Category: Graffiti
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Legalism in Light of the Gospel
In light of the gospel, let me especially demolish the myth that legalism is a blunder that’s associated only with our initial salvation—with our positional justification in God’s eyes. Most believers realize we could never earn such salvation; we’ve come to accept that no one can work his way into God’s kingdom… . But when…
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Appropriating the Justifying Work of Christ
Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives. Many have so light an apprehension of God’s holiness and of the extent and guilt of their sin, that consciously they see little need for justification. Below the surface, however, they are deeply guilt-ridden…
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Effect of Coming Empty Handed
“As we come to Christ…empty-handed, claiming no merit of our own, but clinging by faith to His blood and righteousness, we are justified. We pass immediately from a state of condemnation and spiritual death to a state of pardon, acceptance, and the sure hope of eternal life. Our sins are blotted out, and we are…
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Remaining Witnesses
The biblical emphasis is upon sowing, not harvesting. It is upon testifying, not sentencing. Witnesses remain witnesses, and they do not move over to the judge’s seat. ~ Darrell Guder
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The Call to Discipleship Is…
Colin Marshall & Tony Payne give us a good concise definition of what it means to be a follower of Jesus: The call to discipleship is thus a call to confess our allegiance to Jesus in the face of a hostel world; to serve him and his mission, whatever the cost. ~ from The Trellis…
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A Paradox of God’s Intentions
A paradox of the Christian faith worth pondering, from John Flavel: When God intends to fill a soul, he first makes it empty. When God intends to enrich a soul, he first makes it poor. When he intends to exalt a soul, he first makes it sensible to it’s own miseries, wants, and nothingness.
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This Present Communion
“We are justified if we have accepted Christ as Savior. But present communion with God requires continual bowing in both the intellect and the will. Without bowing in the intellect, in thinking after God; without acting upon the finished work of Christ in my present life; and without bowing in the will in practice, as…
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The Glory of the Gospel
The Gospel would not be good news if it did not reveal the glory of Christ for us to see and savor. It is the glory of Christ that finally satisfies our soul. We are made for Christ, and Christ died so that every obstacle would be removed that keeps us from seeing and savoring…
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A Right Definition of Faith
How shall we distinguish a healthy faith from one that is built on more shaky ground? Consider this insight from John Calvin: “Now we shall possess a right definition of faith if we call it a firm and certain knowledge of God’s benevolence toward us, founded upon the truth of the freely given promise in…
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Worship is the Proper Response
Worship is the proper response of all moral, sentient beings to God, ascribing all honor and worth to their Creator-God precisely because he is worthy, delightfully so. This side of the Fall, human worship of God properly responds to the redemptive provisions that God has graciously made. While all true worship is God-centered, Christian worship…
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Every Church Missional
Every church is called to be a “missional church”. The fact that we have turned the word mission into an adjective testifies to the American church’s frayed ecclesiology. A non-missional church is not a church in the first place, but in a culture largely devoid of theological vocabulary, this language has become necessary to remind…
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Currents of Repentance
“If all we do in our meditations is to repent of a few petty acts called sins that have accumulated over the last day (and this is not to belittle the importance of doing that), we have not known the deep power of purifying grace that repentance is supposed to offer. Israel and its…
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Ancient Prayer
Here is a beautiful description of prayer from my friend John Smed: “In believing prayer, we learn to connect our present troubles to the good and perfect will of God. We refuse to believe that chance rules our lives. We withstand the temptation to imagine that God is capricious or malicious. We know he has…
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Explosive Power of the Gospel
“The Gospel is God’s explosive power that changes everything. The gospel makes us Christians…. God forgives your sin, declares you righteous in Christ, gives you eternal life, adopts you as His child, and ushers you into an intimate relationship with Himself, through the Holy Spirit. Secondly, the gospel grows us. The gospel is not merely…
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Benefitting in the Benefactor
Sinclair Ferguson offers this wise insight about the gospel-centered life: “…we must never separate the benefits (regeneration, justification, sanctification) from the Benefactor (Jesus Christ). The Christians who are most focused on their own spirituality may give the impression of being the most spiritual … but from the New Testament’s point of view, those who have…
