In Christ the Whole Fullness of Deity Dwells Bodily

This is a beautiful video.

Tim Keller: Loving the Law

“Without the gospel, we may obey the law, but we will learn to hate it. We will use it, but we will not truly love it. 

Only if we obey the law because we are saved, rather than to be saved, will we do so “for God” (Galatians 2:19). 

Once we understand salvation-by-promise, we do not obey God any longer for our sake, by using the law-salvation-system to get things from God. Rather, we now obey God for His sake, using the law’s content to please and delight our Father.” [via]

Michael Horton: No Condemnation

"Because of our justification, the law no longer can condemn us before God's throne...

We must bear in mind throughout our Christian pilgrimage that the Christ who commands is already also the one who has taken care of the guilt not only for past failures but for present and future ones - and even for our failure to do anything as fully and faithfully as we ought."

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Herman Bavinck: Christian Growth

"Many indeed acknowledge that we are justified by the righteousness of Christ, but seem to think that - at least they act as if - they are sanctified by a holiness they themselves have acquired."

Pond: The Beauty of Christ

"Biographies often flatter their subject. It has been impossible for us to do that [with Jesus]; the facts speak for themselves. Our only danger has been to distort the image and to detract from its beauty."

Jerry Bridges: Law-Driven by Nature

“We are performance-oriented by nature, and our culture, and sometimes our upbringing, reinforces this legalistic mind-set.  All too often a child’s acceptance by his or her parents is based on the child’s performance, and this certainly tends to be true in our society.  

We carry this same type of thinking into our relationships with God.  So whether it is our response to God’s discipline of us or our practice of those spiritual disciplines that are so good and helpful, we tend to think it is the ‘law’ of God rather than the grace of God that disciplines us.”

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Love

 "The cross is a pulpit, and the lesson Christ preached on it is love." -Augustine

J. Gresham Machen: The Center of the Bible, and the Center of Christianity, is Found in the Grace of God

“The very center and core of the whole Bible is the doctrine of the grace of God—the grace of God which depends not one whit upon anything that is in man, but is absolutely undeserved, resistless and sovereign.  

The theologians of the Church can be placed in an ascending scale according as they have grasped that one great central doctrine, that doctrine that gives consistency to all the rest; and Christian experience also depends for its depth and for its power upon the way in which that blessed doctrine is cherished in the depths of the heart.  

The center of the Bible, and the center of Christianity, is found in the grace of God; and the necessary corollary of the grace of God is salvation through faith alone.” 

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Grace > Sin

"To say that grace is resistible, is to say that sin is a greater and more powerful force than grace." - Richard J. Vincent

Tim Keller: More Loved and Accepted in Christ than We Ever Dared Hope

"The gospel of justifying faith means that while Christians are, in themselves still sinful and sinning, yet in Christ, in God’s sight, they are accepted and righteous. So we can say that we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hope — at the very same time.

This creates a radical new dynamic for personal growth. It means that the more you see your own flaws and sins, the more precious, electrifying, and amazing God’s grace appears to you. But on the other hand, the more aware you are of God’s grace and acceptance in Christ, the more able you are to drop your denials and self-defenses and admit the true dimensions and character of your sin.” [via]

Michael Horton: What is the Gospel?

Great stuff here from Michael Horton.

John Zahl: The Proper Response to a Rescue

This is such a helpful illustration from John Z. over at Mockingbird.

"Imagine that you are riding on the deck of a cruise liner in the middle of the night. Suddenly, you slip on the slick flooring and find yourself tumbling overboard, into the cold dark waters below. You begin to flail in the choppy sea, kicking and trying to scream for help. Unfortunately, you’re a poor swimmer and can barely keep your head above water, much less get your voice to project enough to be heard by the passengers and crew still on board. Miraculously, one of your shipmates spots you and yells to the captain, “Man overboard!” The crew makes the proper adjustments, and after not too long the ship pulls within reach of you. A life preserver ring attached to a rope is thrown from the deck, and it mercifully lands in front of you, just as your strength is failing.

You grab onto it with both arms, finding immediate relief in its buoyancy. The crew then draws the line into the boat and hoist you onto the deck where you lie, coughing the water out of your lungs, completely exhausted, befuddled, and grateful. The passengers and crew wrap you in blankets and carry you to the infirmary.

Imagine now that you finally have gotten your voice back. You motion that you wish to make a brief announcement to the onlookers. Here is what you say:

“Did you see how I grabbed onto that life preserver like an expert? Did you notice the strength of my biceps and the dexterity in my wrists? I was all over that thing!”

Would not the people hearing this think you had lost your mind? Your statement misses the entire thrust of what had just occurred, which was – pure and simple – a rescue. Would not gratitude and humility be a more fitting and natural response to the whole situation?

And yet, sadly enough, some form of the above tends to be our response to most of the good things that happen to us. Winners of poker games always believe they won by skill; losers tend to believe they were the victim of bad luck. Our careers, our children, our relationships: the human race has an incredible talent for focusing on its own role in the good things of life and minimizing its culpability in negative things. Religious people are not exempt from this phenomenon. In my experience, while Christians often talk loudly about God’s power and grace, their rhetoric just as often betrays a secret belief that their own initiative and willpower played the decisive role – 'did you see the way I grabbed onto that life preserver?'"

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Tullian Tchividjian and Jono Linebaugh:The Law Diagnoses Sinners, the Gospel Delivers Sinners

If we want to understand the gospel, it helps if we understand what isn't the gospel. For me, the Law / Gospel distinction has been extremely beneficial.

Check out this brief video for a overview of these two important theological categories.



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Justin Buzzard: Grace is Free. Grace Costs. Grace is Contagious.

"Grace is free.

Grace is undeserved love. Grace is the undeserved love God gives to us, and it’s the undeserved love we can give to others. Both of these types of grace, the grace given by God to you and the grace given by you to others is free. If it’s not free, it’s not grace. Undeserved love is a gift to the undeserving requiring nothing in return. You will never find grace in a store. It’s not for sale. It can’t be bought. It can only be given.

And this gift, this potent weighty reality of free and undeserved love, changes people’s lives (all the way down to the deep root system of their life; I’m talking change that changes everything, not just the color of a few leaves). Grace is probably, I’ll go ahead and say it is, the most powerful force in the universe.

Grace is free. And, grace costs.

The grace God gives us is free for us, but so costly for God. The Son of God bore the full weight, consequence, shame, humiliation, guilt, and cost of our sin and failures so that we could be forgiven, loved, and free. This is how God works. This is how true love works. This is how forgiveness works. God took the hit so that we could be healed and whole.

It’s the same dynamic for us and our relationships. The grace you give to others is free for them, but costly for you. Have you ever forgiven (truly and completely forgiven) someone who has deeply wronged you? When you gave them that gift of undeserved-forgiveness-love, you decided to pay for the cost of the wrong instead of making them pay. You took the hit.

Why did you do that? Because, like I said, grace is the most powerful force in the universe. As God’s never-stopping grace for you slips deeper and deeper into your DNA you discover that you can’t help it. Your own life becomes so infected with the joy of undeserved love that you must spread it. Grace doesn’t stay put. Grace must spread.

Grace is free. Graces costs. And grace is contagious." [via]

"I'm Good Right?" "I'm Ok." "I've Moved Beyond a Desperate Need of God's Grace." "I've Matured, Haven't I?"

"You quote the devil when you declare yourself OK." - Propaganda [via]

Tim Keller: Good or Bad

"No one is so good that they don’t need the grace of the gospel, nor so bad that they can’t receive the grace of the gospel." [via]

Tim Brister: Gospel-Centeredness Requires a High View of the Law

"...a high view of the law gives us a truer and deeper understanding of the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. God is always more holy than we can perceive him to be, and we are always more sinful that we perceive ourselves to be. On the contrary, a low view of the law obscures beauty and brilliance of God’s holiness and gives damning comfort and false security to the sinner.

A low view of the law produces legalism, because the bar is so low that sinner’s feel justified in attempting to be made righteous by keeping it. A low view of the law also encourages sinners to substitute their own laws for the law of God, making self-righteous standards to live by, and judging others when they fail to live up to their own laws. Therefore, a low view of the law is the breeding ground for moralism where God is an utility to our self-righteous ends of moral justification (i.e., God helped me, not God rescued me).

A high view of the law leads Christ-centered, grace abounding salvation. With a clear view of God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness, there is a deep recognition and awareness of our need of reconciliation and redemption that can only come through the law-fulfilling life and sin-substituting death of Jesus Christ. You diminish the holy character of God and sinful nature of man, then the cross of Christ is depreciated and the gospel is cheapened. When there is a high view of the law, there is a corresponding high need for God to do for you what you are incapable of doing yourself–being made right in the eyes of God through grace.

If your desire is to be a part of a church that is saturated with gospel-loving, Jesus-treasuring, cross-exulting Christians, then it is incumbent that there be a high view of the law. A low view of the law leads to gospel substitutes. A high view of the law leads to gospel enjoyment and celebration. Don’t miss the relationship of law and gospel!"

Read the rest here. 

A Story of Rescue and Grace

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Mark Driscoll and Gary Breshears: The Horrors of a Crucifixion

“The Romans perfected crucifixion; they reserved it as the most painful mode of execution for the most despised people, such as slaves, the poor, and Roman citizens guilty of the worst high treason. The crucifixion methods varied with the sadism of the soldiers. They tried to outdo one another and experimented with various forms of torture. They grew learned in the ways to prolong the pain and agony...

The victim was affixed to the cross with either ropes or nails. The pain of crucifixion is due in part to the fact that it is a prolonged and agonizing death by asphyxiation. Crucified people could hang on the cross  for anywhere from three to four hours or for as long as nine days, passing in and out of consciousness as their lungs struggled to breath while laboring under the weight of their body...

None of this was done in dignity or privacy, but rather in open, public place. It would be like nailing a bloodied, naked man above the front entrance to your local mall. Crowds would gather around the victim to mock them as they sweated in the sun, bled, and became incontinent in the sun.”

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8

The Good Stuff

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.  

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:1-9)

It doesn't get much better than that!

Dave Johnson: A Fellowship of Failures

"The church is a fellowship of failures who have experienced, and continue to experience, the grace of God."

Brennan Manning: Grace in the Winter of Life

“I celebrated my seventy-seventh birthday in April. If you asked me whether what I have done in my life defines my life, I would answer, ‘No.’ That’s not to diminish my sins or humble-bumble my successes. It is simply to affirm a grace often realized only in the winter of life. The winter is stark but also comforting. I am, and have always been, more than the sum of my deeds. Thank God.

If asked whether I have fulfilled my calling as an evangelist, I would answer, ‘No.’ That answer is not guilt-ridden or shamefaced. It is to witness to a larger truth, again more clearly seen in my later days. My calling is, and always has been, to a life filled with family and friends... and Jesus and [ex-wife] Roslyn and notoriously good sinners.

If asked whether I am going gently into old age, I would answer, ‘No.’ That’s just plain honest. It is true that when you are old, you are often led where you would rather not go. In a wisdom that some days I admit feels foolish, God has ordained the later days of our lives to look shockingly similar to that of our earliest: as dependent children.

If asked whether I am finally letting God love me, just as I am, I would answer, ‘No, but I’m trying’.” [via]