The Logic of Law and Grace in the Sermon on the Mount

There is a lot of teaching and conversation going on these days concerning the sermon on the mount. Tullian Tchividjian is currently doing a sermon series on it and the Whitehorse Inn guys just did an excellent series of podcasts on it. It is amazing how clearly the sermon on the mount teaches grace and […]

Grace is the air that love breathes

I haven’t posted in a while because I have been preparing the Reasonable Grace teachings, and I really post here when I feel I have what is for me a breakthrough insight. I’ve been thinking about the subject of this post a lot, and I hope it is clear and comes across as a breakthrough […]

Justification is greater than Forgiveness

21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of […]

Book Study: 1 John 2:7-11 part deaux

7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the […]

Book Study: 1 John 2:7-11

7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the […]

Book study: 1 John 2:3-6

3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of […]

Confession, Death, and Resurrection

I’ve been reflecting on yesterday’s post about 1 John 1:9, and I wanted to round out some of the ideas. Paul makes a great deal about how we have been baptized into Christ’s death, and are raised with Him to newness of life (Romans 6:3-4). I recently (thereforenow.com/2012/03/his-cross-is-my-death/) made the point that it is Christ’s […]

We Confess, He Transforms

We resist grace because we do not believe He exists, and we suspect that if He does exist, He will manifest His power only to punish and judge. We cannot leave our confession hanging and vulnerable waiting upon the awful silence, we cannot believe that the alien touch from beyond the silence will be a […]

Law and Gospel in 10,000 years

As there has been for literally millennia, there has been a lot of discussion lately in the blogosphere about law and gospel. I’m thinking of a recent post by Tullian Tchividjian: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tullian/2012/03/23/law-and-gospel-part-1 Here’s a thought about how this works. I am convinced, utterly convinced, that it is important that young adult men should not poop […]

Mercury is in Retrograde!

Mercury is in retrograde, and this is NEWS! http://shine.yahoo.com/life-made-easy/mercury-retrograde-survival-guide-155500286.html Not that we’re superstitious of course! But, things are going really well the last few days with certain trouble spots at work, KNOCK ON WOOD! Just don’t open an umbrella inside, or walk under a ladder. We’ve really got to get rid of that black cat […]