All We Have

My dear friend Conor was speaking at the church I was at today.
He talked about Mark 8:31-35 where Jesus tells His disciples He must suffer,
and be rejected,
and be killed
and rise again after 3 days.
And Peter pulls Him aside to rebuke Him.
You know what Jesus said to him:
"Get behind me, Satan."

My friend focused on Peter's mind being influenced by the things of man,
and not the things of God.
He pointed out that it was the GOSPEL -- the work of Christ on our behalf --
that Peter was trying to correct.
He was speaking the words of Satan when he corrected Jesus.
"Satan is not opposed to going to church, to praying idle prayers.
He's opposed to the gospel."
The work of Christ is central.
"The gospel is all we have! Jesus is all we have!"

I had never thought of it before.
(Peter being opposed to the gospel.)
In a sense it comforts me to see Peter, who was opposed to the gospel,
become one of the foremost instruments of promoting the gospel --
although he had to be corrected again by Paul on the very subject of legalism.

"I want God to take this blurry watercolor of the cross and show it to me in HD," Conor said.

Legalism sucks all the life out of Christianity.
It's like posting the rules of my marriage on the wall:
Eight kisses every day are required, and they must be passionate.
You must bear eight children in order to be considered remotely fruitful.
All meals must be gourmet, and the house spotless at all times.
Two hours of one-on-one conversation must take place every day at the same time.
And sex is scheduled four days a week.