Be careful that you do not expect God to favor you on the merits of your offerings or works or religious activity. God only has regard for such things when they are done with faith in him.
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Works must always flow from a heart of faith. Abraham did not make an offering of his only son, Isaac, as a mere work. Nor did he expect that God would honor the work itself.
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We must remain aware of a dangerous temptation as we try to keep the law, that as we observe the law, we can be enticed to think too highly of ourselves.
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Do the things you are commanded and see if he will not pour out his blessings. But never expect him to justify you for the things you do.
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The issue here — and always — is Christ. Let us not think so much about rewards, but instead, about the reward. We must press on toward the real goal.
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We belong to Christ because of faith. This belonging means that we are his servants. So, we are to do his will and bidding, and receive his gifts.
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The Lord has fought the fight. He has gone before us and has won the long battle. He is with us and will never leave us or forsake us.
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Some orders of monks placed their hoods upon dead bodies, indicating that their good works were transferred to the account of the deceased.
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The opponents’ conclusions were that if one pays for his own reward, he can pay more than is due and, therefore, the credit must be transferable to others.
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There is nothing worthy of forgiveness and the resurrection of the body to everlasting life, save the work of Christ. Imagining otherwise does great damage to Scripture and to troubled hearts and minds.
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Eternal life is a reward from God that is based on something very important: his promise. It is not based upon how much work we have done.
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You might wonder how there is blessing in poverty. Only when we admit our impoverished spiritual condition, may the kingdom become our possession.
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Faith is the means of justification, righteousness, and salvation. Only faith keeps our souls at peace before God. Our good deeds will never give us at rest.
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We are reborn with a purpose. But let us be clear; the purpose does not precede or cause rebirth. That purpose is the result of our being newly created.
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Thinking about the eternal result for the way we have lived this life can be terrifying unless we receive the true knowledge of a loving and caring God.
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We should recognize in ourselves that we are disposed to fall back into old ways. But we should also consider that others are just like us.
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When we sin against God once again “in thought, word, and deed,” we might worry sometimes that we have pushed God too far this time.
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As long as people depend in themselves, and trust in their works, peace in the conscience will be fleeting. They will always have troubled consciences.
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What came first, the chicken or the egg? Some love to deliberate over such things; these questions wear out other people and solve nothing.
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The difference that precedes salvation is easy to determine. That distinguishing feature is trust in the one who saves.
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We are indentured servants, slaves to sin and death, and we can never earn our freedom. Either the master sets us free—and death and the devil are not going to do that—or someone pays our debt and sets free.
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The old nature believes that if one loves enough, is joyous all the time, at peace, patient and kind toward others, is good, faithful, and self-controlled, that person will have earned God’s grace.
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God may be trusted to save poor sinners. We are right to not trust in our religious skills and our good deeds. But we would be very wrong to not trust the promise of God.
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There is faith and there is the fruit of faith. Faith ought to have results in this life, not just the result of an eternal life to come. Faith saves, then produces fruit.
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God forgives us for the sake of his name. His reputation is at stake, so he will keep his promise. This is easy to understand.
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What great importance people place in their works. They value deeds so much that they distort the words of Christ. When he downplays works, they exalt them.
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When we think that we have earned God’s mercy and may therefore, demand it, we rob God of the glory that belongs to him alone.
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The First Commandment teaches us that God is faithful to deliver his people. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery."
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Jesus tells us to pray, “Forgive us our sins” because our sin leaves us indebted to God. Matthew uses the word “debt," making it clear that we owe God for our moral failure.
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Pour some dirt into a cup of water and find out how many people will drink? Just so, we are not palatable; each person is just some good mixed in with the bad.
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