"True assurance of salvation can be found only in placing our faith in Christ alone, who has been raised for our justification (Rom 4:25; 1 Cor 15:20-23). Furthermore, true God-honoring holiness flows out of a gospel of free grace that does not measure our standing before God based upon any degree of moral performance. In fact, the gospel declares that Christ alone fulfilled all the obligations of the covenant on our behalf. Out of gratitude and not fear, then, the Christian, forgiven of sin and declared righteous by faith alone in Christ alone, pursues the kind of holiness that honors and delights God."Julius J. Kim: p. 396, "The Rise of Moralism in Seventeenth Century Anglican Preaching" - Covenant, Justification, Pastoral Ministry
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John Piper follows his teacher Daniel Fuller in calling gratitude a "debtors ethic". Step one---describe being thankful for the past (the cross) in one specific way. Step two, put the emphasis on the power of union with the resurrected Christ instead of past federal legal indicatives.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.afterthoughtsblog.net/2011/01/john-pipers-future-grace-chapter-1.html
http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/is-gratitude-a-bad-motivation-for-obeying-god
He paid a debt He did not owe;
ReplyDeleteI owed a debt I could not pay;
I needed someone to wash my sins away.
And, now, I sing a brand new song,
“Amazing Grace.”
Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.