He doesn’t consume us, even though that is what we deserve. Instead, Jesus comes down to us and consumes all our sin by taking it on himself.
This article is the first part of a two-part series. The second part will take a look at when pastors abuse their congregations.
The following entries are excerpts from Chad Bird’s new book, Untamed Prayers: 365 Daily Devotions on Christ in the Book of the Psalms (1517 Publishing, 2025), pgs. 311 and 335

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Such faith is faith alone. Even our Spirit-produced fruit is not to be trusted. Rather, faith rests entirely in Christ’s work for us.
Advent is one big answer to the question of free will in matters of salvation. God is free. Our will is bound.
Christmas wrecks all attempts to penetrate God's hiddenness and seek him out in Heaven. He comes to us clothed in our humanity.
The Pope Leo X used the psalm description of a boar uprooting grape vines in a vineyard as a metaphor for what the upstart German monk had been doing at that backwater university.
Luther’s theology lets the believer in Christ dwell under the cerulean sky of God’s unchanging grace.
“Whatever you do, don’t share the Gospel with me?” Those were my exact words to my slightly mystified seminary professor. As he set his coffee down, I could tell that he was holding back in an effort to allow me to process what I was thinking.
God’s gifts are received, and the faithful heart offers gratias, and thanks are given in return.
He was a beggar on the streets. And, he was as good as dead if he didn't receive a blessing. The words, "you're cursed" haunted his mind.
When we say in the benediction, “The LORD make His face shine on you,” grace is what we mean.
The more that we hear the law, the more we recognize others as those who, like us, are torn and tattered by the wounds of sin and brokenness.
God acts through His Word and means in order to create, restore, and renew inward faith.