Have you connected your passage to the cross but don’t know what to do with that info? Are you standing there saying, “Hey look, this passage points to Jesus,” and your audience asks, “So what?”
You have an application problem.
Do your gospel-centered connections let your hearers off the hook when it comes to obedience? It’s easy to slip into antinomianism – preaching grace in such a way that we minimize or even eliminate obedience. That was not Jesus’ desire for us when he went to the cross for our sin so it shouldn’t be our desire in preaching.
You have an application problem.
Your gospel-centered sermons fail because it is not enough to simply find a connection between a passage and the cross. The connection must also impact the way we live.
Why does this happen? It’s easy to get caught up in finding Christ in all of Scripture and then forget to actually apply this knowledge. When we focus all on the “hunt” we might not remember what the hunt is for. When we forget the purpose we end up saying, “Look at this great fact,” without any context or application. At that point we’re simply showing off knowledge without any effect. In fact, if the gospel-centered connection has no impact on our lives highlighting it diminishes our love for the gospel.
“It is not enough to find a connection between a passage and the cross. The connection must impact the way we live.”
We must apply the text’s gospel connections to our hearers. But how do we do that? I can think of at least seven ways we can choose to apply the gospel to our obedience. But not all are created equal. Continue reading