14 day plan

The Gospel Centred Leadership

Day 12 of 14

NIV

Ephesians 2:8-10

8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Reflection:  Gospel vs Religion as the Basis of Leader Identity

‘As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins…’ (Ephesians 2:1)

Religion exacerbates the predisposition in our hearts to feel superior or inferior. The more we rely on our own efforts to procure God’s blessings, the more likely we oscillate back and forth between superiority (‘I am better than others, have done more than others!’) and inferiority (‘Compared to others, I haven’t done enough for God’).

In contrast, the gospel prevents us from  ever feeling superior or inferior to others. Consider the following two-pronged truth of the gospel.

You are not a legend. You are a sinner saved by grace. All your achievements will be forgotten in two generations, three at the most. Even the world’s giants, given enough time, will be nothing but a negligible footnote in history. Your sins are so great that Jesus Christ had to die to atone for them. Never feel superior about yourself.

Yet, you are not mass produced. You are not even a limited edition. You are one of a kind in this world, a masterpiece of God. You are individually customized for a specific purpose he wants you to achieve. You are so loved that Jesus Christ was willing to die for you. Never feel inferior about yourself.

The extent to which you hold both sides of the gospel in a creative tension will help you to rightly enjoy people’s praises without succumbing to pride (not feeling superior), and wisely deal with people’s criticisms without being sucked into despair (not feeling inferior).

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, I need to preach the gospel to my own soul daily. For I am prone to wander, Lord, and make my work-righteousness my identity. Take and seal my heart, Lord, for Christ and his gospel alone.

The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.

Days

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14

Ephesians 2:1-22

Made Alive in Christ

1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ

11Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

14For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.