Did you watch the secretly-made PP video (previous post) and recoil in horror? A physician who took an oath to do no harm both performs abortions and sells the body parts of those children deliberately torn apart in surgery. How barbaric.
Says the barbarian.
“We pretend that we are better than we are. We deny the evidence of our wrongdoing. We avoid facing our badness.” (Eugene Peterson) The gospel was academic theology to me for about 14 years of my ministry. I don’t remember how it hit me but it did–like a runaway semi: I am exactly like the murderer on death row; exactly. God views my love affair with others’ approval, my dalliances with lust, my disdain of this or that person, exactly like he views the convict. Or the pedophile; or the doctor at Planned Parenthood.
…everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard (Romans 3:23). Everyone. No distinctions made between different kinds of sinners–between modest and horrific ones. No allowances made for sincere motives or good intentions. All seen in the same light by a God whose eyes blaze with holiness, not tolerance. For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws (James 2:10). It was this bad news that took my breath away and finally promoted the good news from theology to oxygen.
He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins (Ephesians 1:7). Recently visiting another church, Betty and I sang about the blood of Jesus and I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. I wished they had dimmed the house lights. But I will never never get over the fact that Jesus paid it all for me. For a barbarian. That the Holy invaded the unholy with His blood–the gospel, and made the unholy, holy. Forever. GLORY TO GOD!
It is this, that can curb judgment of others; this, that can tamp down disgust and fuel love; it is the gospel that changes “You’re a horrible person!” to “God loved you so much that He’s making you the same offer he made a barbarian like me: Jesus.”
Gospel-Centered Life 