A Big View of the Gospel

Our small group just started a study: The Gospel-Centered Life (GCL). (We're using a guide prepared by World Harvest Mission.)  The first lesson was about having a broad view of the gospel - to not view it as just a "door" into the Kingdom of God.  From the study:

It [the gospel] is not just the means of our salvation, but the means of our transformation.  It is not simply deliverance from sin's penalty, but release from sin's power.  The gospel is what makes us right with God (justification) and it is also what frees us to delight in God (sanctification). 

 A chart similar to the one below was included in the lesson.

(There's a more involved version of the Cross Chart here: http://thewonderofthegospel.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/the-cross-chart/ - very cool.)

So the chart shows how the sanctification process ideally should go.  As I move along in my journey, I become more aware of both my sin and God's holiness, and in so doing the cross becomes bigger and bigger in my life.  If I live without this awareness, then the cross stays small and sometimes I may not even see it bridging the gap.  While this doesn't completely describe the gospel, I realize that just keeping this in mind on a constant basis would radically change my life.

About the same time we started this study, I was prompted to pick up my copy of Watchman Nee's The Normal Christian Life.  (I have read the first few chapters of this before, but never finished it.  It's a packed read and as someone I talked to today wisely said: you need to let it simmer.)  Anyway, the first chapter of his book tracked with the GCL study.  Nee says:

The Son of God died instead of us for forgiveness: he lives instead of us for our deliverance.  So we can speak of two substitutions - a Substitute on the Cross who secures our forgiveness and a Substitute within who secures our victory.

I need forgiveness for my sins, but I need also deliverance from the power of sin.  The former touches my conscience, the latter my life.

I appreciate the blessed fact of God's forgiveness, but I want something more than that: I want deliverance.  I need forgiveness for what I have done, but I need also deliverance from what I am.

Nee goes on to expand on this, talking about the roles of the Blood of Christ and the Cross of Christ - how these result in our justification and sanctification, respectively.

The really key thing I need to remember is that Jesus provides both the forgiveness and sanctification.  How many times have I failed to grasp that I can take NO step forward without Him.  I think it's 'easy' to understand that I can't be forgiven without Him.  But if I don't remember that there is no sanctification without Him, the cross stays small in my life.  I miss out on living in His power.  Why would I ever want to do that?

Randy