The main thought behind the book is to awaken us to the wonder of the Gospel and in that realization we will be "treasuring Christ more greatly and savoring his power more sweetly" (p. 24). When this is deep within our consciences it will carry us through the emotional highs and lows that occur in this life. Wilson believes that when we get caught in a mind-set of measuring our perfection and relating that to our assurance. This will only lead to being timid and fearful. But if "your measure of assurance is the perfection of Jesus Christ, you are ripe for gospel wakefulness"(p. 28). I appreciated that he also pointed out that as we experience this waking up to the Gospel it will more often then not be a gradual process, not a quantum leap forward (p. 31).
This gospel wakefulness occurs in two steps: "be utterly broken and be utterly awed. But neither of these things are things you can really do. They are things only God can do for you." (p. 35). As he elaborates on the broken-ness that is required, Wilson says "God wants us broken so that any power in us can be undeniably attributed to him. If self-reliance could reliably and ultimately contribute to our success and fulfillment, God's glory would be diminished, having to share precious space with our lesser glory" (p. 40). I love this - when we feel broken and worn down, we can look to God and see that it is part of His process in refining us rather than wondering what went wrong. As we are being rebuilt as God would have us, we have a new perspective on sin. Previously, we wanted to just escape the consequences of sin but now we truly feel the wait of our sin. "Gospel-wakened people want to be free of sin itself, not just the guilt of it" (p. 53).
Our focus become the Gospel, and being part of it.
What happens in the experience of gospel wakefulness is a satisfaction so complete that it fixes the center of our affections on God alone, in Christ alone, by his Spirit alone. That is what worship is, after all: proclaiming worth, giving weight to something in the revolving of our affections around it... [and] as our idols are razed and shown to be impotent to save, is not an adding of God to our lives but an adding of ours to his. His Spirit doesn't merely enter my heart; he fills it, expands it, prevails over it (p. 60, 78).I don't know about you, but all I can think when I read this is, "Yes!! That is what I want!"
A small section on theology was exactly what I needed to hear. Wilson says that our problems are not rooted in our theology (ie. Reformed, Calvinism) but the lack of gospel wakefulness within these traditions. Often people are familiar with all the parts but struggle to put them together into an experience that leaves them changed by God. "Gospel wakefulness changes theological pursuit. It reorients knowledge to become the means to knowing God, not knowing stuff...True theology galvanizes our affections toward God, not toward theology...What gospel wakefulness accomplishes, then, is the bringing of one's heart to theological study, not just one's mind" (p. 84-85). I have to admit to being slightly embarrassed at times when I admit that I have a Reformed theology position because so many people who make the same claims are so lacking in grace and brotherly love (just check out the comments section in the majority of Reformed blogs). I pray that each one of them will experience gospel wakefulness and we can make the Reformed tradition one that attracts people rather than repels them by our treatment of others.
In discussing how this wakefulness manifests in our daily lives and causes worship, I adored what Wilson said about each and every day:
The truth is, the day does not belong to us. It is not our day to do with as we please. We serve a sovereign God. He created the end from the beginning, knows our future exhaustively, and is firmly in control. He made our days and they belong to him. As such, isn't it a bit arrogant to begin with the idea that each day is ours and then worry about fitting God in? Instead, we should work at the humble awe of knowing all of our moments, every millisecond, waking or sleeping, are perfectly accounted for within the economy of heaven (p. 90).But at the same time, we need to be aware of being hyper-spiritual. "The gospel makes us Christians, not ascetics. Jesus Christ did not die and rise for you so that you would stress about whether you're being spiritual enough. So take a nap. Go for a walk in the woods. Play with your kids. Eat some chocolate. Watch a good movie. Christian, you are free" (p. 111). You have no idea how freeing it was for me to read this. This is one of those quotes that I will write on an index card and carry around in my purse (along with my Scripture memorization of course, ha ha). Confession: I have been very guilty of beating myself up so far in 2013. I'm doing a new thing with studying my Bible which has left less time for reading theology. I have read fewer books to this point in the year than any other year in recent history and so often feel bad about it. I have read more fiction so far this year though because when I do sit down to 'relax' I don't want to have my brain in high-functioning mode. This wonderful thought from the author gives me some permission to 'back off' of myself. Thank you Mr. Wilson.
Can I admit here that I'm a bit of a sanctification/justification junkie? Whenever I see either of those words, my heart beats a little faster. So when I got to the chapter in the book entitled 'Gospel-Driven Sanctification' I was super excited. And let me tell you, the chapter is more than a little 'marked up'. I will try to restrain myself here. This chapter takes the reader all over the Bible (Ephesians, Philippians, Galatians, 1 Corinthians, 1 John,...) to make the point that "we cannot continue to treat the gospel as if it is the power of god for a conversion experience but not for a total life transformation" (p. 132). I'm just going to share some of my favourite snippets:
Philippians 2:12-13 and Ephesians 2:10 don't leave our work out of the equation. We do participate in our own sanctification. But the Scriptures make it clear that our good works are the results of God's good work. If we ground our hopes for sanctification in our own obedience, we will rush headlong into despair; because we are constantly falling back into sin, unable to obey perfectly, and we are constantly discovering new areas of our heart that need cleaning. We break covenant daily. But the covenant holds because God is faithful. Let us fear him and obey him, and let us do so grounded in the wonderful truth that he will persevere his saints. This makes gospel centrality so important. The longer we take our eyes off the gospel, the more we will think our sanctification is powered by our own good efforts, and that is just a short skip and a jump to self-righteousness (p. 134).
If it's sanctification you want, if it's obedience you're after, if it's growth in Christ you seek, return again and again to Christ. We do well to pursue righteousness, but we must pursue it in the righteousness of Christ (p. 135).
When the Spirit comes to dwell in us, he beings cleaning house. By participating in this work of cleaning, we acknowledge our relinquishment of ownership of our own lives and our trust in God's sovereignty expressed through the love of Christ (p. 141).Near the end of the book are two great chapters on 'Depression' and 'Gospel Confidence'. Then Wilson exhorts us to have Gospel-Wakened Churches that "embrace the loss of [their] reputation for the gain of God's glory" (p. 198). Amen!
In the conclusion, Wilson ends with the words of 'The Awakened Sinner', a prayer. Here is the last bit of it:
Let me not delay to come to thee;
Break the fatal enchantment that binds my evil affections,
and bring me to a happy mind that rests in thee,
for thou hast made me and canst not forget me.
Let thy Spirit teach me the vital lessons of Christ,
for I am slow to learn;
And hear thou my broken cries.
I pray that you will add this book to your reading list in the near future. It's one I will, with no reservations, pass on to others and I would love to study it in more depth at some point.
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