teaching that holiness came from doing certain religious things. “Refrain from this and follow this rule.”

But the gospel is that nothing can provide the righteousness we need but the life of Jesus. Nothing can take away our guilt before a holy God but the blood atonement of Jesus Christ at Calvary, where He died as a sacrificial lamb on the Cross. Nothing but faith in Him, this Savior of the World, this Christ Jesus, this divine God-Man, this carpenter from Nazareth who is God, can save us from our sins.

This we preach to others. This we preach to ourselves. And if we

persist in doing this—that is, if we continue in this doctrine of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone through grace alone to God’s glory alone—we shall save ourselves and those who hear us.

The portrait of a minister approved by God is clearly shown to us. And is this not, I say again, a picture of a passionate believer? Is this not what Christ is calling all of us to be?

• Disciplined in our training for ministry?
• Diligent in our laboring in ministry?
• Godly in our example before the flock?
• Devoted to the Great Commission?

A young man in our seminary told me that he had made a trip after he graduated from college in South Carolina. He said that he and a buddy flew to California and drove back, just to see the country. And they stopped in Salt Lake City. They took the tour of the Mormon Tabernacle. While there, as he listened to the young lady give the tour and speak of a faith that seemed so far from the grace of Jesus, it overwhelmed him and he had to leave.

He told me that he wept. He wept that so much was being given for a lie. And he wept for the people who were not hearing the beautiful grace of Jesus Christ offered to all who would simply receive this free gift. He told me, “I think that God wants me to plant a church. I hurt for these people. There are more Bible-believing, grace-centered Christians in Egypt than in Utah. That breaks my heart.”

I could see the pain but also the passion in this young man as he spoke. Then he said, “Is it just boastful and wrong to think this way? You see, I think that the gospel guarantees success. I am not saying that I am going to be the greatest church planter, wherever the Lord sends me; but I am saying that the gospel is more powerful and more compelling to hurting people than all of this.”

No, son. It is not wrong to boast in Jesus’ power to transform human beings and to build His church in the midst of false teaching and even apathy. It is not naïve to believe that the gospel of God’s grace will save human beings. And it is not wrong to weep for the lost and to be bold in Jesus to save them. It is not wrong.

It is, in fact, the portrait in 1 Timothy 4:6-16—it is the portrait of a pastor with a heart for God’s Word, a passion for God’s world and a commitment to God’s grace, all wrapped in a love for the Savior who lived the life you could never live and who died an atoning death for your sins. What a picture!

That is the portrait of a minister approved by God. And let us be sure we understand this: This is also the portrait of a disciple of Jesus, whatever your role is in the body of Christ. This is a portrait of a true believer approved by Christ Jesus.

Is this a portrait of your life?

1. Richard J. Krejcir, “What Is Going on with Pastors in America?” (Schaeffer Institute, www.intothyword.org), accessed on Nov. 3, 2008.