Discerning The Gospel Difference: Grace, "The Rules" and Why I'm (Finally) Happy Without a Porsche

Do "The Rules" in the Bible matter?  People regularly ask me questions like that one when they first visit Christ Covenant.  That's because we believe that the grace that saves us, is the same grace that will mature us in Christ.  The Gospel of Grace is not the A-B-C's of Christian faith, it is the A thru Z of it!  You hear a lot about grace at Christ Covenant.

That Gospel sounds so strange to American ears in this moment of history, that when people first hear it preached and worked out in the issues of life, it is easy to be confused.  "With your focus on 'grace,' do The Rules' in the Bible matter?" they ask.  My answer: "Of course, they do.  But we have to see them in light of grace, and that is what I call the Gospel Difference."

In the moralistic American religion that I call "Churchianity,"  "The Rules" in the Bible are the things we need to understand and start doing.  Good preachers in this tradition - it seems to run through all denominations - are able to help people understand those rules and then get them motivated to start doing them.  There is a wide variety of ways that this happens, but the process of "learn and do" is basically the same.

In light of the Gospel of Grace, those same rules function differently.  And that is where the Porsche came in for me.

You see, for as long as I've been interested in cars, I've LOVED Porsches.  All sorts.  Speed.  Handling.  German engineering.  I could go on, but you get my point.

My appreciation for those masterpieces easily led me to violate the last of God's "Big Ten Rules."  The one that say "Thou shalt not covet."  It even got close to violating number eight (You'll have to look that one up!).  I didn't have to learn much about the Bible and "The Rules" to know that my love for those cars was out of line.

So I would work hard to stop coveting Porsches.  I had lots of ways and methods.  Some more successful than others.  But the Bible was clear about what to do and I got busy doing it.  This is moralism and not the Gospel, by the way.  And I was able to make this work pretty well.  But on several things more important than fast cars, like living with integrity to the depth of my being or being the spouse and parent that I could see God called me to be, this moralism began to be pretty useless at dealing with my problem and pretty depressing with my failures.

The Gospel of Grace helped me see things differently.  It pressed me past my behavior - the thoughts of coveting - and shined a light on the real problem: my motivational center or "heart."  Through the Spirit and the Word - and a good mentor - I began to realize that my love for those Porsches came from my desire to have a car that would affirm what I wanted to think about myself: wealthy, hard-charging, not a "mini-van kind of guy," and all those other things that I yearned to find my identity in.  As long as I tried to meet the identity and security needs of my life through a hodge-podge of Porsches, achievements and behaviors, I found myself failing over time.

The Gospel announces to me that God Himself, in the Person of His Son Jesus, has loved me so much, that He has willingly laid aside His glory, taken on human form and at the cross, given His life to rescue me from the just consequences of my brokenness.  The more clearly I see and experience that love, the sillier finding my security and identity in a Porsche seems.  My heart is captured and changed by such a love.  I respond to that love with a love from my new heart that leaves behind my ill-placed loves for Porsches. 

Sure, they are great cars.  I'd take one in a second if you gave it to me.  But then I'd drive it for about a month, and sell it to pay down the mortgage!  My heart has been changed by a greater love that sought me out and rescued me from my puny love for a fast car.  I don't fight coveting any longer, because I'm gripped by a greater love.

So what about "The Rules?"  Here's why it is so important to know and love those rules:  When I see my behaviors break God's rules, I know that at some point, my heart is loving something more than Him.  "The Rules" point me in the right direction to go looking for a heart that in some way is not believing the Gospel.  "The Rules" helped me take my covetous love for Porsches, and ask: "What is my heart seeking in this car, that only Jesus can meet."   And that is the Gospel difference.