The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness

by Kevin DeYoung

True spirituality means being transformed by the Spirit through communion with the Father and the Son.

I suppose it’s the central creed of postmodernism that you can march to the beat of your own drummer as long as it beats in time with mine.

For as much as Luther derided the misuse of the law, he did not reject the positive role of the law in the believer’s life. The Lutheran Formula of Concord is absolutely right when it says, “We believe, teach, and confess that the preaching of the Law is to be urged with diligence, not only upon the unbelieving and impenitent, but also upon true believers, who are truly converted, regenerate, and justified by faith” (Epitome 6.2).

Perhaps we are slow to see any good in us because we don’t understand how bad we were. Your tiny spiritual life may seem less negligible when you consider that it comes from a heart that used to be spiritually dead. That you and I have any law-abiding willing and doing is a miracle of God’s grace.

It’s easy to become convinced that we can never change or that God is ready to kick us to the curb after we’ve screwed up in the same way for the millionth time. But don’t listen to yourself; preach to yourself. Go back to the gospel. Remember that there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). Remember that the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you (v. 11). Remember that you are a child of God, and if a child then an heir (vv. 16–17). Remember that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (vv. 38–39). God gives more grace (James 4:6). Draw near to him, recognize who you are in him, and keep on working to cleanse your hands and purify your hearts (v. 8).