Friday, May 31, 2013

Jerry Bridges: Living By Works, Not By Grace

"My observation of Christendom is that most of us tend to base our relationship with God on our performance instead of on His grace. If we’ve performed well—whatever “‘well”‘ is in our opinion—then we expect God to bless us. If we haven’t done so well, our expectations are reduced accordingly. 

In this sense, we live by works, rather than by grace. We are saved by grace, but we are living by the “‘sweat”‘ of our own performance. Moreover, we are always challenging ourselves and one another to ‘”try harder’.” 


We seem to believe success in the Christian life is basically up to us; our commitment, our discipline, and our zeal, with some help from God along the way. The realization that my daily relationship with God is based on the infinite merit of Christ instead of on my own performance is a very freeing and joyous experience. But it is not meant to be a one-time experience; the truth needs to be reaffirmed daily."


[via]

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Michael Horton: Our Best Just Isn't Good Enough

"The bad news is far worse than making mistakes or failing to live up to the legalistic standards of fundamentalism. It is that the best efforts of the best Christians, on the best days, in the best frame of heart and mind, with the best motives fall short of that true righteousness and holiness that God requires.
Our best efforts cannot satisfy God’s justice. Yet the good news is that God has satisfied his own justice and reconciled us to himself through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son. God’s holy law can no longer condemn us because we are in Christ."

Monday, May 27, 2013

David Powlison: Better than Unconditional Love

“Unconditional love says, ‘I love you just as you are.’ But the Gospel is better than unconditional love. The Gospel says, ‘God accepts you just as Christ is.'"

[via]

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Jerry Bridges: Guilt & Grace

Here is some gold from Jerry Bridges:

"Our need is not to be measured by our own sense of need, but by what God had to do to meet that need. Our situation was so desperate that only the death of his own Son on a cruel and shameful cross was sufficient to resolve the problem.

Many people erroneously think that God can just forgive our sins because he is a loving God. Nothing could be further from the truth. The cross speaks to us not only about our sin but about God’s holiness…

The cross…is an expression of God’s wrath toward sin as well as his love to us. It expresses his holiness in his determination to punish sin, even at the cost of his Son. And it expresses his love in sending his son to bear the punishment we so justly deserved...

We cannot begin to understand the true significance of the cross unless we understand something of the holiness of God and the depth of our sin.”

[via]

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Brennan Manning: It's Not Cheap, It's Free

"My life is a witness to vulgar grace—a grace that amazes as it offends. . . . A grace that hikes up the robe and runs breakneck toward the prodigal reeking of sin and wraps him up and decides to throw a party, no ifs, ands, or buts. . . . 

It’s not cheap. It’s free, and as such will always be a banana peel for the orthodox foot and a fairy tale for the grown-up sensibility."

[via]

Monday, May 20, 2013

Michael Horton: The Gospel Doesn't Make Sense to Us

"To the extent that we remain pilgrims in this life, the gospel will remain strange even to us. Until the day we die, we will struggle to believe the bad news and Good News that God announces to us. We do not just naturally think that we are born in sin, spiritually dead, helpless, and unable to lift a finger to save ourselves or impress a holy God. As a result, it does not just occur to us that our greatest need is to be redeemed, justified, regenerated, sanctified, and glorified by God’s saving work in his Son and by his Spirit. 

 If the ‘Good News’ that we proclaim is determined by what we already know—or think we know—it isn’t really news. Limited to whatever we already think is relevant, practical, and useful, the message will never be surprising, disorienting, and troubling. It can never throw us off balance or cause us reevaluate our priorities and interpretations of reality." 

[via]

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Tim Keller: Righteousness in Christ Alone

"If the truth of being justified by Christ alone (not by our works) is lost, then all Christian truths are lost. 

For there is no middle ground between Christian righteousness and works-righteousness. There is no alternative to Christian righteousness but works-righteousness; if you do not build your confidence on the work of Christ, you must build your confidence on your own work. On this truth and only on this truth the church is built and has its being."

[via]

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Band Recommendation: Citizens

Looking for some Christian music that isn't over-produced and boy-band esque? Check out Citizens by Mars Hill Music.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Now That Twitter is Passé...

For those who are interested (I'm talking to you mom), I am now on twitter.

Here is the link.

Enjoy the weekend!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Paul David Tripp: Christ is Our Righteousness

“You have limited righteousness. Does that statement bother you? Actually, it needs to be strengthened. You and I have no independent righteousness at all! All our righteousness has been given to us by Christ. He is our righteousness.”

[via]

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Timothy Keller: Costly Grace

"When we grasp that we are unworthy sinners saved by an infinitely costly grace, it destroys both our self-righteousness and our need to ridicule others." 

[via]

Monday, May 6, 2013

Sam Storms: Substitution

"If Christ did not suffer and satisfy the wrath of God in the place of sinners, I simply have nothing to say to a lost and dying world that could even remotely be regarded as “good news” (gospel). 

I can offer them spiritual therapy, wisdom for living, and a measure of psychological and emotional encouragement. But I have nothing to say that will serve them, much less save them, when they come to stand before the Great White Throne of God."

[via]

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Michael Beates: Grace in Weakness

“Our culture says, ‘Avoid the broken and the disabled.  Hide your weakness and blemishes.  Act as if they simply aren’t there.’  But the Scriptures give story after story and proposition after proposition saying instead, ‘Understand that you – all of you in some sense or another – are broken. Stop avoiding the truth and embrace it.’  

For in that embrace we begin to grasp the power of God through his grace made manifest in human weakness” 

[via]

Friday, May 3, 2013

Greg Koukl: Bad Arguments Against Religion

Greg Koukl is one of my favorite Christian apologists. The guy is brilliant, articulate, and Reformed (which sets him apart in my book).

His material has been such an encouragement to me lately. If you are looking for a shot in the arm to bolster your faith, give his resources a try.

This particular lecture below is fantastic.

Also, he is perhaps best known for his book entitled Tactics: A Game Plan For Discussing Your Christian Convictions.

Lastly, Greg has a fantastic video (and book) dismantling moral relativism. You can find that video here.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Edward Shillito: Jesus of the Scars

After witnessing the carnage and horrors of WWI, Edward Shillito wrote these powerful words:

"If we have never sought, we seek Thee now;
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;
We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow,
We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars.


The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;
In all the universe we have no place.
Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?
Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars, we claim Thy grace...


The other gods were strong; but Thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone."

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

John Stott: Substitution Lies at the Heart of Sin and Salvation

“The concept of substitution may be said  to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation. For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man.

Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives which belong to God alone; God accept penalties which belong to man alone.”