A Reflection on Gospel Rest
"The Gospel encourages me to rest in my righteous standing with God, a standing which Christ himself has accomplished and always maintains for me. I never have to do a moments labor to gain or maintain my justified status before God. Freed from the burden of such a task, I now can put my energies into enjoying God, pursuing holiness and ministering God's amazing grace to others."
- Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer, p. 20
From time to time, as part of my own personal worship, I turn to The Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent. It contains a series of reflections on the beauties of the Gospel and its applications that are really life giving. For instance, the quote above contains a vista that is truly breathtaking. It is hard to comprehend that, redeemed by Christ, we never have to do a moment’s labor to gain or to maintain our justified status before God. By faith in Christ, each of us is fully justified right now. When Christ comes in all his glory we will not be more justified than we are today. If we turn our minds to all the saints that have lived throughout the ages, we realize that we are as fully justified in Christ as they ever were. Paul or Priscilla, David or Abigail, Peter or Phoebe: none of them were more justified than we are right now. We cannot add one iota to our justification, nor can we take away from it. Amazing!
And Vincent’s application is right on. Enjoy God. Pursue Holiness. Reflect the amazing, breathtaking grace of God to others. We do these things because of who we are in Christ. As I think about what this means for me, I pray that this reflection would start in my family. That my wife and kids would know the peace and joy of a man who knows he is justified. As I think about what this means for Christ Church as a whole, my hope is that others could see an easy freedom in each of us that comes from being secure in the Gospel.
Photo by Neil Thomas on Unsplash