Will your Christianity see you through? Dr. Ray Ortlund

Ray Ortlund, Lead Pastor Immanuel Church Nashville, Gospel Coalition Council Member

I am not worried about the cause of Christ.  He is holding his cause firmly in his mighty hands.  But I do wonder about us these days.  Are we ready for the hard times ahead?  Christianity can go through anything.  It always has, always will.  But will your Christianity see you through?  Will mine?

Some say that what we need in these dark days is a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Oh, I agree!  But the Holy Spirit is not a mere power surge.  The Spirit works with the Word, “the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17).  The gospel is the power of God (Romans 1:16).

Others say that what we need in these dark days is more evangelism, more conversions.  I agree with this too!  But what are the beliefs we are asking people to commit to?  In the early church, new conversions were so linked to the gospel itself that they were described like this: “the word of God continued to increase” (Acts 6:7), “the word of God increased and multiplied” (Acts 12:24), “the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily” (Acts 19:20).

Still others say that what we need in these dark days is cultural engagement, addressing the burning issues of the day, shining a prophetic light into the corridors of power in Washington, the studios of Hollywood, the lecture halls of the universities, and so forth.  Again, I agree!  But when the prophets of old spoke with compelling power, how did they themselves think of it?  “Hear the word of the Lord” (Isaiah 1:10), “Thus says the Lord” (Jeremiah 4:3), “The word of the Lord came to me” (Ezekiel 7:1).

 An outpouring of the Holy Spirit without the Word would create energy without direction.  An explosion of new conversions without the Word would create enthusiasm without wisdom.  A prophetic voice rebuking our nation without the Word would create pompous self-righteousness.  We need the Spirit.  We need evangelism.  We need a prophetic edge.  But the key to it all is the Word of God.  The Christianity that will carry us through the hard times ahead grows from our deep immersion in the Word.  Is that kind of depth your Christianity?  It must be.  It can be.

Here’s the best part.  The great message of the Bible is not “Do better, try harder!”  Demands do not help us.  They only exhaust us.  But the message of the whole Bible, from cover to cover, is good news for bad people through the finished work of Christ on the cross.  The Holy Spirit empowers that message.  Converts rally to that message.  Our nation needs that message.  You and I need that message way down deep, over and over again, stated in new ways, touching new places within, so that the power of God starts healing our every fear, every regret, every shame, everything that holds us back.  Then, with strong biblical confidence that God is not against us but for us, we can face anything.  And a century from now, our great-grandchildren will be telling stories of our courageous resilience in hard times.

You do not have to brace yourself against a theological onslaught of impossible burdens and terrifying threats.  That is not God’s Word.  I am calling you today to dive deeply into the biblical gospel, that good news for bad people through the finished work of Christ on the cross.  I love the way Richard Lovelace put it in his classic book, The Dynamics of Spiritual Life.  This quote is long, and every word is worth reading:

“Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives.  Many have so light an apprehension of God’s holiness and of the extent and guilt of their sin that consciously they see little need for justification, although below the surface of their lives they are deeply guilt-ridden and insecure.  Many others have a theoretical commitment to this doctrine, but in their day-to-day existence they rely on their sanctification for justification, drawing their assurance of acceptance with God from their sincerity, their past experience of conversion, their recent religious performance or the relative infrequency of their conscious, willful disobedience.  Few know enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luther’s platform: you are accepted, looking outward in faith and claiming the wholly external righteousness of Christ as the only ground for acceptance, relaxing in that quality of trust which will produce increasing sanctification as faith is active in love and gratitude.

In order for a pure and lasting work of spiritual renewal to take place within the Church, multitudes within it must be led to build their lives on this foundation.  This means that they must be conducted into the light of a full conscious awareness of God’s holiness, the depth of their sin and the sufficiency of the atoning work of Christ for their acceptance with God, not just at the outset of their Christian lives but in every succeeding day.  It is only the blood of Jesus Christ which is able “to purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:14).”

Here is the Christianity that will get you and me through every living hell we will ever face: we are accepted in the Beloved!

 Let’s come together at FutureChurch2020, daring to believe that the gospel is the power of God for the salvation you and I are going to need in the days ahead.