Lane and Tripp's book, How People Change is guided by five gospel perspectives:
One of the authors illustrated the reality of sin in his marriage. He shared how he was disappointed by his wife's low view of him. He could not accept how he failed his wife as a husband. He is too ideal in his eyes thinking that his wife is so blessed to be married to him. He could not see how self-righteous he was in his eyes.
The perspective about the centrality of the heart is overlooked by today's emphasis on behavior and doing the right things. The inner person is taken for granted. One's biggest problem does not lie outside but inside our hearts.
The Christian hope is not based on principles, experience, and theological system, but on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The gospel changes our hearts not just to have a happy marriage, and have a successful life, but to become like Christ. God's goal in changing us "is to free us from our slavery to sin, our bondage to self, and our functional idolatry" so that we become like His Son.
Since constant change is God's goal, the Christian life should be characterized by faith and repentance. Our battle with sin never stops until the end of our lives here on earth.
The following are the five gospel perspectives that guide the authors' book mentioned above. The writers want to direct the minds of their Christian readers to the grace that has the power to change "us from the deepest, darkest corners of our hearts to the smallest action and every idle word" (p. 16). They want to extend the invitation to all Christian readers to a lifestyle of celebrating daily the power of God's grace revealed in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
