Which of the following is the gospel talk? Talk 1 + Here is what the text says + Here is how we must live in light of that text + Now go and live that way Talk 2 + Here is what the text says + Here is how we must live in light of that text + Now go and live that way + But we can’t do it on our own, we need Jesus in our life + Now with Jesus, by grace, enabled by the Spirit we can live rightly Talk 3 + Here is what the text says + Here is how we must live in the light of that text + But we simply cannot do it + Ah - but there is One who did! Well Talk #1 is pretty obviously moralistic. Talk #2 looks a lot more like the gospel... But not quite. Despite all the talk of human inability, despite all the talk of Jesus and grace and God’s enabling, Talk #2 doesn’t actually give us the gospel. This is grace as a spiritual boost to help you do the right thing, not grace in the sense of the sovereign salvation of God through Christ’s death in the place of sinners. It’s really easy to slip int
Christopher Ash's Bible Delight is a wonderfully rich, pastorally sensitive exposition of Psalm 119. Taking a section at a time he slows us down to hear the music of grace in the background of what at first listen might sound strident; slows us down to dig up beautiful gems in apparently unpromising ground; slows us down to take in the nuances and carefulness of what might at first sight seem thrown together. If you haven't got a copy, check it out - it'll do your soul good. I recently read through Bible Delight a second (or maybe third) time and did a series of 22 little audios for my church small group. In this strange lockdown time many of us have been finding it hard to concentrate, hard to read more than a sentence, hard to pray. So this was intended as bitesize encouragement a few times a week. The format is simple: I read the section of Psalm 119 (almost always using Christopher Ash's own translation of the Hebrew); spend two or three minutes going through the