Ministry to Men
Introduction
We gather to make progress together in holiness. God has definitively proclaimed Christians holy because of Christ (the Gospel of our justification). Part of being a Christian means seeing God’s grace permeate and make holy our daily lives (the Gospel of our sanctification). That’s the focus of our meetings, broadly. In the narrow sense, we’re going to figure out how the Gospel transforms us at painfully deep, intimate, even secret levels, giving us freedom from enslaving sins like sexual addictions. Along with being offensive to God, sexual sins dampen our ability to truly love others, and distort our understanding and appreciation for real beauty. Men of all stripes struggle with this, and need to know Gospel freedom.
We’re not interested in fighting one sin by using another sin. What good is it to strengthen our pride in order to overpower our lust? Why would we want to use guilt or the fear of man to make progress in freedom and holiness? Will feeding the flesh in one area to starve it in another really bring us closer to God and godliness? These methods are not The Gospel Method, and if we preached them to each other, we are not servants of Christ (Gal. 1:8-10).
Strangely, our hope for freedom comes partly by recognizing our hopelessness: we’re sinners! We’re always going to sin, every day. There is no hope of perfection in this life. Sure, we’ll get better here and there, but a lot of our motivations for getting better aren’t that great, and we sure can’t become good enough to be satisfied with ourselves (if we’re honest). Why is this helpful? Because now you won’t set your hope in the wrong thing. You won’t get depressed because you’re not perfect, if perfection isn’t the promised expectation. Christianity isn’t about becoming a sinless person—it’s about a sinner finding forgiveness and freedom in the grace of God in Christ.
So what is the grace of God in Christ for us? It’s the truth of the Gospel. It’s the love of God. It’s the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It’s the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. It’s freedom from the penalty and power of sin—even though not fully realized in this life.
What does this freedom look like? It looks dangerously close to antinomianism (thinking that Christians don’t “have to” obey the law of God). Historically speaking, those who “get” the Gospel have been accused by those who are more legalistic of being licentious. Martin Luther said, “Be a sinner, and sin boldly, but believe more boldly still. Sin shall not drag us away from Him….” He loved the law of God, but it was only the grace of God that let him love the law. Grace—the freedom to be a sinner found in Christ—is the foundation for keeping the law, which is what we want to do as Christians.
What’s the best feeling in the world? For me, it’s coming to communion after hearing the Gospel proclaimed—Christ’s life, death, and resurrection for me, a sinner. When I hear the forgiveness and love and grace of God pronounced on me—a sinner!—a great feeling of holy joy overwhelms me. This Gospel-driven sense of fellowship with God and his people is what conquers the desires to sin. At that moment, sin is the most repulsive thing in the world. We need to learn to cultivate that appreciation for the Gospel in our daily lives in order to cast off the shackles of evil desires from our hearts. On this our group will focus.
— Eric
Books We Recommend
Steve Brown | A Scandalous Freedom: The Radical Nature of the Gospel
Bryan Chapell | Holiness by Grace: Delighting in the Joy That Is Our Strength
Walter Marshall | The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification
Harry Schaumburg | False Intimacy: Understanding the Struggle of Sexual Addiction
Edward T. Welch | Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave: Finding Hope in the Power of the Gospel
Lauren Winner | Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity
Other Resources
Men’s Holiness Club Monthly Audio Sermons
Comments on this entry are closed.