Perfect Sense?

What Is the Trinity? -Free Downloads

Ligonier Ministries is offering a free download (e-book or PDF format) of R.C. Sproul's book What Is the Trinity? The offer is good until the end of October. Go to (Free Downloads) | Ligonier Ministries Blog for details.

“180″ Reviewed

Here's a link to Justin Taylor's helpful review and critique of Ray Comfort’s “180″ Film on Hitler and Abortion

"180"

The "180 Movie" is now out and viewable on line. Here it is!



It takes about 30 minutes to watch, but it is well worth the time investment. There is some graphic material, so be forewarned. How anyone could not be pro-life after watching this is beyond my comprehension.

May God bless the use of this movie for his glory and purpose.

International Coffee Day

Just heard that it is International Coffee Day - which reminds me that I need some more caffeine.

Ya'll enjoy your coffee today and every day!

Prayers for Yousef Nadarkhani

 Please join me in prayer for Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, an Iranian follower of Jesus facing execution by the government of Iran for refusing to recant his Christian faith. May the Lord strengthen and save our brother in Christ and be with his family in this time of trial!

News & blog coverage:

Iran: Execution for Apostasy Seems Imminent- National Review Online

Christian Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani faces potential execution: Washington Post

Clock ticking louder in Iran: Get Religion.com

Iranian Pastor faces execution for Christian Faith: Denny Burk

Asking Cruciform Questions

I like (and agree with) this from Mason Slater at New Ways Forward about asking Cruciform Questions

For our theology to be truly “Christian”, above all else it must have Christ at its center.

If this seems obvious, good, it ought to. But our practice often puts the lie to our profession.

It is entirely possible to do theology, or even to study and preach the Bible, with hardly a mention of Jesus. And it happens more than we might like to admit.

I think that, often, we set Jesus on a shelf because he terrifies us. We have our easy categories and our self assured view of the world around us, and Jesus turns it all upside-down, setting a question mark alongside everything we thought it meant to be pious or orthodox.

In last week’s reading from Common Prayer, I came across this quote, “Teach us the necessity and power of asking the right questions, and help us to live the answers.”

Yes. Exactly.

And the key question is this – what does it mean to be faithful, orthodox, loving, pious, forgiving, etc. in light of the story of a Messiah who died on a Roman cross and rose again from the grave?

If every word of our theology is not transformed by that story, the Jesus story, then whatever we are doing it has no claim to the name “Christian.”

So when we think about the death penalty, the value of life, the doctrines of heaven and hell, what it means to live out our faith in this time and place, the intersection of faith and science, how we treat those who are different from us, and the thousands of other questions we face in this life – let us always ask how the story of Christ transforms the way we see all other stories.

Let us ask the right questions, and let them be cruciform questions.

Not the Same Without It

Confused about the doctrine of the Trinity? Then check out Kevin DeYoung's piece entitled The Doctrine of the Trinity: No Christianity Without It:

If any doctrine makes Christianity Christian, then surely it is the doctrine of the Trinity. The three great ecumenical creeds—the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed—are all structured around our three in one God, underlying the essential importance of Trinitarian theology. Augustine once commented about the Trinity that “in no other subject is error more dangerous, or inquiry more laborious, or the discovery of truth more profitable.” More recently, Sinclair Ferguson has reflected on “the rather obvious thought that when his disciples were about to have the world collapse in on them, our Lord spent so much time in the Upper Room speaking to them about the mystery of the Trinity. If anything could underline the necessity of Trinitarianism for practical Christianity, that must surely be it!”

Yet, when it comes to the doctrine of the Trinity, most Christians are poor in their understanding, poorer in their articulation, and poorest of all in seeing any way in which the doctrine matters in real life. One theologian said, tongue in cheek, “The trinity is a matter of five notions or properties, four relations, three persons, two processions, one substance or nature, and no understanding.” All the talk of essence and persons and co-this and co-that seem like theological gobbledy-gook reserved for philosophers and scholars-maybe for thinky bookish types, but certainly not for moms and mechanics and middle-class college students.

So in a few hundred words let me try to explain what the doctrine of the Trinity means, where it is found in the Bible, and why it matters....

Read the whole thing at the link.

Silly Story...Great Truth

Great story from Tullian Tchividjian:

A friend of mine recently told a silly story about a man standing at the gates of heaven waiting to be admitted. To the man’s utter shock, Peter said, “You have to have earned a thousands points to be admitted to heaven. What have you done to earn your points?”

“I’ve never heard that before: but I think I’ll do alright. I was raised in a Christian home and have always been a part of the church. I have Sunday school attendance pins that go down the floor. I went to a Christian college and graduate school and have probably led hundreds of people to Christ. I’m now an elder in my church and am quite supportive of what the people of God do. I have three children, two boys and a girl. My oldest boy is a pastor and the younger is a staff person with a ministry to the poor. My daughter and her husband are missionaries. I have always tithed and am now giving well over 30% of my income to God’s work. I’m a bank executive and work with the poor in our city trying to get low income mortgages.”

“How am I doing so far”, he asked Peter.

“That’s one point,” Peter said. “What else have you done?”

“Good Lord…have mercy!” the man said in frustration.

“That’s it!” Peter said. “Welcome home.”

My friend who used this silly illustration ended it by saying, “Teach the law. The Psalmist called it perfect. Teach it until people recognize their inability to keep it and cry out for mercy…Mercy always comes running.”

No Such Thing

“God can't give us peace and happiness apart from Himself because there is no such thing.”

        ― C.S. Lewis
 

Tweeting Jesus

Hat Tip: Rick Ianniello: jesus tweets?:

Jesus + Nothing = Everything

Jesus + Nothing = Everything: Intro from Crossway on Vimeo.

Here's Tullian Tchvidjian talking about his upcoming book Jesus + Nothing = Everything. I really want to read this book!

Owning the Daily Present

"...remember that the life in which we ought to be interested is 'daily' life. We can, each of us, only call the present time our own...Our Lord tells us to pray for today, and so he prevents us from tormenting ourselves about tomorrow."

           - St. Gregory of Nyssa

Justification By Faith According to the Church Fathers

Interesting article at Cripplegate by Nathan Busenitz entitled The Gospel according to the Church Fathers. Did you know that the leaders of the Protestant Reformation (Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, et al) all believed that their reform teachings on justification through faith alone were not only Biblical, but consistent with the teachings of the early church fathers? Check out this partial list of quotes:

1. Clement of Rome (30-100): “And we, too, being called by His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart; but by that faith through which, from the beginning, Almighty God has justified all men; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

2. Epistle to Diognetus (second century): “He gave His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy One for transgressors, the blameless One for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the incorruptible One for the corruptible, the immortal One for them that are mortal. For what other thing was capable of covering our sins than His righteousness? By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God? O sweet exchange! O unsearchable operation! O benefits surpassing all expectation! That the wickedness of many should be hid in a single righteous One, and that the righteousness of One should justify many transgressors!”

3. Justin Martyr (100-165) speaks of “those who repented, and who no longer were purified by the blood of goats and of sheep, or by the ashes of an heifer, or by the offerings of fine flour, but by faith through the blood of Christ, and through His death.”
.................

18. Theodoret of Cyrus (393–457): “The Lord Christ is both God and the mercy seat, both the priest and the lamb, and he performed the work of our salvation by his blood, demanding only faith from us.”

19. Cyril of Alexandria (412-444): “For we are justified by faith, not by works of the law, as Scripture says. By faith in whom, then, are we justified? Is it not in Him who suffered death according to the flesh for our sake? Is it not in one Lord Jesus Christ?”

20. Fulgentius (462–533): “The blessed Paul argues that we are saved by faith, which he declares to be not from us but a gift from God. Thus there cannot possibly be true salvation where there is no true faith, and, since this faith is divinely enabled, it is without doubt bestowed by his free generosity. Where there is true belief through true faith, true salvation certainly accompanies it. Anyone who departs from true faith will not possess the grace of true salvation.”

Much more at the link.

Exulting in Monotony

"Perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning 'Do it again' to the Sun; and every evening 'Do it again' to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never gotten tired of making them."

- G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

How Rumors Spread

From:  How rumors spread without anyone having to feel very guilty - 22 Words:

Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered. (Proverbs 11:13 ESV)

How We See One Another

Above is a cartoon I found at Near Emmaus on how various Christian denominations and movements see each other. It's funny because there is a lot of truth in it. Perhaps we should all learn how to be more charitable to one another, and how to laugh at ourselves!

Salvation Top 20

When God saves you, He…

1. Regenerates you, moving you from spiritual death to life. (John 3:1-8)
2. Redeems you, buying you out of slavery to sin. (1 Peter 1:18-19)
3. Justifies you, declaring you innocent in His sight. (Romans 5:1-9)
4. Sanctifies you, setting you apart as holy. (1 Cor 1:2,30)
5. Forgives you of all your sins. (Ephesians 1:7)
6. Cleanses you, removing from you the stain of sin. (Hebrews 9:14)
7. Reconciles you to Himself. (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)
8. Seals you with His Spirit as a guarantee of your future hope. (Ephesians 1:13)
9. Indwells you, sending the Holy Spirit to live in you. (Romans 8:9)
10. Adopts you, making you His child. (Romans 8:14-17)
11. Baptizes you into Christ’s body, the Church. (1 Corinthians 12:3)
12. Illuminates your mind so you can understand the Scriptures. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
13. Makes you a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
14. Reveals you as one of His elect. (Ephesians 1:4, Romans 8:29-30)
15. Grants you eternal life. (John 11:25-27, 1 John 5:11-13)
16. Names you an heir with Christ. (Romans 8:17)
17. Grants you an inheritance. (1 Peter 1:3-4)
18. Declares you a saint. (Romans 1:7, Colossians 1:2)
19. Grants you new citizenship, making your home heaven rather than this world. (Philippians 3:20)
20. Makes you a slave of Christ, a slave with the greatest, most glorious Master that any could ask for. (1 Corinthians 7:22-23)

Praise God for the assurance that comes from these great truths.

HT: Jude St.John, Already Not Yet

The Antidote to Alcohol and Drug Addiction

Interesting review at Christianity Today of a book by Kent Dunnington with the thesis that Christian worship offers the only adequate response to the seductions of drink and drug.

Addiction and Virtue: Beyond the Models of Disease and Choice
by Kent J. Dunnington
InterVarsity Press, September 2011

No Difference

"If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.” — William Law

Because He Reigns

“God does not send out his church to conquer. He sends us out in the name of the One who has already conquered. We go only because he reigns.”

— Kevin Deyoung and Greg Gilbert, What is the Mission of the Church?
(Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2011), 46

Hat Tip: Of First Importance

Beautiful Hymn Performance

This is an amazingly beautiful rendition of the old hymn "It is Well With My Soul," performed by a group of teenage siblings from my home town who perform under the name "Dave's Highway." Listen, you will be blessed!
   

Gateway vs. Pathway

Interesting - The Gateway Gospel vs. the Pathway Gospel:

The Gateway Gospel forgives our past sins and sets us on a new road of doing more and more for Jesus.
The Pathway Gospel forgives our past, present, and future sins and sets us on a new road of enjoying more and more what Jesus has done for us—igniting real doing on our part.
The Gateway Gospel gains our doctrinal allegiance yesterday.
The Pathway Gospel feeds our hungry heart today.
The Gateway Gospel gives us a burst of energy for a season.
The Pathway Gospel gives us a dear friend for the whole journey.
The Gateway Gospel leaves us exhausted, frustrated, and bitter.
The Pathway Gospel leaves us relaxed, liberated, and gentle.
The Gateway Gospel saves us from our sins.
The Pathway Gospel saves us not only from our sins but also from all our other saviors.
The Gateway Gospel draws us to the idea of forgiveness.
The Pathway Gospel draws us to the person of Jesus.
The Gateway Gospel is Jesus in black-and-white.
The Pathway Gospel is Jesus in 3D.
The Gateway Gospel tells us to march.
The Pathway Gospel invites us to dance.
The Gateway Gospel is, ultimately, a lecture.
The Pathway Gospel is a song.

Never Get Past the Gospel

Why is it that we always seem to think that the Gospel message is just the beginning of Christianity, and that we need to grow on beyond it? Good words from The Cripplegate:

In our minds, our lives progress beyond the simple message of the Gospel. Like getting past the need for training wheels, as we get better at life the assistance it provided is no longer necessary. It becomes a reference point for progress. Like rings within a tree. “See how far we’ve come.” In some strange way, getting beyond the “basics” of the Gospel is a sign of personal improvement.

But you never move beyond the Gospel to a more sophisticated or timely wisdom. There is no more intricate or relevant wisdom than the cross. God has nothing more to offer. Its simplicity, which we take for granted, is also its complexity. It is not moved beyond. You don’t get over it. You wade into it its vastness. What should astound us is its ever-deepening and infinitely unfolding depth of wisdom. It is the marvel of the infinite mind of God. It is the greatest thought the God of the universe is capable of thinking

Paul described himself as a steward of its immeasurable mysteries. He never got over it or moved past a dependence on it. He grew more basic in the sense that he was constantly coming to an awareness of the depth of those “basic” realities. His ever-growing need for it corresponded to his ever-increasing awareness of its enormity. He saw it. It consumed him. It was like digging through silos of unending grain. The deeper he dug the deeper he dug. As he turned it over, it grew more glorious, not less. With each examination it grew more substantial, not less. It becomes more relevant, not less. If you see it, you bow before it. You do not scoot around it. Its circumference is infinite.

In the light of the Gospel, we can see the truth in what had previously made no sense at all. As someone once said, grace slips in and changes all the price tags in the display window. Everything is new. And it is all free. We see life through the lens of eternity and the Savior’s love.

What Happens When Your Cell Phone Goes Off in Church?

One church's light hearted approach to a common problem.

Hat Tip:Take Your Vitamin Z: What Happens When Your Cell Phone Goes Off in Church?:

Love in Two Arenas

"...Jesus is saying that the most important thing to God is love. Love, it seems, has two arenas where it is played out - in our relationship with God and in our relationships with people.  What's on God's heart is no a list of rules or commands, but the expansion of love...... All God wants for us in this is that we live in healthy, loving relationships."

- Erwin McManus, Soul Cravings, entry 14

What If Roe v. Wade Never Happened?

“…choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” – Deut. 30:19, KJV

From The Seeds of Slaughter @ SBC Voices:

What if the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade had never occurred? What would happen if the High Court’s decision to legalize abortion was reversed? How many babies, if given the chance to simply live, would grow up to make a difference? How many parents would, in the end, be glad that they let their children live?

What if we’ve murdered a future president at some point within the last 38 years? What if we’ve callously killed blameless babies that would have become doctors, loving mothers, teachers, and preachers? How many potentially productive people have died at the hands of pitiless physicians all in the name of choice?

What if one of those murdered millions would have become Secretary-General for the United Nations? What if we’ve slaughtered an infant that would have developed a cure for cancer or the common cold? What if we’ve mistakenly massacred millions of innocent infants for the sake of individual liberty? What about the life and liberty of the person inside the womb? What if, in our pursuit of happiness, we’ve shot ourselves in the foot by being selfish and greedy instead of loving and principled?

What if we had contemplated the consequences? What if we had decided that fetuses are lives and not just decisions? How would you feel if, at sometime during the last four decades, we had unknowingly butchered a future member of your family? How would you TRULY feel if one of those executed babies had happened to be YOU?

The Need for Continual Re-Discovery

“The key to continual and deeper spiritual renewal and revival is the continual re-discovery of the gospel.”

               — Timothy Keller "The Centrality of the Gospel"

Hat Tip: Of First Importance:

Performance Driven or Grace Motivated?

Great teaching on the danger of being performance driven vs. grace motivated from Jerry Bridges: 

Evangelicals commonly think today that the gospel is only for unbelievers. Once we’re inside the kingdom’s door, we need the gospel only in order to share it with those who are still outside. Now, as believers, we need to hear the message of discipleship. We need to learn how to live the Christian life and be challenged to go do it. That’s what I believed and practiced in my life and ministry for some time. It is what most Christians seem to believe.

As I see it, the Christian community is largely a performance-based culture today. And the more deeply committed we are to following Jesus, the more deeply ingrained the performance mindset is. We think we earn God’s blessing or forfeit it by how well we live the Christian life.....

......So I learned that Christians need to hear the gospel all of their lives because it is the gospel that continues to remind us that our day-to-day acceptance with the Father is not based on what we do for God but upon what Christ did for us in his sinless life and sin-bearing death. I began to see that we stand before God today as righteous as we ever will be, even in heaven, because he has clothed us with the righteousness of his Son. Therefore, I don’t have to perform to be accepted by God.

Now I am free to obey him and serve him because I am already accepted in Christ (see Rom. 8:1). My driving motivation now is not guilt but gratitude. Yet even when we understand that our acceptance with God is based on Christ’s work, we still naturally tend to drift back into a performance mindset. Consequently, we must continually return to the gospel. To use an expression of the late Jack Miller, we must “preach the gospel to ourselves every day.” For me that means I keep going back to Scriptures such as Isaiah 53:6, Galatians 2:20, and Romans 8:1. It means I frequently repeat the words from an old hymn, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

         - Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness

Hat Tip:  Take Your Vitamin Z: Are You Performance Driven?

All Interconnected

"We need each other; we need people; we need community; we need relationship; we need God.

They are all interconnected, and it flows in both directions.  We try to fill our vacuum for God with people, and we find ourselves frustrated and empty.

When we turn to God, we find our hearts open to people and discover our need for them more than ever before."

-Erwin Raphael McManus, Soul Cravings, entry 13
 

From Pro-Choice to Pro-Life in Seconds

Pro-Choice to Pro-life in seconds: What caused the change? Can you guess?

See 180Movie.com

The Way On and the Way Until the End

"Christ is not only the way on which we must begin our journey, but He is also the right and the safe way we must walk to the end. We dare not be deflected from this. Here Christ wants to say: 'When you have apprehended Me in faith, you are on the right way, which is reliable. But only see that you remain and continue on it.' Christ wants to tear and turn our hearts from all trust in anything else and pin them to Himself alone. "

                - Martin Luther

Hat Tip: Strawberry Rhubarb Theology

Insanity

"It is insanity to run from God and search for love."

- Erwin Raphael McManus, Soul Cravings, entry 9 

Remember

We Remember September 11, 2001.

On that morning a co-worker ran down the hall of our office shouting that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. We gathered in front of a TV normally used for training videos to watch as the disaster continued to unfold. I called my wife to tell her to get to a television. Not much work got done that day.

The plane that hit the Pentagon destroyed the section of the building where my father had worked almost 30 years earlier. My in-laws were in Washington, DC stuck in some of the traffic caused by the Pentagon attack.

May the Lord be with those who still mourn the loved ones lost that day, and with the surviving heroes of the NYFD and NYPD and other first responders who were so brave that day. May His grace be with those brave men and women in uniform who fight for our freedom and the freedom of other peoples and nations, and may God bless America.
 

How to Prepare a Sermon (Not!)

Hat Tip:  Rick Ianniello: preaching prep

It Matters Where You Look

"If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. If you look at God you'll be at rest."
                              - Corrie Ten Boom

I'm Not Okay, You're Not Okay, But That's Okay

Haven't had any Tullian quotes on the blog in a while, so it's about time. And this one is really good! From It’s Okay To Not Be Okay - Tullian Tchividjian:

The gospel liberates us to be okay with not being okay. We know we’re not—though we try very hard to convince ourselves and other people we are. But the gospel tells us, “Relax, it is finished.”

Because of the gospel, we have nothing to prove or protect. We can stop pretending. The gospel frees us from trying to impress people, to appease people, to measure up for people, to prove ourselves to people, to make people think we’re something that we’re not. The gospel frees us from what one writer calls “the law of capability”—the law, he says, “that judges us wanting if we are not capable, if we cannot handle it all, if we are not competent to balance our diverse commitments without a slip.” The gospel grants us the strength to admit we’re weak and needy and restless—knowing that Christ’s finished work has proven to be all the strength and fulfillment and peace we could ever want, and more. Since Jesus is our strength, our weaknesses don’t threaten our sense of worth and value. Now we’re free to admit our wrongs and weaknesses without feeling as if our flesh is being ripped off our bones.

The gospel frees us from the urge to self-gain, to push ourselves forward for our own purposes and agenda and self-esteem. When you understand that your significance, security, and identity are all anchored in Christ, you don’t have to win—you’re free to lose. And nothing in this broken world can beat a person who isn’t afraid to lose! You’ll be free to say crazy, risky, counterintuitive stuff like, “To live is Christ and to die is gain”!

Now you can spend your life giving up your place for others instead of guarding it from others—because your identity is in Christ, not your place.

Now you can spend your life going to the back instead of getting to the front—because your identity is in Christ, not your position.

Now you can spend your life giving, not taking—because your identity is in Christ, not your possessions.

That’s pure, unadulterated freedom.

Martin Bashir Interviews Tim Keller on "Reason for God"

MSNBC journalist Martin Bashir interviewed Tim Keller about Christianity, at Columbia University in February 2008, related to his book The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. The interview lasts for a half hour, followed by an hour-long Q&A with Dr. David Eisenbach, who presents questions from the audience.

Hat Tip:  Martin Bashir Interviews Tim Keller – Justin Taylor: - Sent using Google Toolbar

Free Download - "Prayers: A Personal Selection"

September's Free audio book download on christianaudio.com

Prayers: A Personal Selection read by Michael York and composed by Michael Hoppe contains some of the most significant and most beloved prayers in Christianity. Our Lord's Prayer, the prayers of both Old Testament and New Testament saints, and some of the most famous Christian prayers are beautifully and warmly narrated by Michael York. These classic devotional prayers are sure to encourage and grow one to greater faith in Christ.

Homeboy

Crux sola est nostria theologica!

Free Download - ESV Classic Reference Bible

Want a free e-book Bible? The ESV Classic Reference Bible is available for FREE download this month only at - eChristian.com.

Did I mention that it is FREE?!

Follow the link to get your copy.

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A Missional Psalm

I was reading Psalm 67 this week, and noticed that it is a poem about missional living.

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us

and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

2 that your way may be known on earth,

your saving power among all nations.

3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;

let all the peoples praise you!

4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,

for you judge the peoples with equity

and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;

let all the peoples praise you!

6 The earth has yielded its increase;

God, our God, shall bless us.

7 God shall bless us;

let all the ends of the earth fear him!

Psalm 67 - ESVBible.org:

The term "missional" is a popular buzzword in some circles, and I am not usually a fan of buzzwords, because they can easily lose meaning. Basically, to be missional is to live in an intentionally outwardly focused way, based on a conviction and consciousness of joining God in the the work and mission of reconciliation and redemption in this world.

This psalmist ask God to bless him, not just for his own benefit, but so that God's ways will be know on earth and so that all the people will praise Him  His focus is on "all nations," "the peoples," and " all the ends of the earth."

Do you pray like that? Do I?

Make Mine a Double!

I want a drink of this!

The Reformation was a time when people went blind-staggering drunk because they had discovered, in the dusty basement of late medievalism, a whole cellarful of fifteen-hundred-year-old, 200-proof grace–of bottle after bottle of pure distillate of Scripture that would convince anyone that God saves us single-handed.

The Word of the Gospel, after all those centuries . . . suddenly turned out to be a flat announcement that the saved were home free even before they started. How foolish, then, they said, how reprehensibly misleading, they said, to take the ministers of that Word of free, unqualified acceptance and slap enforced celibacy on them–to make their lives bear a sticker that said they had gone an extra mile and paid an extra toll. It was simply to hide the light of grace under a bushel of pseudo-law. . . .

And for the Reformers, that was a crime. Grace was to be drunk neat: no water, no ice, and certainly no ginger ale; neither goodness, nor badness, nor the flowers that bloom in the spring of super-spirituality could be allowed to enter that case.

–Robert Farrar Capon, Between Noon and Three: Romance, Law, and the Outrage of Grace (Eerdmans 1997), 109-10

Hat Tip:  200-Proof Grace | 5:21: