Hey church fam,
As we near the end of our Gospel Matters teaching series, we want to jump back on the blog and offer a few more resource recommendations that will serve you (we hope!) as you do a deeper dive with your own reading and study. And Pastor Jordan and others on our staff have all made mention of The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur as one of the most helpful modern classics on this subject.
Listen to this quote by Pastor MacArthur:
"He is Lord and those who refuse Him as Lord cannot use Him as Savior. Everyone who receives Him must surrender to His authority, for to say we receive Christ when in fact we reject His right to reign over us is utter absurdity. It is a futile attempt to hold onto sin with one hand and take Jesus with the other. What kind of salvation is it if we are left in bondage to sin? ... To submit oneself to Christ’s Lordship—to recognize it and live under it—is to experience the fullest life that God intended you to live. It is to live life at maximum capacity. To refuse to recognize Jesus as Lord is to remain enslaved to sin" (210).
There are, thankfully, a great many amazing books purely on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But this particular one clarifies so much about what the Gospel IS, and what it ISN'T. It will help root your heart even farther down into the redeeming work of Jesus, and help you proclaim the Gospel to others more clearly. Please check it out if you've never read it!
BONUS RESOURCE: Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands by Paul Tripp. We recommend this book often as the best starting place for really learning how to APPLY the Gospel, first to your own life and then into the lives of others. This book will help you encourage and confront, and ultimately not sit passively by when you're aware others need encouragement that can only come from knowing and having joy in Christ.
Happy fall and happy reading!
