The Reformers did not return to the sources because they believed the old was better than the new, nor because antiquity possesses authority simply by virtue of its age. They returned to the sources to recover the language and words that were actually written and spoken, especially those by great teachers and, most importantly, God Himself.
The certainty of faith is utter assurance because it depends upon nothing of your own. It is entirely trusting that God is a propitious, pardoning God—the God who justifies sinners by forgiving them.
Sinners get faith as a gift when Christ takes their captivity captive.

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We just finished celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
Luther accepted Augustine’s view of the church as a mixed body.
What is it to be an heir of the Reformation? It is to look outward to Christ bleeding and dying on the cross as Great Rescuer of sinners—of me.
Where Jesus speaks to us, takes ahold of us, and gives Himself to us.
When I was about 10, I went on a hike with a boys brigade. We were all racing down this path at lunchtime when I decided to beat everyone to the bottom by deviating from the path.
The Lutheran Reformation was a reformation of the Christian imagination alongside its theology.
The Reformation handed over the crystal-clear Gospel of Jesus Christ on to the next generation.
So bondage meets freedom, and God becomes our Master through Christ.
We are forgiven for Christ’s sake. Losers set free to trust in God’s promises.
Luther contends that even our best spiritual, theological, and moral efforts are insufficient to save us.
God created Israel to be the vessel into which he would place both his Law and his Son.
Rather than presenting Christ’s words as a rule or a threat, Luther reveals it to be the promise of God.