About The Gospel-Driven Life Conference

Our desire for The Gospel-Driven Life 2008 Conference is to call the church back to a Gospel-centered and thus Gospel-driven focus in every area of life and ministry.

The theme is “The Gospel-Driven Life: Growing in Holiness by Living in Union with Christ.” The theme verse is Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Many today think the Gospel is only for unbelievers or “what gets me in.” As a result the Gospel is put on the shelf and believers proceed to live out the Christian life in their own strength and merit.

Paul addressed this error in the book of Galatians when he wrote in 3:3, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” Here, Paul is asking, “Are you trying to be perfected by your own sinful efforts?”

The great Scottish preacher, Walter Marshall, wrote, “…we are not sanctified by any of our endeavors to work holiness in ourselves, but rather by faith in Christ’s death and resurrection even the same whereby we are justified.”

From the beginning to end, the entire Christian life is lived by grace through faith in Christ alone. The Christian looks only and always to the Gospel and never to his performance as the basis for his right standing before God.

Thus, our hope is that God would use this conference as a small means to:

First, aid Christians in realizing the joyful truth that the gospel is good news for Christians, too. Through faith in the Gospel, sinners are brought into a mysterious and glorious union with Christ. The Gospel is not just a doctrine that “gets me saved.” The Gospel is meant to be that which believers live by each and every moment of their lives (cf., Gal. 2:20).

Second, to observe how great the importance of preaching the Gospel is not only in order to give sinners encouragement respecting free justification, but also with regard to their sanctification, i.e., that the Gospel is the great means of sanctification.

Third, to proclaim that it is the gospel that exhibits God’s highest glory, which He chiefly designs to display before sinful men, even that glory of God that shines in the face of Christ (2 Cor. 4:8).

About Westminster Seminary California

Westminster Seminary California (WSC) is a Christian institution seeking to glorify God through graduate theological study. Its primary responsibility is to educate future pastors for Christian churches, especially for Presbyterian and Reformed denominations. It also provides theological education for others who will serve in the Christian community and the larger society.

For more info on WSC, please visit http://www.wscal.edu/.

About Ponte Vedra Presbyterian Church

We are a people who treasure the Gospel. Through the preaching of the Gospel God has “shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6 [ESV]). Through the administration of the sacraments the Spirit of God confirms this glorious reality in our lives. As a result, we are filled with gratitude and thus driven to love God and our neighbor.

For more info on PVPC, please visit http://www.pvpc.com.