1. Ash Wednesday's purpose is not to motivate our resolve to redouble our efforts to do better.
  2. This week we will take a closer look at God's love in Scripture.
  3. This sermon was originally given at Luther Seminary chapel on May 20, 1986.
  4. Rightly distinguishing between law and gospel, as Paul helps us see in 2 Corinthians 3, is, quite literally, a matter of life and death.
  5. Even as he was dying, the heart of God poured itself out for the sake of sinners.
  6. All of Scripture, every last syllable of it, is meant to drive us to "consider Jesus," the One who comes to "make us right" by gifting us his righteousness.
  7. This is an excerpt from “The Alien and the Proper: Luther's Two-Fold Righteousness in Controversy, Ministry, and Citizenship,” edited by Robert Kolb (1517 Publishing, 2023). Now available for purchase.
  8. Jesus not only healed her daughter, but he also gave himself to her. Wherever she went from then on, he was with her.
  9. This is an excerpt from “The Alien and the Proper: Luther's Two-Fold Righteousness in Controversy, Ministry, and Citizenship,” edited by Robert Kolb (1517 Publishing, 2023).
  10. God gives us the power and authority to proclaim the forgiveness of sins to burdened sinners who entrust us with their pain, guilt, and defeat.
  11. Repentance is meaningless unless we are willing to acknowledge who we are: sinners needing mercy.
  12. The law had to have its way with the expert to bring him around (and back) to Abraham's response.