Forgiveness from Jesus is always surprising to us.
The Christ who rescues does not wait for you to be clean. He comes to clean you. He does not need your strength. He brings his own.
When you remember your baptism, you're not recalling a ritual. You're standing under a current of divine action that has not ceased to flow since the moment those baptismal waters hit your skin.

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When I was a boy, I wanted to be a trashman. Little did I know that I would grow up to need a God who was a trashman.
Only the poor are in need of a Savior, and only the dead need faith, hope, and love delivered to them by the hand of the Almighty.
God knows our need. He knows how it is to raise unruly children. He is very experienced in dealing with rebellion.
Instead of burning them up with unquenchable fire, He comes in solidarity, to be God with us and God for us. Jesus is baptized into our life, so that He could gift us His life.
You say: Since forgiveness depends on faith alone, why must one nonetheless do good works? Answer: If faith is of the true sort, it cannot be without good works, just as no good work can be where unbelief dwells.
“Christ came with no goals when it came to Himself. His only goals entailed us. He didn’t come to be fulfilled, but to give Himself. And He did that for me.”
Jesus tears down every “but” that people try to build between us and God. He died and rose for us, and—not but—He makes Himself our Lord and Savior.
As a new year approaches, a mawkish paranoia sets in. Looking over our shoulders, we add up our good choices, our praises, and our reasons to celebrate.
Merry Christmas sinner! Jesus was born for you. He died and rose for you.
Christ intercedes on your behalf before the Father for all the sins that work guilt deep down in your soul.
The text says there was no room for them. And this should give us cause for a little head-scratching.
At one point I was asked why we receive the Lord’s Supper during our Christmas services.