appreciation. And when your focus shifts from the gift to the giver, joy abounds. To be seen, valued, and sacrificially loved is a heady feeling that lifts your spirit.
Now, do we feel this way about our wages? Probably not. Most people don’t gush over paychecks. Instead we think, “I earned this,” or “I had this coming to me,” or even, “Is this all they think my time is worth?” Pay is transactional. I must invest to get what I receive.
But grace is good news because it meets us externally. Grace is received independent of my contribution. The gift originates outside of us, not as a byproduct of our effort, cajoling, or even begging.
God’s salvation is of grace. It is a gift given to me in Jesus Christ. The gospel is the announcement that God has offered this gift to me.
The Call of the Gospel
The thrill of the gospel is that in it God is calling graciously to us.
Grace is not inner strength. Grace is not the better part of yourself that you’re trying to believe outweighs the “other” parts. No, the good news of Jesus Christ is rightly termed gospel because it is God’s message, speaking God’s favor, grounded in God’s activity, mediated by God’s Spirit, and authorized by God’s Son.
This grace is God’s initiative and that’s why it is the best gift.
A Christian is one who recognizes God’s loving favor to us in Jesus and receive his gift of salvation by faith.
Through faith we are changed, reborn, transformed, and ever transforming. The past two weeks in Luke’s gospel we’ve seen how an encounter with Jesus can change a life through believing and embracing Jesus’ message of grace.
Habits That Hear the Gospel
Believing the gospel means being available and open to its message; despite what our experience or expertise might tell us. As Peter learned (Luke 5:1-11), by taking Jesus “at his word” we humbly surrender our will in the simple confession that He is Lord and we will follow. Believing is the jumping off point where we commit our course to Christ because hear the ring of truth in His words. Be it a teaching, an instruction, a command, or even parabolic wisdom, those who believe will discern in such words of Jesus an authority compelling their attention and action. Believing is more than hearing Jesus, it is heeding Jesus — no matter how strange, laughable, weak, or incomprehensible His words may seem.
Embracing the gospel means internalizing the cleansing, restoring word of Christ into our own identity. As the leper soon realized (Luke 5:12-16), the healing power of Jesus is sufficient to not only cure what ails us, but to re-orient our entire self-conception. Having heard Jesus’ pronouncement of “clean” and resting in that authoritative word, we are now freed from condemnation, that merciless mistress berating our conscience with the relentless, undeniable reality of our imperfection. Embracing the gospel means giving God the pen to re-write the familiar narratives of our enslavement into epics of His glorious power and grace. We embrace new thoughts, new attitudes, and new purposes; not in order to be loved, but because we are loved and forgiven of our sins. Those who embrace the gospel are those who are happy to see the old self die; those who risk being changed; those who dare to put on the new self — one born of God through the Spirit the reflects the glory of Jesus Christ.
Our God is calling to us lovingly through the gospel.
Will we believe Him? Will we embrace His message of grace?
“Believing” and “Embracing” comprise 2 out of the 6 “Habits of Faith.” The others are Practicing, Modeling, Serving and Proclaiming. These will be examined over the next few weeks as we continue through the Gospel of Luke.