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“The power of sin and death could be broken only by a greater power.” God’s power that is greater than sin and death is himself.
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Jesus has made a display of his cross-conquered enemies, leaving them stripped of all power on the battlefield of the world.
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God’s pursuing mercy finds its target through the cross. Through faith in God’s grace through Christ, the law’s condemnation cannot follow through.
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Death may think it rules the world, but there is another who rules over death, for he brings to life even those who have died. “Christ is the Death of death.”
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If your sin is found in you, you will pay. If, however, your sin is borne by Christ Jesus to the cross, he who is found to be with our sin, pays the penalty for us.
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The Lord looked down from height of heaven and saw a world imprisoned by sin. There was nothing we could do about it. God had to do it himself.
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If Christ must be a pretty, sinless Savior, then our sins are cast back on us. We should want nothing to do with this false, Roman faith.
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We are spared a great and eternal penalty, separation from God and the fire of hell, because God has laid on his Christ the iniquity of us all.
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Though the innocent, unblemished Lamb of God, “personally innocent,” as Luther wrote, “his sinlessness was defiled with the sinfulness of the world."
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If Jesus were not a cursed sinner, he would not have died, and a whole world would be lost in sin and death.
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God has turned the tables on law-keepers everywhere. Christ is the law-keeper, our law-keeper. He is our law-keeper because we are joined to him.
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The righteous and innocent soul who is the very Son of God, had to die because upon him was laid the charge and penalty of all sinners: sin and death.
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“All the prophets of old said that Christ should be the greatest transgressor, murderer, adulterer, thief, blasphemer that ever was or ever could be on earth.”
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The death that we deserved was suffered by Christ Jesus, by a good and righteous man, but an incarnate man, God born in the flesh.
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Keeping the law rightly demands an observance of more than the law; it requires we observe the one who did keep it justly.
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What does God command us but to believe, to have faith — not in our works but in his work, his grace toward us. We recoil at the thought.
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When one is made righteous through faith in the Righteous Man, all his deeds are deemed good. Righteousness does not come from deeds but righteous deeds do rightly follow faith.
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I must daily divest myself of the law’s baggage, relying upon God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. There is life in him alone.
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Now we are free to offer good works, not as things worthy of forgiveness and salvation, but done precisely because we are forgiven and saved.
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The law is not meant to merely obligate and accuse and condemn me but to send me running back into the arms of grace.
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Make this — faith in Christ alone — be your first and chief article of belief, and you will know the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding.
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We are God’s workmanship, not our own. Works are not the cause of our faith and salvation; they — and all the gifts of Christ — are the result.
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The appointed time is coming and only those who live with faith in God’s Christ will be justified and be given eternal life.
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You are accursed if you are more confident in your lack of direction than the clear directions of one who knows how to get there.
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God is not favorable toward smart, religious, or moral people. Be careful that your righteousness springs from faith instead of from morality or religion or learning.
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If Gideon had conquered the Midianites without faith, by mere military strategy and prowess, we might never have heard of a Gideon.
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Faith acts. You can tell who the real Christians are by the things they do and say, and if you are really astute, you might tell because of the things they think.
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If church leaders are so interested in people doing good works, they should stop pressing on works, and pray about the faith of their people.
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Peter writes that faith comes first, not love or works, but that love and other works should follow faith, furnishing faith as proper Christians are called to do.
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People of faith do not strut and crow at God when they are corrected. They understand that their Father is gracious and they repent of their wrong.
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The offering of faith, though it be a small, tarnished coin, is accepted while gold and silver given by the merely religious person is an unacceptable sacrifice.
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Lest you think David is merely overconfident because he has been triumphant before over lion and bear, he does not credit his confidence with himself.
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This is how faith works. It does not rely upon reason or a man’s strength and size. Faith relies upon God alone — and acts.
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True faith in Jesus Christ brings forgiveness and eternal life, and with these, the infilling of the Holy Spirit. And God's Spirit will not inhabit us idly.
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Here is a test of our trust in God’s ability to save us utterly. There are those who say God cannot and will not save us unless we are involved in our salvation.
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We add nothing to his redemptive, sanctifying work. Through baptism, God alone clothes us with the garments of salvation, with the covering of Christ.
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We are not even interested in keeping the law, even if we could do so. We are a stiff-necked people, bent on moving away from God and his law.
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Though Moses’ regulation was to keep the law, no one keeps it perfectly but Christ through whom we are counted holy and righteousness through faith alone.
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There has been a double imputation: our sins are removed and imputed to Christ. They are nailed them to the cross, and we are given his righteousness.
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We know that we do the law imperfectly. But do we keep at it? Do we keep keeping the commandment, loving God and neighbor however imperfectly?
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If one holds that any other work than the cross of Jesus Christ and faith in him accounts for forgiveness of sins and eternal life, that person is Antichrist.
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There have been many Antichrists, and still more will follow. Anywhere anything other than Christ Jesus is required for salvation, there is the Antichrist at work.
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The so-called treasury of merit teaches that, if our own good works are deficient for salvation, the good works or merit of others may be applied to our accounts.
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We may not say it or admit it, perhaps because we do not see it, but we are in effect, claiming to be god when we take on the task of being Christ and savior.
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Those who rely on works-righteousness for forgiveness and salvation count themselves among those antichrists who claim, “I am the Christ.”
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Our loving Father has already promised to be for us, not against us. When we try to bargain with him or make deals, we are calling him a liar.
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Our must be done to glorify the Father, not to extol self, to earn salvation. Works done in an effort to merit God’s favor are hypocritical and idolatrous.
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When the Holy Spirit is received through faith, the Christian begins to care for godly things, and God gives them the will and strength to do these good works.
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When it seems that you have failed at the one thing you were entrusted with, and all seems lost because you can never requite your failures, that is the very moment when you should realize there is now but one critical thing to do.
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Jesus complained that the crowds were only interested in his works instead of his word. We are much like those multitudes, and perhaps, worse.
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“It’s right there in the Bible. I didn’t make this up!” This is similar to what others have said: “God said it; I believe it; and that settles it.”
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Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes in Christ Jesus, so we must submit to God’s righteousness instead of depending on our religious deeds.
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When we look to him with trust that he loves us and forgives us then we are sorry for the sins of our old man but do not languish, depending instead upon God’s promise to renew us day by day.
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God decides for us while we are yet sinners. Every day, God decides for us, while we are still sinners. He does not pick us because we go to church, help the poor, support missionaries, or are just downright nice folks.
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We must not rely upon human inventions of religion but in Christ alone. This trust comes by God’s grace through faith, not by works of human invention.
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"Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin." There is no way that we can work our way to salvation. Faith in Christ alone is the only way to the Father.
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"For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision." Outward laws without faith are sin.
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We are saved by believing in Christ Jesus, not by doing or not doing certain things. When his Spirit takes hold of a heart, his will begins to be accomplished.
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God makes the rules. If humans made them, there would be requirements that depended on themselves, on their abilities and righteousness.
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Quite separate from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed to us in Christ Jesus. Jesus has fulfilled the law, that we may be justified by faith.
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"All who rely on works of the law are under a curse.” Those who rely upon their own deeds or goodness — Christian or not — are under a curse.
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The kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking and voting; it is about righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ.
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When the urge to earn some merit with God strikes us, we must keep in mind the promise and blessing of Christ, our only Savior.
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What makes us good in the eyes of the Father is faith in his Son who came to save people who might be nice folks but who are not fit for heaven.
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The only way to avoid the curse of God's condemnation is to hold on to the promise of the blessing he gives us in Christ alone.
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Those who will not believe in Jesus Christ condemn themselves to the darkness because they are determined to live in darkness instead of his marvelous light.
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We too, abiding in these fleshy tents, groan toward eternity. Yet we may do so with courage and certainty, walking by faith in the Child of Promise.
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Conscience is always waiting for another commandment. It fears imperfection and damnation, and wonders, There must be something else I ought to have done.
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Luther wrote: "We do not deny that Christians ought to imitate the example of Christ; but mere imitation will not satisfy God."
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"To bless simply means to spread abroad the knowledge of Christ’s salvation. This is the office of the New Testament Church..."
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The blessing is the promise of the Gospel. All nations are to be declared righteous before God through faith in Christ Jesus.
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Religion knows no end of satisfactions that must still be made. Faith knows and relies on the cross of Christ alone. That is the all and everything.
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Faith in God’s Christ robes us for heaven while dressing us for action on earth. As Ambrose said, “Faith is the mother of a good will and doing what is right."
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We esteem Abraham because he had faith in the Christ who would come 14 generations later. We do not regard him because he created a religion.
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Our faith in his Word, which is the promise of his very self, is what upholds us until there is no time to measure — and will uphold us forever.
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If Abraham’s works did not justify him to God, then how could any follower of Father Abraham be justified by his works? They cannot, nor can we.
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God, the loving Father, sent his only Son, the Light of the World, into this dark world. He insists that we have faith in him. Nothing else will do.
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The faith of Abraham was directed to the Messiah who was to come, while ours rests in the Christ who has already come and is coming again with great power and glory.
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Faith believes God when he makes the promise of eternal life, without knowing the particulars, just as Abraham believed God for the seed of blessing.
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Cheats like Jacob may become children of Abraham — because they have faith in the promise. And that is good news for the likes of you and me.
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The physical offspring of Abraham are born in sin into wrath and condemnation but the spiritual offspring to pardon and heaven.
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"Paul’s argumentation runs... 'Since this is the unmistakable testimony of Holy Writ, why do you take your stand upon circumcision and the law?'"
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We are not protected from eternal wrath and damnation by doing a blessed thing. Like Abraham, we are justified to God by believing him.
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"This is the main point of Paul’s argument against the Jews: The children of Abraham are those who believe, not those who are born of Abraham’s flesh."
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Because sin lingers in us, and God hates sin, a transfusion of alien righteousness becomes vitally necessary. So, faith justify without works.
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Do not consult that quack doctor, Reason. Rely upon the heavenly Physician, Christ, who heals the broken-hearted and makes a joyful heart..
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Those who imagine they are becoming good enough for God are fooling themselves, and they know it with every pious effort they make at holiness.
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"Faith is weak, but it means enough to God that He will not lay sin to our charge. He will not punish nor condemn us for it. He will forgive our sins..."
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"God 'winks' at my sins and covers them up. God says: 'Because you believe in my Son I will forgive your sins until death shall deliver you from the body of sin.'”
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"Because the shadow of Christ’s wing covers me I have no fear that God will cover all my sins and take my imperfections for perfect righteousness."
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"Christian righteousness is the confidence of the heart in God through Christ Jesus. Such confidence is accounted righteousness for Christ’s sake."
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