1. All human wisdom, righteousness, and holiness are made futile in that which belongs to God’s kingdom.
  2. For Luther, those who refuse Christ as a curse want their sin removed not in Christ but in themselves.
  3. 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.
  4. Luther had a living Word from God intended to land squarely among sinners.
  5. This is the patient love of God. He is stubborn about the salvation of sinners. He will not be rushed even if his name is mocked, and the trustworthiness of his promises are called into question.
  6. This world of unbearable grief and accidental calamity is being renewed and, soon, will be completely bereft of every pernicious foe.
  7. Christ powerless on the Cross is where the false definitions of glory theologies are exposed and everything is turned upside down.
  8. The firestorm of the Reformation which turned Europe upside-down was not Luther’s doing. It was the Word, and the Spirit working through it.
  9. Luther’s confessions and writings during that time demonstrated the diagnosis of the problem he faced had always been the same.
  10. God’s design in the Law is to enable man to know himself; to perceive the false and unjustified state of his heart; to discover how far he is from God and to disdain his own goodness.
  11. Mephibosheth’s story is a living parable of the gospel. It reeks of redemption, demonstrating precisely what Christ does for even the chiefest of sinners.