The Gospel Is Not Training Wheels

On our first trek outdoors with the bike, Christa and I were hoping that our daughter would ride fast enough so that we could run alongside her. Such would not be the case! Securely balanced on her training wheels, our daughter meandered at her own pace. Our plans for a pleasant jog slowed to a stop-and-start walk.

I hope to take those training wheels off soon, so our daughter can  learn how to really ride a bike. She will learn to keep her balance, ride more confidently, turn more accurately, and not rely on those little plastic wheels to prop her up.

As Christians, we often view the gospel as the “training wheels” of our Christian life. We needed the gospel to get us going in our Christian lives, but once we trusted and understood the gospel message—well, off with the gospel! And now we can get on with the stuff we really need: strategies for coping with stress, advice on finding a spouse, solutions to our financial struggles, tips for a better marriage, or techniques for managing the hassle of parenting. But this gospel-as-training-wheels mindset not only contradicts what the Bible teaches about the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-2), but also damages important aspects of our spiritual lives.

1. Spiritual growth becomes drudgery.

First, if we treat the gospel like training wheels, spiritual growth will become drudgery rather than delight. Our Christian duty “to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions” (Titus 2:14) is sandwiched between two statements of exhilarating gospel truths: it is gospel grace that trains us to renounce these things. And it is because of “Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness.” Divorced from the gospel, the duties of the Christian life mutate from delight into drudgery.

2. Christian unity disintegrates into cliques.

Second, if we treat the gospel like training wheels, we tend to form cliques based on something other than the gospel. People naturally cluster with others who share their interests, age, social status, race, etc. Some of this clustering—like cheering for the same football team—can be good and natural. Other kinds of clustering—like avoiding others because of their skin color or social status—are bad. The amazing thing about the gospel is that it breaks down these clusters and reorganizes them around Christ. It unites people from completely different walks of life, so that they find their common bond in their Savior. Distinctions of gender, race and social status, while still real, should not affect Christians’ love for and acceptance of each other because they do not affect God’s love for and acceptance of them. In fact, these distinctions serve to exalt the glory of Christ, who alone can unite people who otherwise would avoid, or even hate each other.

But when Christians neglect the gospel, they forget their base of unity and splinter into groups based on lesser things. This is exactly why Paul expected that the Philippians’ walking “worthy of the gospel of Christ” would reveal itself in their “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27).

3. Our Bibles will make little sense.

Finally, if we treat the gospel like training wheels, our Bibles will make little sense to us. Unfortunately, people often read the Bible as if it were a book of magic spells to bring blessing and stave off trouble for the day. Others view their Bibles as a catalog of tips and tricks for avoiding anxiety and pursuing peace, staying away from laziness and building wealth, or any number of techniques for improving life. Still others view the Bible as a book of rules that must be kept in order to find God’s approval. While the Bible has something to say about these things, what it does say makes sense only within the story about what God has done in Christ to restore us to a right relationship with him.

Paul considered the Old Testament to contain God’s promise of the gospel about Jesus (Romans 1:1-3). When he wanted to prove the true identity of Jesus, he used the Old Testament to do it (Acts 28:23). And of course Jesus himself explained himself from the whole Old Testament (“beginning with Moses and all the prophets,” Luke 24:25-27). These and other passages reveal that the Old Testament should be read as the indispensable prologue to the gospel of Jesus. Put differently, the better you know the gospel, the better you will understand your Bible. And the better you understand the Bible, the better you will know the gospel.

The gospel is not training wheels. It is the very message in which we stand, and by which we are being saved (1 Corinthians 15:1). Let’s grow in the gospel, not out of it.