The elders and deacons have been going through Paul Tripp’s book “How People Change.” I think we would all highly recommend it. I will probably be posting many more quotes from it in the future. Take a few minutes and reflect on this one.
The Christian hope is more than a redemptive system with practical principles that can change your life. The hope of every Christian is a person, the Redeemer, Jesus Christ. He is the wisdom behind every biblical principle and the power we need to live them out. Because Christ lives inside us today, because He rules all things for our sakes (Eph. 2:22-23), and because He is presently putting all His enemies under His feet (1 Cor. 15:25-28), we can live with courage and hope.
Our hope is not in our theological knowledge or our experience within the body of Christ. We are thankful for these things, yet we hold onto one hope: Christ. In Him we find everything we need to live a godly life in the here and now. Paul captures it so well: ‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal. 2:20).’ -pg. 17-18