It’s not what a person does with God’s word that saves them. It’s what God’s word does with a person that saves them.
Yes, we are saved by grace through faith. And we are also sanctified by God’s grace through faith. But it’s God’s grace that produces that faith.
Some people believe in the virgin birth of the universe, but
they don’t believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. Or you could say it this way…People
believe in the virgin birth of the cosmos, and not in the virgin birth of the
Christ.
Part of proclaiming the gospel is pressing it’s demands.
Yes, the offer of forgiveness is free. But the gospel demands that you let go
of your idols and cling to a new identity. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 says that
Christians are those who turn away from serving idols in order to serve God.
Of course, you don’t lose all your idols at once. But as you come under true gospel preaching, idols are exposed and confronted. And Christ is presented as greater than what you’ve been holding onto, and you let the idol go and cling to Christ more fully, and deeply. But too many people are still clinging to their idols. I’m not talking about some statue. I’m talking about the idols in your heart. And true gospel preaching doesn’t feed your idol; it finds it and roots it out.
So, some people leave the church because they’re not getting
what they want. But they’re not getting what they want because their idol got
smashed.
