Truncated

John the Baptist says that the difference between the Messiah and himself is that he baptizes with water while the Messiah will baptize with the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33). What would the average Christian say was the purpose of Jesus’ coming into the world? Almost certainly they would not say what John said. We would be much more likely to say that he came to die for our sins. To be sure, he did come for that purpose. The Gospel of John also has John the Baptist saying, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (1:29). But Jesus’ atoning death was an intermediate goal, not the ultimate one.— Called to be Holy, page 90

<idle musing>
The atonement only gospel strikes again! We're selling God short when we reduce the gospel to anything less than the total transformation and remaking of our entire life. Yet we do it all the time...may we rediscover the richness of what God wants to do in our lives—and through our transformed and renewed lives!
</idle musing>