From John R.W. Stott,
The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006).
Either we preach that human beings are rebels against God, under his just judgment and (if left to themselves) lost, and that Christ crucified who bore their sin and curse is the only available Savior. Or we emphasize human potential and human ability, with Christ brought in only to boost them, and with no necessity for the cross except to exhibit God's love and so inspire us to greater endeavor.
The former is the way to be faithful, the latter the way to be popular. It is not possible to be faithful and popular simultaneously. (338)
The object of our boast or "glory" fills our horizons, engrosses our attention, and absorbs our time and energy. In a word, our "glory" is our obsession. (340) Paul's whole world was in orbit around the cross. It filled his vision, illumined his life, warmed his spirit. He "gloried" in it. It means more to him than anything else. Our perspective should be the same. (341)
To be an enemy of the cross is to set ourselves against its purposes. Self-righteousness (instead of looking to the cross for justification), self-indulgence (instead of taking up the cross to follow Christ), self-advertisement (instead of preaching Christ crucified) and self-glorification (instead of glorying in the cross)--these are the distortions which make us "enemies" of Christ's cross. (341)
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