“The Hope of the Gospel: Life-Changing Power that Can Heal Your Relationships”

Sande, Ken & Kevin Johnson Resolving Everyday Conflict. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011.

Chapter 2 “The Hope of the Gospel: Life-Changing Power that Can Heal Your Relationships”

Trying to obey the Bible’s commands to love one another seems impossible. We read passages like John 13:35, John 17:23, and John 17:21 and we realize that we do not have the kind of impact on our world that Jesus is talking about. In fact, we are often trying to love one another in our own power, not in Jesus’ power. We follow our world’s patterns and end up being seen by the broader community as people who aren’t so different from anyone else. But Jesus lays out something distinctive for us.

Lutherans have classified this for generations as a right distinction between Law and Gospel. As Sande and Johnson put it, we do actually know what is right. But we don’t have the power to do it. Jesus gives us commands. Yet while we can understand them we are not able to follow them. Our following the Law of God will never save us (Romans 8:3) and even if our current obedience to God’s Law could wipe out past sins we aren’t going to be able to keep the Law well enough. We are commanded by God to live at peace. And we can’t do it.

Enter the Gospel, what God has done for us, as opposed to what we do for God. The Gospel tells us that Jesus is the one who has made peace with us. He is the one who has wiped away the alienation that existed between man and God (Colossians 1:21-22). It is very simple, though it is not something we could do. John 3:16 points out that God loved us by having Jesus perish on our behalf so we could believe and live in him. We confess that we cannot earn God’s approval (Romans 3:20, Ephesians 2:8-9), that Jesus paid for our sins (Isaiah 53:1-12, 1 Peter 2:24-25), and that Jesus gives us his perfect righteousness. As we live in that Gospel we end up living as people who have been transformed by Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17, 2 Corinthians 5:15).

Of course, despite being changed by the Gospel we don’t live consistently as Christ’s chosen people. We would find this life much easier if we did. The good news is that we continue to repent and believe and our Savior continues to cleanse us from sin. Living as a Christian is an ongoing activity (Colossians 3:12-15) in which we strive to put on the character of our Lord. We pray for one another as Paul prayed for his disciples in Ephesians 3:16-19 that we may see and know the power of Christ dwelling in our hearts. Then we repent, pray to believe, and ask the Lord to use us as his instruments, loving our enemies (1 John 3:16, Luke 6:27-28), resolving conflicts (Romans 5:8, Matthew 5:23-24, Matthew 18:15), confessing our faults (1 John 1:8-9), and seeking to be witnesses of God’s mercy (2 Corinthians 5:15-21).

The great good news is that the Gospel changes us, even in this world.

Discussion Questions:
1) In what area of my life to I see right now that I need the Gospel?
2) Are our attempts to keep God’s Law necessarily bad? Why or why not?
3) How would the Lord work through me to care for others?
4) Is there someone I can work with to memorize and discuss the Scriptures in this chapter?