Many believers struggle with assurance of salvation, tending to approach obedience to God out of either guilt or legalism. We exist to display God’s glory, declare God’s gospel, and disciple for God’s Great Commission. Instead of embracing these truths, many Christians have believed the lie that their identity in Christ does not affect how they live their lives in obedience to him. The gospel tells us that ‘being’ (identity) comes before ‘doing’ (obedience). This lack of understanding our gospel identity frequently results in either legalistic pride or frustrating guilt. The purpose of this book is to help believers understand their identity in the three persons of the Trinity and then joyfully serve God with gospel obedience. The gospel indicatives in the Bible serve as the fountain and power for obeying the moral imperatives in the Bible. The gospel roots our assurance of salvation and motivation to obey God in our identity, not in moralism, which elevates our performance instead of exalting the finished work of Christ.
关于作者
Sean Cole is lead pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Sterling, Colorado. He has a DMin in Expository Preaching from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and an MDiv from Gateway Seminary. He also serves as an adjunct instructor of Old and New Testament, systematic theology, and biblical interpretation at Colorado Christian University. He hosts a podcast called “Understanding Christianity.” His wife is Dawn and they have two boys, Aidan and Zachary.