1. This is an excerpt from “Finding God in the Darkness: Hopeful Reflections from the Pits of Depression, Despair, and Disappointment” by Bradley Gray (1517 Publishing, 2023).
  2. Even as he was dying, the heart of God poured itself out for the sake of sinners.
  3. Repentance is meaningless unless we are willing to acknowledge who we are: sinners needing mercy.
  4. There’s no possibility of understanding the grace of Romans 6 and the glory of Romans 8 unless you identify with the excruciating struggle of Romans 7.
  5. The God who abundantly restores is still in the business of total restoration, even today. Even now the God of heaven restores dead sinners to life.
  6. Our Judge (the one who can condemn us) has become our Advocate (the one who doesn’t condemn us) because he is also our Substitute (the one who takes our condemnation).
  7. The Word of Yahweh is not a trifling thing that can be visited only when it’s convenient. It’s a book of life, for all of life, that imparts life to those who believe in it and the God of it.
  8. When we — sinful, reprehensible we — become the enforcers of justice, we never bring about true justice. We either go too far or not far enough.
  9. The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man.
  10. Through the often abominable and lamentable and occasional commendable season, there is one who remains unmoved by it all.
  11. If sin is only a matter of “doing,” then “undoing” and/or “redoing” would serve as the equivalent savior necessary to find redemption.
  12. If you know me in the least, then you know of my fondness for the 2010 film Inception.