Delighting in the law

Sealed in my heart that day was the truth that unless the gospel is made explicit, unless we clearly articulate that our righteousness is imputed to us by Jesus Christ, that on the cross he absorbed the wrath of God aimed at us and washed us clean-even if we preach biblical words on obeying God-people will believe that Jesus's message it that he has come to condemn the world, not save it.

But the problem is deeper than that and more pervasive. If we don't make sure the gospel is explicit, if we don't put up the cross and the perfect life of Jesus Christ as our hope, then people can get confused and say, "Yes, I believe in Jesus. I want to be saved. I want to be justified by God," but then can begin attempting to earn his salvation. By taking the cross out of the functional equation, moral therapeutic deism promotes the wrong-headed idea that God probably needs our help in the work of justification and most certainly needs us to carry the weight of our sanctification, as well. The result is innumerable Christians suffering under the burden of the law's curse because they have not been led to see that gospel-centered living is the only way to delight in the law.

 (Chandler, Matt, and Jared C. Wilson. The Explicit Gospel. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012. Print. 208-9)

Staying true to the message

From The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler:

Despite the fact that the history of our syncretism clearly shows us that removing the offensive parts of our faith in order to gain followers merely kills our faith, people continue to try this. As the slide down this slope continues, we see the adherence to substitutionary atonement disappear, because it is by far the most offensive doctrine. Once we remove the bloody atonement as satisfaction of God's wrath for sin, the wheels really come off. Where the substitutionary atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross is preached and proclaimed, missions will not spin off to a liberal shell of a lifeless message but will stay true to what God has commanded the church to be in the Scriptures. (197-98)

Does death have a sting?

As I blog through The Explicit Gospel, I am reminded how readable-fun, helpful, clear-this book is. It is definitely an book you could give as a gift to a wide audience; young, old, believer, non-believer, and almost anyone. Consider the following passage that is both humorous and helpful.

Commenting on 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 Chandler writes:

I have heard this text used shoddily at funerals. Preachers shout, "Where is your sting, O death?" just inches away from an occupied casket. I always want to shout back, "it's right there! There's the sting!"

Do you see in 1 Corinthians 15 when death loses its sting? Do you see when it's swallowed up in victory and can no longer create mourning? It is when we put on the imperishable. So, at funerals we mourn and we hurt; death stings, and there is a real loss. This text rightly used at a funeral should point us to the hope of the day where it won't sting any longer.

In that day, the victory of Christ over death will be tangible, palpable, and visceral. (169)

The wonder of the world reflects the wonder of the gospel

From Matt Chandler in The Explicit Gospel:

If you know somewhere in the world that is renowned for its spectacular views, what you see is nevertheless broken, and what is to come in the earth is far beyond what you can fathom or imagine. The work that God does in us through the power of the gospel of Jesus' redemptive work is a glorious mystery, a matter of eternal interest to curious angels (1 Peter 1:12). Is it any wonder that we must have a world to match the wonder of salvation? (164)

Butcher, baker, candlestick maker

If you are a teacher, if you are a politician, if you are a businessman, if you are in agriculture, if you are in construction, if you are in technology, if you are in  the arts, then you should not be saying, "I need to find my life's purpose in this work," but rather, "I need to bring God's purpose to this work." The missional Christian should see all things through the lens of the gospel, because the gospel's aim is "all things."

(Chandler, Matt, and Jared C. Wilson. The Explicit Gospel. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012. Print.149)

The gospel unchanged

We are never, ever, ever going to make Christianity so cool that everybody wants it. That's a fool's errand. It is chasing the wind. We can't repaint the faith. It doesn't need our help anyway.

Every effort to remake the Christian faith leads to wickedness. Every effort to adjust the gospel so it appears more appealing, more palatable, is foolishness. This is liberal theology's only play in the playbook. "Let's get rid of the atoning work of Jesus Christ because it's harsh. Let's get rid of hell because it is offensive. Let's save Christianity by changing Christianity." . . . 

The spiritual power in the gospel is denied when we augment or adjust the gospel into no gospel at all.

(Chandler, Matt, and Jared C. Wilson. The Explicit Gospel. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012. Print. 80-1, emphasis mine)

Chandler and Wilson on being inoculated to Jesus

From The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler and Jared Wilson:

I meet a lot of people swimming neck deep in Christian culture who have been inoculated to Jesus Christ. They have just enough of him to not want all of him. When that happens, what you have are people who have been conformed to a pattern of religious behavior but not transformed by the Holy Spirit of God. This explains why we see a lot of people who know objective spiritual truths but in the end have failed to apply them in such a way that their lives demonstrate real change. They're hearing, but they're not hearing. (72)

Ambivalence unlikely

"Jesus puts it simply: "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters" (Matt. 12:30). The gospel is such power that it necessitates reaction. Jesus Christ has worked such an outrageous wonder that he demands response, whether hatred or passion. Anyone ambivalent about what Christ has actually done just isn't clear on the facts. To present the gospel, then, is to place a hearer in an untenable position. The heart of the hearer of the gospel must move, either toward Christ or away from him."

(Chandler, Matt, and Jared C. Wilson. The Explicit Gospel. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012. Print. 63)

No one who's guilty wants justice

The chasm between heaven and hell is illustrative of the chasm between God and us. He is glorious; we are not. He is holy; we are not. He is righteous; we are not. And this chasm between God's total perfection and our total depravity deserves the the chasm of stinking, smoldering Ghenna.


This is good information to know. It is true information, and it's always good to know the truth. But the problem with this information alone is that it is insufficient to keep us out of the chasm. If someone is heading over a cliff, for instance, it makes little sense to hand him a pictorial display of what will happen when he goes over and crashes onto the rocks below.


What I mean is that we can receive this information of God's severity, we can note it, as Paul tells us to do, and we can explore the biblical array of God's wrath, eternal conscious torment of hell, and how we all deserve both of them, but this information is not sufficient for us to praise God. Have you ever watched Court TV and seen the judge slam down the gavel and say, "I sentence you to die by lethal injection," and heard the convicted party go, "Yeah! I love you, Judge!" No, you haven't. We don't see that, because no one who's guilty wants justice; he wants mercy.

Chandler, Matt, and Jared C. Wilson. The Explicit Gospel. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012. Print. 48-9

Idolatrous and cowardly avoidance

This avoidance of the difficult things of Scripture-of sinfulness and hell and God's notable severity-is idolatrous and cowardly. If a man or woman who teaches the Scriptures is afraid to explain to you the severity of God, they have betrayed you, and they love their ego more than they love you. In the same way that it is not loving or kind not to coach your children on the dangers of the street and the dangers of the swimming pool, so it is not loving not to warn men and women about the severity of God.

When you couple this avoidance with some of the modernist theology that has Jesus floating around like some mystical Ghandi, never angry at anybody, a dispenser of bumper-sticker platitudes and discount fortune cookies, you've got the perfect storm of those who have no awe, no respect, and no real worship for the God of the universe.

Failing to note the severity of God is attempted theft of all he's due. To discount, disguise, or disbelieve what God does in response to the falling short of his glory is, in itself, falling short of his glory.

(Chandler, Matt, and Jared C. Wilson. The Explicit Gospel. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012. Print. 41)