If you’ve been tracking with me so far, I’ve made a bold claim that the gospel IS actually all about YOU! Contrary to the offense of the older brother standing outside the party, the Father HAS in fact made it all about YOU. Throwing his arms around YOU, kissing YOU, putting a ring, robe, and sandals on YOU, and throwing a party with great food, music, and dancing for YOU!

The older brother forgot that the Father had been loving HIM the whole time as well (Luke 15:31). 

But what about “picking up your cross, denying yourself, and following Jesus?” Last month I pointed out that none of the disciples were actually successful at doing that. They all deserted Jesus when he was arrested and stopped following him. Ultimately, in our own strength, we all fail at being a true disciple.

But we know the story doesn’t end there. Praise God! Hopefully you’re starting to connect the dots yourself, because for those who know their bible, you know that Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father which was, of course, the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5).   

They couldn’t pick up their cross or follow ANY of the commands of Jesus apart from the indwelling Holy Spirit. 

Here is the reality of the gospel–the good news–of Jesus: Apart from him you can do nothing (John 15:5). 

True Obedience

One of the most significant misunderstandings of modern Christianity is this: we live life like we are separated from Jesus and we are now trying to obey him in our own strength. This is a big fat swing and a miss. This is not Christianity. 

Christianity reveals that in what we failed to do, Jesus has done for us. We all became disobedient and fell short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). But there was one who was obedient on our behalf: Jesus! Look at this verse that perfectly sums up the good news: 

“For just as through the disobedience of the one man (Adam) the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man (Jesus) the many will be made righteous.”

– Romans 5:19

Does this stuff sound different to you? Does it sound foreign? I expect that it does for many people. The church of the present day simply does not understand the gospel well. 

Let me spell it out for you one more time: Left to our own devices, we all fail at being obedient to God. Therefore, God sent his son, who became obedient for us and we are now considered righteous as a free gift of grace (see Romans 5:12-21). 

God has made YOU righteous through the obedient act of his Son (which culminated with his death on the cross). Yes, God did this all for YOU! If you feel like you’re failing at Christianity, there’s a good chance you are! But God is trying to bring you to the end of yourself so that you’ll stop trying to please him in your own strength and just accept the free gift that he’s already done the work for you. 

We are not trying to be obedient in our own strength apart from God. God has sent his Son and his Spirit to live on the inside of us so that he can carry us from the inside out, bearing the fruit of the Spirit through us. 

As a church, we say we believe in the Trinity but in practice we live like “Jesus-only” people. We think Jesus is up in heaven and we’re down here just trying to do our best to follow him. We’re completely missing it. The Father sent his Son to finish the work on the cross for us so that we can receive the free gift of the Spirit. Father, Son, and Spirit are all here with us now. And they will never leave us nor forsake us. 

True obedience in the New Testament is simply keeping in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25). The Holy Spirit is a FREE GIFT for YOU and all you have to do is just stay in the gift. Abide. Be. Let him be your strength from the inside out. 

The Flow of the Spirit

Just flow with the Spirit. And what does that look like? Love. Duh. How could we forget? The greatest commandments, right? Love God and love our neighbor. These are the things Paul said were the greatest of all (1 Corinthians 13). Love is the way of the Spirit and if you really want some kind of “obedience,” there it is! 

I think we all desire the same things. Revival, joy, miracles, love, healing, the restoration of families and marriages, children fostered and adopted, hungry people fed, lost people saved. But I just want to say that we can only get there if we acknowledge that God has included us in his Son and in his Spirit, and that includes you and me. We are not separated from God. God has put his Spirit inside of YOU! 

If we are going to a religious extreme and believing that we are separated from Jesus under the guise of “I don’t want to make it about me,” we are missing the gospel. Jesus DID make it all about you. He gave his very life for YOU. And he is continually holding YOU together in his arms. In that truth, we can see people set free and watch as the world awakens to the glory that already fills all things (see Habakkuk 2:14 and Isaiah 6:3). 

Jesus HAS made it all about you. He’s included you in his death and resurrection. And yet, here in my last part of this series, I will say it clearly: It’s not all about you 🙂 We are a part of something bigger and more beautiful than any of us can fathom. We are a part of the family of the eternal Trinity–Father, Son, and Spirit. We are a part of the family of God, this extraordinary universe, and the new heaven and new earth that God is revealing. So yes, don’t be selfish, don’t make it all about you. Jesus already did that! Now go and be a blessing to the people around you, making it all about THEM!