Story
Matt Chandler regularly warns against the common way of reading Old Testament stories: “You keep inserting yourself into the…
Identity · Grace
Chandler
Analogy
Identity Before Performance
Becoming Like Jesus / related Chandler material (Explicit Gospel & discipleship teaching)
Matt Chandler consistently presses the truth that our identity is received in Christ before any performance is required. Many Christians live as if their standing with God rises and falls with their obedience. Chandler confronts this by returning again and again to the finished work of Jesus: we are already loved, already accepted, already declared righteous. Sanctification then flows from that secure identity rather than creating it. The danger of performance-based Christianity is that it produces either pride (when we succeed) or despair (when we fail). The gospel produces humble confidence.
How you’d preach it
Strong material for confronting moralism and identity-through-obedience in the congregation.
- Identity
- Grace
- Formation
Chandler