Christians never outgrow their need for the Gospel: all believers, whether male or female, need the Gospel for their sanctification. That is a foundational principle from which Gender Blog seeks to draw out the implications of biblical manhood and womanhood daily in its posts.

Our friend and Council member, John Piper recently completed an exposition of Romans, a sermon series that took the better part of a decade to complete. In one of the final messages, from Rom 16: 25-27, he examined the rock-ribbed strength that men and women are to draw from rehearsing the Gospel to themselves daily. Below is a transcript excerpt from that sermon. We pray that our readers will find it edifying, and that it would please God to use His Word to strengthen both men and women in their pursuit of holiness.

Strength for Women in the Gospel

It's not a strength that the world knows or gives. Women, teenage girls, what do you think of when you think of being a strong woman? Or little girls, when you think of growing up to be a strong woman what do you dream? Getting this clear is important because God wants you to be strong, and both the Bible and experience tell you that in one sense you are the weaker vessel (1 Peter 3:7)-95% of the adult males in the world are physically stronger than 95% of the adult females. When you dream about being a strong woman what should you dream?

The world will tell you three ways to pursue your strength: One is by being sexy, dressing sexy, acting sexy, because men are such suckers, you can get power over them that way. Another is by being assertive, forceful, aggressive, self-confident. And third, be smart and move through all the channels of influence into positions of power. None of those is the strength Paul is talking about when he says, "Now unto him who is able to strengthen you . . . ."

Paul has in mind the inner strength that Peter mentioned for women in 1 Peter 3:6 where Peter tells the women to be like Sarah and the holy women of old: "You are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening." And the kind of strength that Proverbs 31:25 is talking about when it says, "Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come."

In other words, women, young girls, dream of being so confident in God, and who you are in God as the daughter of the king of the universe, and what he has done for you and promises to do for you and be for you in Jesus Christ, that you fear nothing but God and laugh at the time to come-no matter what it holds. Sexiness (I promise you will lose it) and the man you get with it is not the kind of man you want. Assertiveness-you will alienate the very kind of people you want to be around. Halls of power, they are like grass: The wind passes over it and it is gone. But the strength that God gives through the gospel abides forever. "Now unto him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel . . . be glory forevermore."

Strength for Men in the Gospel

Men, boys, what about you? What do you dream of when you dream of being strong? That you can someday hold an Altoids tin and look "curiously strong"? Or to be the best player in a sport? Or to be the most shrewd stock broker and wield the power of money? Or to be educated and read Atlantic Monthly and listen to NPR and drop obscure names in cocktail conversations?

No. Only a fool wants fading power. Only a fool wants power that gives out just when you need it most. I'll tell you the kind of power God is able to give you through the gospel. It's the power to lead your wife and family in devotions; the power to say a simple word of truth when highly educated, secular, elitist complexity is all around you; the power to stand your ground and say no to a sinful behavior when everyone else is calling you weak; the power to press on against all obstacles in a cause of justice and mercy and truth when you feel that you have no more motivation.

Strength for All in the Gospel

God is able to strengthen all of you-men and women-with a kind of inner strength of soul through faith in Christ that makes you stronger in a wheelchair than ten thousand moral jellyfish drifting on two legs with the current of modern culture. What we want is the kind of strength that will be here when we are paralyzed and can only answer questions with our eyelids. And we know where it comes from: "Now to him who is able to strengthen you . . . be glory forevermore."