Wisdom and strength require bootstrap-pulling and the placing of noses to grindstones.
“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
How do the words “The righteous shall live by his faith” go from a context of hope in hopelessness to the cornerstone declaration of the chief doctrine of the Christian faith?

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It’s easy to slip into thinking about forgiveness solely in terms of our authority over it.
You who would be a law unto yourself, Christ is the gospel unto you, proclaiming you forgiven.
Because Jesus sacrificed Himself for us sinners, God calls us to open the door of our junk rooms and receive His forgiveness.
The Lord who stood before her seemed reckless in His love. Her sin didn't deter Him. Rather, it was the reason He came.
After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again.
David is unable to find an example to accurately compare the purity that flows from God washing a sinner. The winter snow is the best example David can come up with, but it still falls short.
As much as Luther calls Christians to a sober belief in the devil, he also calls them to a firm and steadfast faith in Christ
From the junkyard of my past, I assembled the scrap metal of self-preservation, self-righteousness, and unalloyed selfishness, to weld together a hollow divinity. In its core, I stuffed myself: a god without divinity, offering forgiveness with conditions, to sinners without love.
Character development? Change? Saying that it’s behind you? Yeah right. You’re just saying that because you want your nice polished image back. You haven’t changed. We know. We’ve got the receipts.
God doesn’t give us second chances. No one earns another shot at forgiveness. We cannot earn forgiveness, it’s too costly.
We’ve become experts at making deals with God.
Jesus continues to breathe His gifts on His beloved. He continues to breathe absolution upon sinners like me and you, He continues to fill us with the Holy Spirit and all His comfort.