This is an excerpt from Chapter 6 in Sinner Saint: A Surprising Primer to the Christian Life (1517 Publishing, 2025). Sinner Saint is available today from 1517 Publishing.
On its journey from Byzantium to Constantinople to Istanbul, this special place helps us understand the broader arc of Christian history, which goes on until Christ's return.
We needn’t fear statistics and studies as palm readings into a certain future. God is God, and his Spirit is alive through his Word.

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When we believe in Jesus as the true and better fulfillment of every promise made to Abraham, we, too, are counted as righteous in the same way that he was — by faith.
The essence of what it means to be a son or daughter of Abraham, an inheritor of the Abrahamic promise, was irrevocably tethered to faith.
Your justification isn’t a matter of “Jesus plus” anything.
Jesus reveals to them again who He is. And that life can only be given when we feed on Christ.
Paul has zero patience for the gospel of God to be called into question, especially when the ones questioning it are the ones who should’ve known better.
In this article Amy Mantravadi give a short but helpful summary of the differences in Lutheran and Reformed thought regarding assurance.
There is no justification by the works of the law
An Analysis of Galatians 5:1-6
Amy Mantravadi asks if we should forgive others even if they are not repentant
In this piece Bob Hiller follows C.S. Lewis’ lead from Screwtape Letters and offers a sequel of his own.
Curious about what Lutherans mean by “Two Kingdom”? In this short piece John Hoyum sums up the doctrine and some of its potential consequences.
Any message other than "Christ for you" is not good news.