In both its precepts and penalty, the law of God in its most exacting requirements was fulfilled by Jesus. And He did this in our place as our representative and our substitute.
This is the secret of being content: To learn and accept that we live daily by God’s unmerited favor given through Christ, and that we can respond to any and every situation by His divine enablement through the Holy Spirit.
Love provides the motive for obeying the commands of the law, but the law provides specific direction for exercising love.
Sin is wrong, not because of what it does to me, or my spouse, or child, or neighbor, but because it is an act of rebellion against the infinitely holy and majestic God.
God never allows pain without a purpose.
We all want Grace, but we cannot enjoy Grace when there is an attitude of comparing.
Grace is the love of God shown to the unlovely. It is God reaching downward to people who are in rebellion against him.
We could not take one step in the pursuit of holiness if God in His grace had not first delivered us from the dominion of sin and brought us into union with His risen Son. Salvation is by grace and sanctification is by grace.
To live by grace is to live solely by the merit of Jesus Christ. To live by grace is to base my entire relationship with God, including my acceptance and standing with Him, on my union with Christ.
Thankfulness to God is a recognition that God in His goodness and faithfulness has provided for us and cared for us, both physically and spiritually. It is a recognition that we are totally dependent upon Him; that all that we are and have comes from God.
Preach the gospel to yourself every day.
We obey God’s Law, not to be loved but because we are loved in Christ.
God’s sovereignty does not negate our responsibility to pray, but rather makes it possible for us to pray with confidence.
This is the essence of God’s sovereignty; His absolute independence to do as He pleases and His absolute control over the actions of all His creatures. No creature, person, or empire can either thwart His will or act outside the bounds of His will.
God will never allow any action against you that is not in accord with His will for you. And His will is always directed to our good.
To be justified means more than to be declared “not guilty.” It actually means to be declared righteous before God. It means God has imputed or charged the guilt of our sin to His Son, Jesus Christ, and has imputed or credited Christ’s righteousness to us.
We must not allow our emotions to hold sway over our minds. Rather, we must seek to let the truth of God rule our minds. Our emotions must become subservient to the truth.
Because God is sovereign, He is able to answer. Because He is faithful to His promises, He will answer.
Faith enables us to obey when obedience is costly or seems unreasonable to the natural mind.
God’s plan and His ways of working out His plan are frequently beyond our ability to fathom and understand. We must learn to trust when we don’t understand.