Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table by Louie Giglio

Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table by Louie Giglio

Author:Louie Giglio
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2021-03-05T00:00:00+00:00


SAINT (YOUR NAME GOES HERE)

Let’s reinforce the application. Whenever you face temptation, it’s like you’re staring at a big closed door. The door is unlocked, and on the other side of the door is sin—some sort of harmful living. Many believers stare at that big door and don’t think they have any power to keep the door shut. They believe they must open the door marked Temptation and walk through it. They don’t feel like they have a choice. Part of the reason for this faulty thinking is because we have flawed identity theology present in today’s church.

Here’s the big revelation. We are not simply sinners saved by grace. We must change this distorted thinking. We are not simply beggars helping other beggars find bread. We have not simply come to the cross with nothing to offer. This may be the starting point, but this is not the whole story and is not our true identity if we are in Christ. We are not just a big bunch of sinners. Yet the problem is, too often, we hear this—and variations of it—over and over in today’s churches.

Hi, welcome to church today. We’re so glad you’re here. Please sit down and enjoy today’s sermon. Never forget you’re a sinner—that’s all you are. You came to Jesus with empty hands, and that’s all you’ll ever offer Him. You’re just clutching filthy rags. You’re a worm. A wretch. A mocker. A scoffer. Unclean. Unworthy. You’re always in rebellion against God. You are utterly devoid of value. You’re only a sinner saved by grace, and if you ever forget it, just remember how you sinned yesterday, you sinned today, and how you’re going to sin tomorrow. You sinned this morning, and you sinned last night, and you sinned ten minutes ago. That’s all you’ll ever do. Thank you. Okay, let’s stand and sing. See you again next Sunday.

It sounds pious and humble, but it’s a load of rot. It’s horrible identity theology. With teaching like that, it’s hard to do anything else except nod and mumble, “Yeah, I guess that’s true.” Then when you walk up to the big door marked Temptation, you don’t stand a chance. You open the door and walk through it since that’s what you’ve been conditioned to do. You don’t think you have any options except to wallow in the sin on the other side because you’ve been following a partial gospel.

When we walk up to the door marked Temptation—and I really want to drive this point home—we need to preach to ourselves equal parts Ephesians 2:8–9 and 2 Corinthians 5:17. That’s the full gospel. We were sinners saved by grace at the start of our salvation experience, as Ephesians 2:8–9 points out. Yet that’s not the end of the story. That’s why you can’t pitch a tent in the sinner campground anymore. Your new identity is a sinner saved by grace who is a brand-new creation, as 2 Corinthians 5:17 points out. The old has passed away. The new you has arrived.



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