The Passion Anime (Through the Eyes of the Criminal)

Martin Luther: The Law Demands Too Much, Our Only Hope Is Grace

“Sin is not canceled by lawful living, for no person is able to live up to the Law. Nothing can take away sin except the grace of God.”

Charles Hodge: Sinner, You Are Righteous!

"Everything in us and around us seems to testify against the truth of God's promise. He pronounces us just, yet we are covered with filth; he declares us to be righteous, but our best works fall short. Nothing comes to our defense, except the Word of God: 'Sinner, you are righteous in my Son.'"

Charles Spurgeon: Does too Much Grace Lead to Sin and Rebellion?

"When I thought God was hard, I found it easy to sin; but when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion, I smote upon my breast to think that I could ever have rebelled against One who loved me so, and sought my good.”

John Bunyan: The Demands of the Law & Power of the Gospel

"Run, John, run," the law demands,
But gives us neither feet nor hands.
Better hope the gospel brings:
It bids us fly and gives us wings.

"Cheer up; you’re a lot worse off than you think you are, but in Jesus you’re far more loved than you ever could have imagined." - Jack Miller

Parenting In Light of God's Grace

 via: LIBERATE

Herb Loddigs: Gospel

"So what is the gospel? The proclamation: your sins have been forgiven. “Well, don’t I have to do something?” NO! You don’t have to do anything. The minute you say I have to do something, you are spitting in the face of God. You’re saying, “[I’m] gonna do it! God, you’re not in charge. Get off the throne, I wanna get there!” And that was the original sin in the garden, of Adam and Eve." via JD

Michael Horton: What is Christianity?

"Christianity is not a resource for spirituality, religion, and morality, but a dramatic story at the heart of which is the claim that during the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Jesus was crucified for our sins and, after three days, was raised bodily from the dead." via The Gospel Driven Life page 19.

Valley of Vision: Descending Grace

O Lord,
No day of my life has passed that has not proved me guilty in your sight.

Prayers have been uttered from a prayerless heart.
Praise has been often praiseless sound.
My best services are filthy rags.

But though my sins rise to heaven, your merits soar above them;
Though unrighteousness weighs me down to hell, your righteousness exalts me to your throne.
All things in me call for my rejection,
All things in you plead my acceptance.
I appeal from the throne of perfect justice to your throne of boundless grace.

Grant me to hear your voice assuring me:
That by you stripes I am healed;
That you were bruised for my iniquities;
That you have been made sin for me;
That I might be righteous in you;
That my grievous sins, my manifold sins, are all forgiven,
Buried in the ocean of your concealing blood.

I am guilty, but pardoned,
Lost, but saved,
Wandering, but found,
Sinning, but cleansed.

Give me perpetual broken-heartedness.
Keep me always clinging to your cross.
Flood me every moment with descending grace.

Adapted from Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions

The Gospel Project

 HT: everyone

A Tale of Two Songs

Compare these two popular Christian hymns. Both songs speak of Christ and salvation, but there is a subtle but important soteriological difference between the two that should be noted:

Victory In Jesus: 

I heard an old, old story, How a Savior came from glory, How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me;

I heard about His groaning, of His precious blood’s atoning, then I repented of my sins and won the victory.

Rock of Ages:

Not the labors of my hands can fulfill thy law’s commands; could my zeal no respite (rest) know, could my tears forever flow, all for sin could not atone; thou must save, and thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling; naked, come to thee for dress; helpless, look to thee for grace; foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.

Could you spot the difference?

The former song speaks of winning the victory through the repentance of our sins (i.e., works). While repentance is the appropriate response to the gospel - it is not the gospel. Unfortunately, the emphasis and moment of "victory" in this song is described as the hour I first believed and repented, not the hour that Christ bore our sins upon the cross. 

Contrarily, the latter song, Rock of Ages, speaks of raw, gritty, and scandalous grace. We bring nothing to the table except for our sin and rebellion. We are "naked," "helpless," and "foul" (appropriate descriptions). The author, Augustus Toplady - an 18th Century Calvinist Anglican, "gets it." His language is the language of someone who understands his own brokenness, and is therefore absolutely captured and amazed by the grace of God in Christ Jesus. 

I want to think, pray, preach, lead, and blog like that. I want the weight of my sin to crush me of my pride and my self-righteous tendencies. Then, I want to cry out in desperation with Augustus Toplady: "wash me Savior, or I die!"

"Christ did not come to bring the judgement but to bear it." - Edmund Clowney

"Remove Christ from the Scriptures and there is nothing left." - Martin Luther

Cheap Book Recommendation: Give Them Grace

I was able to read Give Them Grace last year and found it, at the time, to be a great help in exploring how the gospel of grace can (and should) impact our day-to-day relationships. I highly recommend this gospel-saturated book.

Right now Amazon is selling the kindle version for $5.99. Pick it up here. via Z.

CJ Mahaney: He Drank It

Grace When I Fail?

I read these words this morning and was blessed by them. I have a feeling that there might be someone reading this blog who needs to read them as well:

What If You Fail? 

"Never a day goes by when we do not fail to do what Christ has enabled us to do. Despite all of the gifts flowing from our union with Christ, sin still remains in us. That’s the reason you need to know that Jesus has broken the power of sin–because its presence still remains! We should not be shocked that the war still rages inside us. We have been changed, we have been empowered, but we have not yet been perfected.

What do you do when you sin and fail? Do you excuse and rationalize? Do you wallow in self-defeating guilt and regret? The Cross calls you away from both responses. It gives you the freedom to admit your sin and repent. It is impossible for your sin to shock the One who died because of it. The Cross also gives you the freedom to seek and receive forgiveness each time you fall. We do not have to carry the sins Christ took on himself. He paid the price we could not pay so that we would never have to pay it again.

When you fail, keep Jesus and his work in view. Run to your Lord, not away from him. Receive his forgiveness, get back up, and follow him once more, knowing that each time you fail, you can experience your identity as one for whom Christ died. Each failure reminds us of why he had to die; each confession reminds us of the forgiveness that only the Cross could provide." Paul David Tripp via AN

If you are struggling with sin, please don't despair or give up. There is grace for you at the cross. 

Please don't (1) run from God as I have done in the past, or (2) simply fake it and act like you are fine. Christianity is not about you never making a mistake and being perfect, it's about a Savior who was perfect on your behalf and who paid for those mistakes and sins on the cross. Get back up, repent, run to him, rest in him, bathe in his grace, and hang in there. When you fail again, run to him again - this is the Christian life.

Know that there is no sin that is beyond the grace of God. There is nothing you could do that would cause him to turn away in disgust - Christ took that disgust for you on the cross. If you are united with Christ, the Father's love for you is unconditional; It is based on Christ's performance, not yours. His love for you is grounded upon his covenantal faithfulness, not your personal piety. 

Through Christ, your sin and guilt have been paid for, and you have been declared righteous. This is good news.

Fight with all that you have to believe these words. They are true and, yes, the gospel really is that great. 

Jesus Christ is what separates Christianity from every other religion or worldview. I urge you to let his life and work dominate your thoughts. Let his grace rock your world. And when you fail at that (and you will), there is grace for you still.

"Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that is greater than all our sin."  -Julia Johnston