“It is Christ who will sit on the judgment seat. At that point, all of his sheep will be gathered in. The dead will be raised, and all humanity will stand before Christ, and he will judge the world in righteousness. And the only ones who will stand in the judgment are those who have obeyed the law perfectly.”
“I know you do this at your church. I do it at my church. I tell people our confession is to protect you from me. And to protect me from you. So that neither of us will abuse each other because we have sinful tendencies to do so.”
“As to living underneath grace, why should we obey? Well, it protects the body of Christ from unnecessary suffering. You ever read Paul’s angry letters, like to the Corinthians? They are suffering unnecessary struggles because they aren’t, they’re not, uh, repenting of sin. It’s like, look, y’all, you’re going to suffer enough in life.”
“And Christ’s invitation to us is this: come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I’ll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
“The gospel doesn’t say God’s done his part and now it’s up to you to, to do yours. The gospel says God loves you in Christ fully and completely, loves you, forgives you, makes you- makes you his own. You are free. Uh, you’re free from doing all the shoulds and ought to’s and shalts and shalt nots in order to please God, because he’s already pleased with you in Christ.”
“What trust do you have that is outside of Christ?” We don’t say this because we want to manipulate you. We want to say – we say this because we want to free you.”
“Christians are not people who are really good at keeping rules. Christians are not people who have it all figured out. Christians are not people who have it all together. Christians are people who have taken refuge under the wings of Christ. It’s what we are. It is that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
“The confessions guard that news and they guard that, that presentation of Jesus: his person rightly understood, his work rightly understood. And that is the thing that will protect the church.”
“You know what is the greatest comfort I take at times? I just pray for you. All right, Lord, I got nothing. They’re a mess. I’m a mess. And you’re powerful. Will you please come heal us? And he doesn’t mean physically. He means our soul, our spirit, because our spirit is at war with our flesh.”
“What is our calling now? In short, it’s to be faithful. It’s to work, and by work I don’t just simply mean vocation. I mean work in the building of God’s kingdom: to serve, to give of ourselves for the good of our brethren, the good of our sisters, the good of our neighbor. It’s to use what God has given us all for the building up of the body of Christ.”
“And it- when you don’t use Jesus’ obedience as the ground of your glorification, basically, Justin, this is what you’re arguing for is that your sanctification is what guarantees your glorification. That is not true. The Holy Spirit is the one who is sanctifying us.”
“There have probably been times you’ve sat in my sermons and not had the energy to listen. No judgment here. I grew up a pastor’s kid. I did the same thing. The last thing I want you to do is walk out of here and not hear what James says. If you find yourself at the end, you’re not alone.”
“This is Hebrews two, Hebrews five. God himself in human flesh did that. He was tempted in every way that we are. And while we were still weak, while we were ungodly and his enemies, he died for us. He was made to be sin even though he knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. He did that.”
“What do I do now that I don’t have to do anything for righteousness? It’s like, we’ll consider some of the things that we’ve just outlined: love, humility, patience, bear with one another, weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who rejoice. You know, these things. Do these things for the brothers and sisters around you.”
“What does someone do when they find themselves too weak to believe in the goodness and lovingkindness of the father; when their faith feels almost gone? Paul describes it as those who are spiritually weak and sick. What does that person do? James tells him, call for your elders. You do not depend upon yourself.”
“After he’s pronounced salvation for Zacchaeus, for the son of man came to seek and to save the lost. So just consider this, this section of Luke’s gospel- not much more than a chapter, you have this: you have a tax collector crying out, God be merciful to me, a sinner. And Jesus saying, I tell you, this man went home justified rather than the other.”
“You don’t have an adequate answer in terms of- to explain all of the nuances of suffering and pain. But one thing that Christianity has to offer is the fact that God the Son took on flesh and dwelt in this world and he suffers these things with us. Like he’s, He’s not just some distant deity sitting off in the heavens who cannot identify with what we’re going through.”
“No matter how hard we work, how hard we discipline ourselves, we manipulate ourselves, we will never reach true satisfaction in this life if it’s based upon us and our performance. But if we humbly embrace the word of Christ, we can have full joy.”
“One’s entrance into the kingdom hinges upon whether one receives God’s son. And one’s admittance into the wedding feast at the end of history hinges on whether one receives God’s son and thereby receives his righteousness to wear.”
“But dear Christian, what kind of fear do you have if you stand based on the ground of Christ’s perfect work? What kind of fear is it?”
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