The Cross Centered Life

The Cross Centered Life
There are a multitude of blessings that flow from the cross. It is important, at this point, to state the obvious: the cross of Christ is at the center of Christianity! There is no Christianity without the cross and I am not Christian without the cross. The cross is the heart of the Gospel! C.J. Mahaney writes, “The message of the cross is the Christian’s hope, confidence, and assurance. Heaven will be spent marveling at the work of Christ, the God-Man who suffered in the place of us sinners[1].” Jerry Bridges echoes these sentiments by saying, “The gospel is not only the most important message in all of history; it is the only essential message of history[2].” This is the message of the whole Bible, the cross of Christ.

From the Old Testament to the New Jesus is proclaimed and His redemption for sinners is testified to. From Genesis to Revelation Christ is exalted as savior! The apostle Paul, who’s letters fill up most of the New Testament, continually reminded his readers of the gospel. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24). “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). “Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16). “But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:5). “[Jesus] who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8). “And you, who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him” (Colossians 1:21-22). “To wait for His son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10). “But we ought to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14). “This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15). “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel” (2 Timothy 2:8). “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people” (Titus 2:11). Those verses are all from Paul’s numerous letters and epistles and they are all full of his testimony to the importance of remembering the gospel.

Remember the Gospel! Live in the Gospel! Make the gospel the very center of all you do as a Christian. Mahaney again writes, “The gospel isn’t one class among many that you’ll attend during your life as a Christian- it is the whole building that all the classes take place in[3]!” Only by the God’s grace in the cross of Christ do we accomplish anything, all things stem from the truth of grace in the gospel. So it is essential that we as Christians live in, dwell in, and never forget the gospel message. If it is the heart of the Bible, the center of my religion, and the reason for my faith, then it should be the center of my life.

Five Practical Steps to Center Your Life on the Cross
It is one thing for me to examine the scriptures and discover just how essential the cross is. It is one thing for me to be challenged by C.J. Mahaney to live a cross centered life, but how do I do that? Fortunately C.J. didn’t leave me in the dark on that one, and more importantly neither did the word of God. I read through The Cross Centered Life twice before I picked up on this, but to live the cross centered life means to dwell on the cross mentally. All of C.J.’s wonderful steps are meant to cultivate a mind that rests on the cross and the fruits that come from it. The author has identified three “tendencies that can draw our hearts away[4]” from the gospel. Each of these hindrances is a state of our mind.

When we forget about justification by faith alone our minds tend to think about working for God’s favor; the author identifies this as legalism. When our minds stray from the biblical truth of Jesus as our propitiation we become overwhelmed with the multitude and magnitude of our sins; Mahaney has labeled this as condemnation. Finally, when our minds stray from the active and passive obedience of Christ then we wander into a “subjectivism,” as Mahaney calls it, that causes us to base our view of God on how we feel at any given moment. All of these battle start in the mind, it will take a re-wiring of our thoughts to move on from them. He says, “The cross centered life starts with biblical thinking. Are you going to build your life on what you feel or on what is real[5]?” When Adam sinned in the Garden and brought sin on the entire human race that meant that I would be born a sinner. And not only was my nature deprave when I was born, but so was my mind. It will take labor, self-discipline, and (of course) the grace of God, to re-wire my brain to think “biblically,” but where does it begin?

Mahaney again writes, “If the gospel is the most vital news in the world, and if salvation by grace is the defining truth of our existence, we should create ways to immerse ourselves in these truths every day. No days off allowed[6].” These are the practical steps to living in the gospel that must be the discipline of our daily lives:


1) Memorize the Gospel- The word of God is powerful and amazing! Its ability to change and shape our thoughts proves that it is the very word of almighty God. The way that the mind works is, likewise, an amazing thing. Think for a moment about your memories, and how you can picture that vacation last year. Or how you can remember exactly how your “sweetheart” looked on that day. The mind has amazing capabilities. Now think how doubly amazing it would be if you used your mind (an amazing creation of God) to memorize scripture (the all powerful word of God). Memorizing scripture that speaks the direct message of the gospel is like having a mobile storage house of weaponry to ward off temptation, intimidation, and depression. Mahaney comments on this subject by saying, “Having these verses instantly accessible is so helpful. For example, if you find yourself losing perspective at a difficult point in the day, reach into your memory and pull out 2 Corinthians 5:21: ‘For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.’ Does that put things in a new light? God has addressed our most serious problem: sin and judgment. This perspective has a transforming effect in the midst of the daily troubles and inconveniences of life[7].” C.J. says it so well. Having the truth of scripture memorized and accessible at any point during the day causes a transformation in our thinking about life and situations. The word of God puts all things in their proper places.

2) Pray the Gospel- Living in the gospel means not only storing it up in your heart for rainy days but also dwelling on it each and every day; and that can happen in prayer. As we pray we remember that it is only because of Jesus Christ that we can pray at all. Jesus’ death and resurrection make it possible for us to approach the throne of God with confidence. This helps us to put things in perspective as well. Jesus’ finished work allows me to have access to the almighty God of heaven and earth who is my heavenly Father.


3) Sing the Gospel- This was a new one for me, but what an effective tool it has been in my life. The worship of God is the reason we exist and since God’s glory was displayed most evidently in the Cross of Christ let us sing songs that speak of the cross, that we may see and worship the God of grace who died on that cross. Music is a powerful tool as well. When we teach our children their “ABCs” we teach it to them in song form (some people learn the books of the Bible this way too). Music has a way of making an impression in our minds so that we can call to mind the words of a song more easily than the words of a textbook. This of course is not meant to sound as a replacement for reading your Bible or good books for that matter, but it is meant as a supplement to those things. Good songs that talk about the cross and the grace of God there, will give us a passion to live in the light of the gospel.

4) Review How the Gospel has Changed You- John Newton, the author of the classic hymn “Amazing Grace,” once wrote, “The 21st in March is a day much to be remembered by me, and I have never suffered it to pass wholly unnoticed since the year 1748. On that day the Lord sent from on high, and delivered me out of the deep waters[8].” John Newton was a slave trader and a blasphemer, but God, as Newton says it, “saved a wretch like me.” The apostle Paul said it long before Newton. “For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when He who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son to me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus” (Galatians 1:13-17). These two men remembered how the gospel changed their lives because it put their new life into proper perspective. What mattered in the new life for Paul and John Newton was God’s grace, evangelism, and worship. All this stems from remembering what you were before Jesus saved you and what you are now thanks to God’s great grace.

5) Study the Gospel- Here again Mahaney’s words shed light on the point. “Never be content with your current grasp of the gospel[9].” If God, who is infinite in His wisdom, wrote the gospel in word and action then there will always be more to learn about it. I remember the first time I learned about propitiation: the removal of God’s wrath from upon me by Jesus taking it on Himself. What a wonderful and glorious truth: that Jesus bore the wrath of God for me that I could know of His grace. There is always more to learn about the gospel. Take it upon yourself to learn the theological terms that are written into scripture: justification, redemption, propitiation, atonement, reconciliation, etc. Understanding the gospel more fully today than you did yesterday will require study. There are great books out there to help in this process as well, let me recommend some: The Cross Centered Life (of course), The Cross of Christ by John Stott, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ by John Owen, The Gospel According to Jesus and The Murder of Jesus by John MacArthur, The Passion of Jesus Christ by John Piper, and Authentic Gospel by Jeffery Wilson. But whatever you do, study the gospel as it is presented in the Gospels themselves, read through the gospel of John. John does a beautiful job of presenting Christ as the glorious Son of God, God incarnate, and savior of the world! But STUDY it don’t just read through it. Examine every word, what does it mean, why does Jesus say this, why did He do that. What is the theme of a specific chapter? Really read it!

Preach it!
All of these things can be summed up in one phrase, which Mahaney echoes from the words of both D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones and Jerry Bridges, “preach to yourself.” Tell yourself the truths of the gospel over and over again. Whether its through memorization of the gospel, singing the gospel, praying the gospel, or studying the gospel make sure you preach it to yourself! Don’t let it every slip from your mind! Bridges says it best when he says, “To preach to yourself means that you continually face up to your own sinfulness and then flee to Jesus through faith in His shed blood and righteous life[10].”

This is living in the gospel. Dwelling on its truth from moment to moment, never letting it slip from our mind. Preaching to ourselves that we are sinful and without the wonderful, sufficient grace of God we will never accomplish anything. All things in the Christian life are made possible because of the cross of Christ. Don’t ever forget that truth!

[1] C.J. Mahaney, The Cross Centered Life. (Sisters: Multnomah, 2002). p. 75.
[2] Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace. (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1994). p. 46.
[3] Cross Centered Life. p. 75.
[4] Ibid. p. 22.
[5] Ibid. p. 47.
[6] Ibid. p. 54.
[7] Ibid. p. 56-57.
[8] As quoted in John Piper, Life as a Vapor. (Sisters: Multnomah, 2004). p. 89.
[9] Cross Centered Life. p. 67.
[10] The Discipline of Grace. p. 58.