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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Lewis takes us to the planets to satisfy our cravings for spiritual adventure, which, as he says, “sends our imaginations off the Earth,” in the first place.
God comes to us through the flesh and blood and spirit of Christ precisely where he promised to be manifest to us and for us.
Chains may have restricted Paul, but nothing can restrict the gospel.
It was meant to be Karlstadt’s moment to shine, but all anyone remembered was Luther.
As Luther said, “Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection not in books alone, but in every leaf of spring.”
Luther's emphasis on the need for sinners to have preachers who can provide them with the comfort and support they need for their faith in Jesus Christ and life is as relevant today as it was in his time.
Jesus cries on the cross for us. He suffers and cries and dies in our place. He is forsaken by his father so we don’t have to be.
Although Jesus bodily ascended and is hidden from our earthly eyes, he is not far off.
By mandating the promise, Christ states something stronger than just an invitation.
Maundy Thursday is your big night. For the Passover Lamb is given for you, given to you.
This is an excerpt from the introduction of “Common Places in Christian Theology: A Curated Collection of Essays from Lutheran Quarterly,” edited by Mark Mattes (1517 Publishing, 2023).
What we discover in O’Connor’s stories and Martin Luther’s theology is that God’s grace is elusive because the human heart is resistant to it.