Prayer- Overflow From Confidence in Christ
The Gospel is about receiving Christ as a gift and resting in what He did for us, not what we did for Him.
This sermon emphasizes that the core of the Gospel is receiving and resting in the gift of who Christ is and what He did for us, rather than focusing on our own actions. It highlights the grand exchange where our sins are placed on Christ, and His righteousness is imputed to us, making us 100% acceptable to God solely through Christ. Any attempt to add our own righteousness or good works is considered self-righteousness, and true freedom in the Gospel comes from fully relying on Christ alone.
Full Transcript
Christ died for my sins is shorthand for the only way to have God 100% on my side is to receive, rest in as a gift, who Christ is and what He did for me, not who I am and what I did for Him. That's the heart of the Gospel. And it's resting there where discipline can come from and resistance to legalistic discipline can come from, and whether it comes from there makes all the difference as to whether we're operating in the freedom of the Gospel.
Here's a biblical basis for that statement about the Gospel. 2 Corinthians 5.21 God made Him to be sin. God made Jesus to be sin, who knew no sin, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
So God takes our sin and imputes it to Christ. And God takes Christ's righteousness and imputes it to us. This is 2 Corinthians 5.21, one of the most glorious verses in the Bible for getting at the heart of the Gospel.
This grand exchange. My sins go on Him. His righteousness goes on me.
And because of that and that alone, am I 100% acceptable. He is 100%, not 99.9% on my side. He is 100% on my side on one basis alone.
Who Christ is and what He did for me. I get in on that by childlike, yes, yes, I will have that. Receiving Him, my Lord, my Savior, my treasure, I take Him.
If that's the deal, yes. But if we say, I think I want to provide a little bit of righteousness on my own. I'm going to pray.
Or I'm going to resist all that legalistic prayer stuff. And that'll count. That'll be the 1%.
The 0.1%. And He'll finish being on my side now. I get Him totally on my side by doing some stuff. Good stuff.
And that's called self-righteousness. It's all of Christ. The basis is all of Christ.
Praying is overflow from that confidence. Or resisting legalistic praying is overflow from that confidence.
Sermon Outline
- I. The Heart of the Gospel
- A. Receiving Christ as a gift
- B. Resting in what He did for us, not what we did for Him
- II. The Biblical Basis for the Gospel
- A. 2 Corinthians 5:21 - God imputes our sin to Christ and His righteousness to us
- III. The Grand Exchange
- A. My sins go on Him
- B. His righteousness goes on me
- IV. Confidence in Christ
- A. I am 100% acceptable to God because of Christ
- B. I get in on this by receiving Christ as my Lord and Savior
Key Quotes
“Christ died for my sins is shorthand for the only way to have God 100% on my side is to receive, rest in as a gift, who Christ is and what He did for me, not who I am and what I did for Him.” — John Piper
“This is 2 Corinthians 5.21, one of the most glorious verses in the Bible for getting at the heart of the Gospel.” — John Piper
“Praying is overflow from that confidence. Or resisting legalistic praying is overflow from that confidence.” — John Piper
Application Points
- Prayer should be an overflow of confidence in Christ, not a means of earning God's favor.
- We should rest in what Christ did for us, not try to provide our own righteousness.
- Our acceptance to God is based on who Christ is and what He did for us, not who we are and what we did for Him.