Audio lecture
The God Who Delights
Voice
Law and Gospel
The God Who Delights
Moving beyond the angry-God paradigm into gospel confidence
A lecture on how holiness begins from being loved, how God delights in believers in Christ, and how gospel-shaped ministry helps people run toward God rather than hide from him.
- Holiness begins from being loved
- God delights in believers in Christ
- Gospel ministry leads people toward God
This lecture begins with a gospel reversal: believers do not become holy in order to be loved; they can pursue holiness because they have already been loved, justified, and adopted in Christ.
It contrasts an angry-God paradigm with the God who delights. When people imagine God as fundamentally disappointed or irritated, faith becomes tense and anxious. But in Christ, the legal problem of condemnation has been dealt with.
A gospel-shaped minister helps people run to God, even when they have sinned. God sees believers in Christ, not merely in their unfinished habits, and that assurance becomes the ground for sanctification and deeper obedience.