#61: How to live out the gospel of Easter year-round

How is the gospel of grace the antidote to doing more, living legalistically, and telling yourself to get it together? How can you live out the gospel of Easter year-round? What would it look like to not have to do more, follow all the rules, and exert all your willpower?

In this episode, you’ll learn:

The beauty of the one true gospel of grace
three false gospels you may live under instead of the gospel of grace
And how to live out the gospel in real life.

God’s gospel of grace says God is perfect and holy. That we are sinners. And that God sent His Son Jesus to pay the wage of our sin by dying on the cross. The gospel says God saves those who put their trust in His Son Jesus Christ.

Simple. Free. Relational. Hope-giving and grace-abounding.

Here are the top 3 false gospels try-hard girls believe:

One: The gospel of doing more and trying harder

The gospel of doing more and trying harder preaches that you must perform to earn your keep, your spot, and God’s love. It says your real issue isn’t sin, but that you aren’t trying hard enough.

The antidote to the Do More/Try Harder gospel is to receive the one true gospel of grace and worship Jesus for what He has already done.

Two: The gospel of rule-following

The gospel of rule-following preaches that you must meet a list of shoulds, demands, and expectations you’ve set for yourself or that others have hoisted upon you.

You’ve created internal, mental lists of all the things Good Moms or Good Daughters or Good Christians do and measure yourself by how close you were able to follow these best practices to be the Best Person You Can Be, instead of The Worst you desperately hope to avoid.

Some of the rules you’ve told yourself to follow are found in the Bible, like:

Go and make disciples
Care for the orphan and widow
Practice hospitality

Which makes them feel extra heavy. Jesus said His yoke is easy and His burden is light, yet your heart feels anything but.

This gospel tells you your real issue isn’t your lost-ness and sin, but that your imperfections can be cured by following the rules.

The antidote to the rule-following gospel is to ask one question then stay in context.

Start by asking yourself, “Jesus, what do you want me to do right now?” When you obey, remember that your context — your backdrop — — your reality — is being in a relationship with Jesus.

For every command in the Bible, the author assumes you are following Jesus, who is the source of your strength.

The third and final popular gospel of try-hard girls is the gospel of willpower.

The gospel of willpower preaches that the key to happiness and love and staying in God’s good graces is to just stop doing the problem behavior and to start doing what’s right by sheer force of will. It tells you that your real issue isn’t sin, but a lack of self-control.

The antidote to the willpower gospel is to surrender to the truth that you don’t have the self-control you need, but you do have the cross.

Our souls—the ones that yell at our kids, blame our spouse, talk snarkily about others, and relentlessly compare—need to hear these simple words: Jesus said: “It is finished,” and Paul wrote: “God began doing a good work in you. And he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again.”

Finishing is God’s job.

Soooooo…. how can you live out the gospel of grace in your real life?

The real gospel isn’t giving God your resume of how hard you’ve tried so you can earn His favor. The real gospel is based on Jesus and what He’s already done.

The real gospel isn’t about following every command outlined in the Bible or even in your own head so you can be perfect. The real gospel is Jesus is perfect and His righteousness becomes your righteousness.

The real gospel isn’t about telling yourself that you can stop sinning and start being good once you really focus. The real gospel is based solely on the cross and not promises you make to yourself.

Key Quotes

You do not need to try harder; you can sit down on the inside, knowing your God knows exactly what you need and He is working hard on your behalf.
You do not need to follow the rules; you can simply follow the Shepherd who knows exactly what pace to set and where to take you.
You do not need more determination; you can rest in what your Deliverer has already done.
The antidote to the willpower gospel is to surrender to the truth that you don’t have the self-control you need, but you do have the cross.