Again, this is a bit rough and in no way does justice to this incredibly deep and well-written book by Michael Horton. I am looking forward to reading his latest, “The Gospel-Driven Life,” but this one, “Christless Christianity,” was a strong primer for what to expect next. Horton is clearly brilliant. His words echoed in the chambers of my soul which longs for “Church” to return to its essential reason and founder, Jesus Christ. How can we continue to call some people “Christians” who don’t believe Jesus is the way the truth and the life? They might be good people, but without Christ, how is one a Christian? I highly recommend reading this book. However, it is of some theological depth and therefore, it’s not “light” and easily read.
Enjoy the ROUGH summary! And then, go buy a copy of this book!
- * The Gospel of “God With Us.”
- * Christ not preached; “Where everything is measured by our happiness rather than by God’s holiness, the sense of our being sinners becomes secondary, if not offensive.”
- “The church in America today is so obsessed with being practical, relevant, helpful, successful and perhaps even well-liked that it nearly mirrors the world itself.”
- “The focus still seems to be on us and our activity rather than on God and his work in jesus Christ.” – we make God a supporting character.
- * “My concern is that we are getting dangerously close to the place in everyday American church life where the Bible is mined for “relevant” quotes but is largely irrelevant on its own terms; God is used as a personal resource rather than known, worshiped, and trusted; Jesus Christ is a coach with a good game plan for our victory rather than a Savior who has already achieved it for us; salvation is more a matter of having our best life now than being saved from God’s judgment by God himself, and the Holy Spirit is an electrical outlet we can plug iton for the power we need to be all that we can be.”
- * “We are assimilating the disrupting and disorienting news form heaven to the banality of our own immediate felt needs.” “We are living out our creed, but that creed is closer to the American Dream than it is to the Christian faith.”
- “God is not denied by trivialized – used for our life programs rather than received, worshiped, and enjoyed.”
- “But start talking about the real crisis – where our best efforts are filthy rags and Jesus came to bear the condemnation of helpless sinners who place their confidence in him rather than in themselves – and people begin shifting in their seats, even in churches.”
- Chapter 2:
- Church has become pop psychology sermons and all about us. “The challenge before us as Christian witnesses is whether we will offer JC as the key to fulfilling our narcissistic preoccupation or as the Redeemer who liberates us from its guilt and power.”
- * We’ve developed a ‘pick and choose’ Christianity.
- “Like any recreational drug, Christianity lite can make people feel better for the moment, but it does not reconcile sinners to God.”
- The main question: “How can I, a sinner, be made right before a holy God?”
- The Gospel discovers us.
- * Moralistic, therapeutic deism: “God is basically the ideal Secretary of Homeland Security – homeland defined as my own personal happiness, or national health.” – God just exists for our benefit.
- * We need to combine the bad news with the great news. Starts with GUILT, then GIFT, then GRATITUDE.
- Chapter 3:
- Theology of the Cross: The story of God’s merciful descent to us at great personal cost.
- Theology of Glory: How can I climb the ladders and attain glory here and now?
- Joel Osteen: Everything depends on us, but it’s easy. If you fail, don’t worry. God just wants you to do your best. He’ll take care of the rest. “He does not interpret Scripture; he uses it as a book of quotations to serve his own prosperity message.”
- “I haven’t always been a Christian. I didin’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.” CS Lewis
- Chapter 4:
- “Reduce Christianity to good advice and it blends in perfectly with the culture of life coaching.”
- “It is not incidental that this story of redemption is called Good News. If it were merely information or a program of self-improvement, it would be called something else, like good advice, or a good idea or good enlightenment. But it’s Good News because it is an announcement of something that someone else has already achieved for us.”
- “Through the gospel, however, the Spirit clothes us with Christ’s righteousness (justification) and renews us (regeneration), conforming us daily to the image of Christ (sanctification).
- Law: “When it comes to doing something, we are answering the law (works).
- Gospel: “When it comes to believing what has been done for us by Christ, we are answering the gospel (faith).”
- “I am a Christian not because I think that I can walk in Jesus’ footsteps but because he is the only one who can carry me> I am not the gospel. Jesus Christ alone is the gospel.”
- Don’t confuse law and gospel.
- “Yet the more Christ is held up before us as sufficient for our justification and sanctification, the more we begin to die to ourselves and live to God.”
- “The law tells us what to do; the gospel tells us what God has done for us in Christ.” The gospel inserts me into a new script: “alive in Christ.”
- “If God’s voice of law does not de-center us, throw us off balance, and judge our best efforts as having fallen short of God’s glory, we will never flee to Christ as our Mediator greater than Moses. Instead, we will come up with our own representations of God – the golden claves of our own forms of worship – gentle suggestions for life, and helpful advice that lulls us into thinking at last we have a friendly God who does not provke the cry, God be merciful to me, a sinner!” Luke 18:13.
- * Doctrine to application (Paul’s mode)
- Chapter 5: Your own Personal Jesus
- We came from glory and are bound for glory. We get derailed and try to get back on our own efforts.
- Luther speaks of the different ladders that we vainly try to climb to ascend to God: rational speculation, mystical experience, and moral striving.
- “Telling about the great things God has accomplished – is the real mission of the church.”
- “The task God has given his ministers: not to make the sheep self-feeders but to give them everything necessary for their pilgrimage to the Holy City.”
- “The self must be dethroned.”
- We are guests at Christ’s table waiting to be served.
- Stick to the story – fix your eyes on Christ.
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