"The gospel is not only the most important message in all of history; it is the only essential message in all of history. Yet we allow thousands of professing Christians to live their entire lives without clearly understanding it and experiencing the joy of living by it. I believe part of the problem is our tendency to give an unbeliever just enough of the gospel to get him or her to ray a prayer to receive Christ. Then we immediately put the gospel on the shelf, so to speak, and go on to the duties of discipleship. As a result, Christians are not instructed in the gospel. And because they do not fully understand the riches and glory of the gospel, they cannot preach it to themselves not live by it in their daily lives."

Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace: God's Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness (NavPress, 1994), 46.