The Law & The Gospel

“The law requires works of human achievement; the gospel requires faith in Christ’s achievement. The law makes demands and bids us obey; the gospel brings promises and bids us believe.”

(HT: Of First Importance)

Little children, love one another!

I can't remember where I heard this story about John the Apostle but I've been looking for it for a long time and was so happy that I found it!

"There is a church tradition, which says, that when John was evidently an old man in Ephesus, he had to be carried to the church in the arms of his disciples. At these meetings, he was accustomed to say no more than, "Little children, love one another!" After a time, the disciples wearied at always hearing the same words, asked, "Master, why do you always say this?" "It is the Lord's command," was his reply. "And if this alone be done, it is enough!""

I just think it's such a sweet picture. This great man of faith, the apostle whom Jesus loved, frail and old being carried out by his disciples to speak 5 little words. "Little children, love one another!" Truly, "the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" (Galatians 5:6b, NIV) May God help me by His grace to love more.

(Source: http://www.biblepath.com/john1.html)

Two Things

My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things;
That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour.
~John Newton

Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

A. That I am not my Own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death -- to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven: in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from no on to live for him.

What a beautiful truth! I want to read it over and over again! May I always put all my hope in Jesus Christ.

(Heidelberg Catechism)

Righteous!

I must confess I am enamoured with the Gospel. Probably because I have always had a painfully low opinion of myself. (Can you tell I've been reading a bit of Jane Austen lately?) But seriously, resting on the truth of the Gospel has become a such a great comfort. It is Christ's work and not my own that God sees. God has declared me righteous. What a great salvation! The truth in this song by Shane & Shane always moves me. And John Piper's words at the end are so powerful.

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God". 2 Corinthians 5:21
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1

Do it again!

A child kicks its legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough... It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again," to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again," to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike: it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. (G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy)

Responsible but Dependent

I love paradoxes. Probably because I don't like to make decisions. Like take, for instance, divine sovereignty verses human responsibility: Though I am actually doing the working of my own salvation, it is actually God who is doing the work in me. So I am responsible but totally dependent at the same time. I've read a few books by Jerry Bridges and a theme he repeats in many of his books is 'dependent responsibility'. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I read stuff like that. Plus, it makes me more grateful for my salvation because not only am I justified before God, but I am also sanctified as well. Salvation means that I am both declared righteous as well as progressively made righteous. And both are by God's grace.

All these thoughts were (re)sparked by a blog post by John Piper. Check it out. You too can "abandon any anti-Bible intellectual baggage you have inherited from planet earth, and recalibrate your brain to embrace the paradoxes of real human choice and decisive divine sway". The comment section is worth reading as well and was very influential in my thoughts.