Live This Chapter In Light Of The Final Chapter

“The final chapter of the drama of redemption not only tells us how the story ends, but also reveals the point of the whole story.  It is not too much to say that in order to understand the biblical story, we must know how it ends.  When we learn the goal toward which the biblical story moves, we understand the scope of God’s redemptive and covenantal concern—what he values, what he holds dear, what he considers worthy of his love and his redemptive work in Christ…

What is more, humans are future-oriented beings…We live our lives in light of our projected futures.  The future to which we aspire shapes our attitudes and decisions in the present. It’s important to know where we are headed, for it tells us how to live in the present…to live responsibly in the present requires that we be acquainted with our future end.  When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” he showed that he understood this.  Thus we attend to the final chapter of Scripture’s drama of redemption and orient our lives to in view of it.”

~ Michael D. Williams, Far As The Curse Is Found: The Covenant Story of Redemption, pp. 271-272

Comfort For Sinners Who Cling To Christ

“To run and work the law commands,
Yet gives me neither feet nor hands;
But better news the gospel brings:
It bids me fly and gives me wings.”

- Attributed to John Bunyan, quoted by Jason C. Mayer in The End of The Law (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing, 2009), 2.

“Christian! the only thing that makes you differ from the vilest being that pollutes the earth, or from the darkest fiend that gnaws his chains in hell, is the free grace of God!”

- Octavius Winslow, Jesus, Full of Grace

“The heart of most religions is good advice, good techniques, good programs, good ideas, and good support systems. These drive us deeper into ourselves, to find our inner light, inner goodness, inner voice, or inner resources.

Nothing new can be found inside of us. There is no inner rescuer deep in my soul; I just hear echoes of my own voice telling me all sorts of crazy things to numb my sense of fear, anxiety, and boredom, the origins of which I cannot truly identify.

But the heart of Christianity is Good News. It comes not as a task for us to fulfill, a mission for us to accomplish, a game plan for us to follow with the help of life coaches, but as a report that someone else has already fulfilled, accomplished, followed, and achieved everything for us.”

—Michael Horton, The Gospel-Driven Life (Grand Rapids, MI; Baker Books, 2009), 20

“What challenges Satan or conscience can make against the believer—hear an answer; I was condemned, I was judged, I was crucified for sin, when my surety Christ was condemned, judged, and crucified for my sins—I have paid all, because my surety has paid all.”

—Samuel Rutherford, quoted in Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinity (Ross-shire, UK: Christian Focus, 2009), 126

[HT:  All of these quotes come from one of my favorite gospel-centered blogs, Of First Importance]

More Ammunition For The Battle Against Porn And Sexual Lust

Here are a few more resources (to add to others I have mentioned) for the fight against porn and sexual lust:

R. Albert Mohler Jr., “The Seduction of Pornography and the Integrity of Christian Marriage” (talk to college students: PDF, MP3)

David Powlison, “Breaking Pornography Addiction” (article: part 1, part 2)

David Powlison, Making All Things New: Restoring Pure Joy to the Sexually Broken (conference talk: audio, video, and chapter)

John Piper, Battling the Unbelief of Lust (sermon in manuscript, audio)

John Piper, A.N.T.H.E.M: Strategies for Fighting Sexual Lust (article)

Mark Driscoll, Porn-Again Christian (free eBook)

Tim Challies, Sexual Detox: A Guide for the Single Guy (free eBook)

Tim Challies, Sexual Detox: A Guide for the Married Guy (free eBook)

Ed Welch, Crossroads: A Step-By-Step Guide Away from Addiction (study guide)

And here are a couple of books to consider purchasing:

Joshua Harris, Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is): Sexual Purity in a Lust-Saturated World (book)

Ed Welch, Crossroads: A Step-By-Step Guide Away from Addiction (study guide)

Kris Lundgaard, The Enemy Within: Straight Talk About the Power and Defeat of Sin (book on sin and temptation in general, built on John Owen’s work)

[HT:  Justin Taylor]

The Only Antidote To Sin Is The Gospel

Contrary to what many Christian’s have concluded, the gospel doesn’t just ignite the Christian life; it’s the fuel that keeps Christians going every day and in every way. Once God rescues sinners, his plan isn’t to steer them beyond the gospel but to move them more deeply into it. After all, the only antidote to sin is the gospel—and since Christians remain sinners even after they’re converted, the gospel must be the medicine a Christian takes every day. Since we never leave off sinning, we can never leave the gospel.

~ Tullian Tchividjian

D. A. Carson on The Gospel-Centered Life

“Some think of the gospel as so slender it does nothing more than get us into the kingdom. After that the real work of transformation begins. But a biblically-faithful understanding of the gospel shows that gospel to be rich, powerful, the wisdom of God and the power of God, all we need in Christ. It is the gospel that saves us, transforms us, conforms us to Christ, prepares us for the new heaven and the new earth, establishes our relations with fellow-believers, teaches us how to work and serve so as to bring glory to God, calls forth and edifies the church, and so forth. This gospel saves — and ’salvation’ means more than just ‘getting in,’ but transformed wholeness.”

- D. A. Carson, “Four Questions with D. A. Carson“

HT:  Of First Importance