June 14th. Day 14 of walking through “Reasons to Rehearse the Gospel Daily” — Part 1 of “A Gospel Primer for Christians” by Milton Vincent.

Today’s reason — Cultivating Humility.

About this reason, Vincent says this...

“According to Scripture, God deliberately designed the gospel in such away so as to strip me of pride and leave me without any grounds for boasting in myself whatsoever. {Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Corinthians 1:27-29} This is actually a wonderful mercy from God, for pride is at the root of all my sin. Pride produced the first sin in the garden {Genesis 3:4-6}, and pride always precedes every sinful stumbling in my life. {Proverbs 16:18} Therefore, if I am to experience deliverance from my sin, I must be delivered from the pride that produces it. Thankfully, the gospel is engineered to accomplish this deliverance.”

He goes on to say...

“Preaching the gospel to myself each day mounts a powerful assault against my pride and serves to establish humility in its place. Nothing suffocates my pride more than daily reminders regarding the glory of my God, the gravity of my sins, and the crucifixion of God’s own son in my place. Also, the gracious love of God, lavished on me because of Christ’s death, is always humbling to remember, especially when viewed against the backdrop of the Hell I deserve.”

In conclusion, Vincent says...

“Pride wilts in the atmosphere of the gospel; and the more pride is mortified within me, the less frequent are my moments of sinful contention with God and with others. {Proverbs 13:10} Conversely, humility grows lushly in the atmosphere of the gospel, and the more humility flourishes within me, the more I experience God‘s grace {James 4:6} along with the strengthening His grace provides. {Hebrews 13:9} Additionally, such humility intensifies my passion for God and causes my heart increasingly to thrill whenever He is praised. {Psalm 34:2}”

This reason alone is such a humbling reminder of my NEED for Jesus Christ and the power over pride the gospel gives me access to. Pride must be put to death in order that humility would have its place in my heart.