1. The point Luther made, again and again, was that distance between God and sinners is collapsed when the crucified Christ himself comes to sinners through a preacher.
  2. God’s gifts, in turn, conform our minds to the mind of Christ, and catechize our imagination in the image of God’s Son.
  3. Make no mistake, sinners are in fact being pursued by a most hideous beast called sin, death, and the devil, unleashed and striking continuously.
  4. History won’t judge us, Jesus will. We already have his judgment. He gave it to us from the cross, where he acquitted us with his death.
  5. Free-range Christ is fearful Christ because he is present, speaking, and I just crucified him.
  6. Easter must be seen in light of the cross. It must never overshadow Good Friday. They are a packaged deal!
  7. My one hope of not only entering a right relationship with God but also stepping into glory is the same: it’s Christ. It’s always Christ.
  8. Edward's goal of teaching his people to know the scriptures and to believe that their salvation depended on Christ is also essential for us today.
  9. For Luther, those who refuse Christ as a curse want their sin removed not in Christ but in themselves.
  10. Confession is not another ecclesiastical bludgeon but is instead a gift. There we can tell the truth about ourselves, knowing that Christ has only mercy for us in response.
  11. Luther had a living Word from God intended to land squarely among sinners.