Tullian Tchividjian is the senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Tchividjian took over Coral Ridge after the death of founding pastor D. James Kennedy. He is the author of several other Christian books including Surprised by Grace and Unfashionable.

In our culture we work so hard and fail so often. We sense something in our lives must be missing. Tchividjian argues that what we are missing is a richer, more potent understanding of Jesus and what his finished work means for each person’s life. What we lack is the gospel.

Tchividjian tells us that the gospel doesn’t simply rescue us from the past and rescue us for the future; it also rescues us in the present from being enslaved to things like fear, insecurity, anger, self-reliance, bitterness, entitlement, and insignificance. Progress in obedience towards God happens only when our hearts realize that God’s love for us does not depend on our progress in obedience.

Frequently in our faith we perceive that when we have Jesus plus something (church attendance, bible reading, Christian music, good morals, etc.) we will have everything we need. The problem with that belief is when we fail in our part we then view our faith or Christ as lacking.

Tchividjian enforces in his book that we bring nothing to our relationship with Jesus. It is Christ who supplies all and our role is to embrace him as sufficient. Tchividjian writes, Jesus + Something = Nothing, but Jesus + Nothing = Everything.

It is our role to trust in ourselves for nothing and turn to Christ for everything. Tchividjian helps us see the sufficiency of God’s contribution to our salvation and how we can add nothing to improve upon it.