Signs that we are trusting the wrong thing.

Some signs that we are trusting in our own righteousness and don’t understand the gospel.

• When we sin do we first think of our own reputation and not how we have dishonored our heavenly father?
• Do we think that when we sin God loves us less, and when we have done that “Good Christian Day”  that God loves us more.
• When confronted with our sin by others do we lash out because of our wounded pride?
• When we sin,  do we say things like “I am a better person than that”.
• Is our view of repentance mainly that we should try to do good to pay God back?
• When we sin do we hide from God?
• Do you pity those lost without Christ or do we criticize their ungodliness?
• When those inside the church fall, do we feel in some way superior to them?
• Are our good works the fruit of being justified by faith alone or the fruit of wanting to be thought well of and accepted by God.

And most importantly.

How do you view the cross? Is it precious to you? Do you weep and rejoice at what God has done? Do you see the glory of Christ and are you overwhelmed with emotion at what you see?  The glory you see in the cross is in direct proportion to how you view your need for it.  People who think they are pretty good don’t love the cross, but those who are trusting in Christ alone for righteousness can’t stop thinking about it.

When the glory of God is the treasure of our lives

When the glory of God is the treasure of our lives, we will not lay up treasures on earth, but spend them for the spread of his glory. We will not covet, but overflow with liberality. We will not crave the praise of men, but forget ourselves in praising God. We will not be mastered by sinful, sensual pleasures, but sever their root by the power of a superior promise. We will not nurse a wounded ego or cherish a grudge or nurture a vengeful spirit, but will hand over our cause to God and bless those who hate us. Every sin flows from the failure to treasure the glory of God above all things. Therefore one crucial, visible way to display the truth and value of the glory of God is by humble, sacrificial lives of service that flow only from the fountain of God’s all satisfying glory.

John Piper

Have we truly understood?

If we say “I believe in Jesus” but it doesn’t affect the way we live, the answer is not that now we need to add hard work to our faith so much as that we haven’t truly understood or believed in Jesus at all. – Tim Keller “The Prodigal God”