'Grace' Tagged Posts
OUR SUBSTITUTE
Our old teachers spoke often about “the vicarious atonement.” We got it, because they explained it. Churchy words such as, “justification” (to declare not guilty), or “redemption” (to be ransomed by the blood of Christ when we were held hostage by sin, death and hell), or “reconciliation” (that God made friends of us when we were His declared enemies) – these and countless other rich Bible words do not need to be dummied down to a vanilla vocabulary. They…
“YOU KNOW THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST…”
In the classic stewardship chapters of 2 Corinthians 8 & 9, Paul points to the humiliation of Christ to warm our heart as we worship Christ with self and substance. He says, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” Paul follows up the grace of giving and the sheer honor of giving with the adventure of giving:…
A REVIEW OF THE BASICS
Sometimes it is good to review the basics – for our own understanding of what we believe, and to help others understand also. The message of the Bible can be summed up in the three-fold motto of the Lutheran Reformation: By Grace Alone By Faith Alone By Scripture Alone GRACE ALONE We believe that all people are by birth and nature sinful, alienated from God. We believe that God saves us by His free grace, His undeserved love. God showed…
CARPE DIEM!
The famous old Latin phrase was Carpe Diem! – “Seize the Day!” The ancient slogan was revived some years ago in the movie, Dead Poets Society, and was fashioned into a song in the Disney musical, Newsies. The phrase “Seize the day!” is open to both a godless understanding and a Christian understanding. The ancient Greeks and Romans and a lot of people down to 2013 believe in seizing the day with a godless gusto which chants “eat, drink and…