by J.D. Greear
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:6

In contrast to the law, the apostle Paul said the gospel presents a righteousness and a power that is from God, what we might call an “alien” or “gift” righteousness.
The gospel reveals to us a God who is better than our idols, so it re-wins our hearts back to God. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “We all … beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed.” How is it that we are transformed from people who are idolaters to people who seek God’s glory? Not by doing, but by seeing—seeing God’s glory. And we see that glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
Most of the sins I struggle with have a common root: I give glory to what other people think about me. So even though I’m not an overly angry person, when I do get angry, it almost always goes back to me losing face with somebody.
When I worry—and I tend to worry a lot—it’s almost always a fear of the same thing. I have this irrational fear that one day I’m going to show up to church and learn that everybody has simultaneously decided, “He’s not that good; we’re going to go somewhere else.” I’ll walk into a huge sanctuary, and it’ll just be me, with my wife sitting on the front row. So I overwork. I cheat my family and the relationships that are close to me, because I’m afraid that if I’m not successful, I’m going to lose people’s admiration.
When I lie it’s always for one of two reasons. I tend to either exaggerate my accomplishments or minimize my weaknesses. Even here, I have the courage to tell you a few of my faults and be transparent, but deep down, a part of me is doing that so you’ll admire me for my transparency!
The point is this: you can tell me all day long to stop being angry, to stop lying, and to stop worrying, but until you change what I give glory to, I’m still obeying or disobeying out of self-interest. And that’s not going to last.

Thought to Remember for Today

Paul David Tripp said, “If we worshipped our way into sin, then the only way we can truly escape sin is to worship our way out.” The Bible says the gospel changes what we worship by revealing to us a God who is better and more glorious than our idols, so that we become people who do righteousness because we crave righteousness, who seek God because we love God.

Fitzpatrick, E. (2016). Grace untamed: a 60-day devotional. Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook.