Wash My Feet, Lord: Living the Cross Centered Life: Part One

"Wash My Feet, Lord"

I am a sinner, saved by grace, loving and loved by the Saviour, and striving to live the words of Scripture throughout my sanctification. I need to be convicted and changed more into the image of Christ. I desire to share with you, within this blog, all that I am daily learning. I want to serve Christ and become more and more like Him. I don’t want to live a legalistic life, but I do want to live a holy one. I want to see God receive the glory He deserves. I want to see the depth and richness of the Gospel come back to the Church. I want to see God’s people encouraging and building one another up in Christ. I want to encourage young people, and be encouraged by them, to live a set-apart life. I want to give up my life for the sake of the Kingdom and it’s King.
May you accept what is written here, if it truly honors the Lord, as coming from a heart that purely wants to honor Jesus Christ, my Savior. As He teaches me, rebukes me, corrects me, and trains me in righteousness, I hope to grow in my knowledge and love for Him. May everything that is said here bring Him glory. If I stray from the truths of Scriptures, please tell me. May my words be full of grace, as though seasoned with salt. May "the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.” (Ps. 19:14)

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Living the Cross Centered Life: Part One

I have been reading through a wonderfully simple yet profound book with some friends called "Living the Cross Centered Life" by C.J. Mahaney. God has used this little book to encourage me, strengthen my faith, and ultimately draw me closer to Jesus Christ. I have grown in my love for Him through each chapter simply because Mr. Mahaney constantly and faithfully points me back to Scriptural truth.

I have gathered together favorite verses, quotations, and profound realities that have impacted me through this study in a basic summary of each chapter, and I wanted to share them with you.

I would highly recommend this book. Consider purchasing it online or from your local Christian bookstore. I know it will encourage you and exhort you to live a Cross Centered life for the glory of Christ!

Living the Cross Centered Life

Introduction
At the Core: Life’s Most Important Truth Can Be the Easiest to Forget

“The Cross is the blazing fire at which the flame of our love is kindled, but we have to get near enough for its sparks to fall on us.” – John Stott

• What is your life centered on? What are you most passionate about? What defines you?
• 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” This is the one transcendent truth that should define our lives. It should “motivate all our work and affect every part of who we are.”
• Nothing is greater or more important than the fact that “God sent His Son to the Cross to bear His wrath for sinners like you and me.”
• “The gospel is not only the most important message in all of history; it is the only essential message in all of history. Yet we allow thousands of professing Christians to live their entire lives without clearly understanding it and experiencing the joy of living by it.” –Jerry Bridges
• The Cross must remain our MAIN focus.
• Things that cloud out our focus on the Cross:
1. Subjectivism – basing our view of God on our changing feelings and emotions
2. Legalism – basing our relationship with God on our own performance
3. Condemnation – being more focused on our sin than on God’s grace
• If the Gospel is not the main thing in my life, am I willing to repent to God and reorder my life with His help?
• We never get over the Cross!
• Grace is more amazing when we look intently at the Cross

Chapter One
The Climax and the Key: Why the Cross Should Define Our Lives

“The Gospel cannot be preached and heard enough, for it cannot be grasped well enough...Moreover, our greatest task is to keep you faithful to this article and to bequeath this treasure to you when we die.” – Martin Luther

• Am I held captive by the Gospel?
• In order to live a cross centered life, I must have a life that is saved and transformed by the Cross
• Do I minimize the seriousness of sin?
• Do I understand that God is fiercely opposed to sin and that He must punish it?
• Aware of God’s wrath – amazed at God’s grace!
• The Gospel is the key to joy, growth, and passion!

“There has never been one moment in your life that has not been tainted by sin, and there was never one moment in the life of Jesus Christ that had been tainted by sin.” –Paul Washer

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

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Wash My Feet, Lord

This blog is about sin, salvation, sanctification, and the Savior. The title comes from John 13. The book of Luke tells of the disciples arguing in the upper room during the Passover meal about who was the greatest. All too proud to humble themselves, the twelve were stunned into silence as Jesus gently brought out the basin of water and a towel and washed the feet of the ones He loved. But when He comes to Peter, he says to Jesus, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”Pastor John Macarthur explains this passage in his NASB notes on John 13: 6-10, “While others remained silent, Peter, perhaps on behalf of others, spoke up in indignation that Jesus would stoop so low as to wash his feet. He failed to see beyond the humble service itself to the symbolism of spiritual cleansing involved. Jesus’ response made the real point of His actions clear: Unless the Lamb of God cleanses a person’s sin (as portrayed in the symbolism of washing), one can have no part with Him. The cleansing that Christ does at salvation never needs to be repeated – atonement is complete at that point. But all who have been cleansed by God’s gracious justification need constant washing in the experiential sense as they battle sin in the flesh. Believers are justified and granted imputed righteousness, but still need sanctification and personal righteousness.”So here lies the essence of this blog. We are all sinners in desperate need of salvation. After we are declared righteous by God - justified, and repent of our sin, we live the lifelong process of sanctification. This is only possible because of the Saviour. Just as Peter and the disciples needed Jesus to wash their feet, so, too, do we need Jesus to forgive us and cleanse us of the sin in our lives. We need His correction, reproof, teaching, and discipline throughout our lives. For those who do not know Christ, the entire body must be cleansed, but for those who have been given new hearts, we must recognize our utter helplessness without Him and say, “Lord, wash my feet.”