“Jesus saves us. He does all the work of salvation. But he uses the law… and the law is called the hammer of God. What is the purpose of the law? The purpose of the law – oh, I hope you get this! The purpose of the law is to reveal to you how deep your hatred of God is… that it is so deep that the law finally led you to kill God himself. You couldn’t commit a greater sin than that, for all goodness comes from God. And if you could succeed… well, how can you do that? That’s why [Jesus] came in the flesh, so it could be done! But why? It’s hard to believe a doctrine unless there’s some reason for it. Well, the reason for it is this: by coming in the flesh, coming to His own people and getting murdered, and then declaring forgiveness… you know that your sins – no matter how big, no matter how many, no matter how persistent – they cannot be greater than the love of God in Christ. The only way you could establish this was for God to come in the flesh and be murdered, and then forgive us. Because it had to be the greatest sin possible. And if you don’t think that’s right, Paul says in Romans: the law increases sin.
So what is the gospel? The proclamation: your sins have been forgiven. “Well, don’t I have to do something?” NO! You don’t have to do anything. The minute you say ‘I have to do something,’ you are spitting in the face of God. You’re saying, ‘[I’m] gonna do it! God, you’re not in charge. Get off the throne, I wanna get there!’ And that was the original sin in the garden, of Adam and Eve… You know, I tell my granddaughters, ‘If you fall down that’s not so bad, we can always pick you up. But if you fall up, we’re in trouble… how will we ever get you down again?’ And that was the original sin, it was the sin to be like God. I’m always a little afraid of those who sing ‘Be like Jesus, oh my soul.’ I think that a little heresy could come in there very easily.”
Herb Loddigs, Bondage of the Will, sermon notes.
Are the lyrics of the Christian life “Hallelujah, What a Changer!” or “Hallelujah, What a Savior!”? Are we conformed to the image of God’s Son by focus on our change, or faith in His gospel?
Romans 7:7-8:3
e☧change 
I hope I get it, too.
God wants us to get it , so much so, that He crams it down our throats, literally, in His Supper.
And we must hear it all throughout our lives. Because our old sinful self wishes to remain in charge.
now that’s a call to the table! awesome, thank you Steve
What the old classic “Jesus Paid It Mostly,” or “Alas! and Did my Savior set an example.”?
It is so difficult to grasp a firm Biblical foundation for salvation and sanctification in a way that addresses God’s work and our response. To differentiate two destinations, the mechanism by which that seperation is made, and the qualifications by which one can determine themselves united to the machinery of salvation as it were.
A confusion of categories has almost exclusively led to the myriad issues we observe in statements such as “living the Gospel,” or “being Jesus to someone.” While I think I know what these people mean when they say this, there are better ways to say what I think they mean and the confusion it causes is potentially fatal.
When was the last time you heard a church preach through Galatians anyway?
like your thoughts Todd. I agree about some of the sloppy language- could be harmless… or, could be our flesh trying to hop the fence! If it were me talking, I’d sound the alarm… the Old John Dink can play dumb, but he’s pretty clever in edging extra nos out of the picture. Thanks man
Thank you John for stating this so clearly. I don’t get it – every day. There are moments when I get it – and it feels so good to rest in his 100% one-way love. But when I forget this – I go back to wanting to be on that throne and sing “Hallelujah, What a Changer!” because I’d like the focus to be on me – Jesus helped me there of course – but look what I (me, me, me, me) did. Thank God that is NOT true. Thank God and his grace that it is 0% me and 100% Him.
Good word Bryan, thanks. I’m with ya man… dying to my throne-dreams daily. Let’s catch up soon!
This is such a good quote! Thanks for sharing this, John.
You bet bubba. Brad said you guys have been hangin, would love to hear what’s goin on with ya sometime.