Of First Importance

A vision of the Lamb

Josh Etter — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 04:05:46 +0000

“All mortal vanities, be gone,
Nor tempt my eyes, nor tire my ears,
Behold amidst th’ eternal throne
A vision of the Lamb appears.”

- Isaac Watts, A vision of the Lamb

The happy gates of gospel grace

Josh Etter — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 04:40:14 +0000

“Dear God, the treasures of thy love
Are everlasting mines,
Deep as our helpless miseries are,
And boundless as our sins.

The happy gates of gospel grace
Stand open night and day,
Lord, we are come to seek supplies,
And drive our wants away.”

- Isaac Watts, The Invitation of the Gospel

Sheer grace

Josh Etter — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 04:05:17 +0000

“God saves by sheer grace, he cannot be manipulated by moral performance.”

- Justin Buzzard, Twitter Post

What we see at the cross

fredeaton — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 06:52:21 +0000

“What we see at the cross is the white-hot revelation of the character of God, of his love providing the price that holiness requires. The cross was his means of redeeming lost sinners and reconciling them to himself, but it was also a profound disclosure of his mercy. It is, in Paul’s words, an ‘inexpressible gift’ that leads us to wonder and worship, to praise and adore the God who has given himself to us in this way.”

- David F. Wells, The Courage to be Protestant (Grand Rapids, Mi.; Eerdmans, 2008), 129

Something Brand New

fredeaton — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 05:51:59 +0000

“Because Christ lived perfectly, died sufficiently, and rose victoriously, you and I can come out of hiding. We are free to own up to, without fear, the darkest of our thoughts and motives, the ugliest of our words, our most selfish choices, and our most rebellious and unloving actions. We are freed from our bondage to guilt and shame. We are freed from hiding behind accusation, blame, recrimination, and rationalization.

Confession is powerful and effective. It turns guilt into forgiveness. It turns regret into hope. It turns slavery into freedom. It turns you from mourning over your harvest to planting new seeds of faith, repentance, and hope. You see, you are not trapped! Things are not hopeless! The Lord, the great Creator and Savior, is the God who never changes, but at the same time he is the God who promises and produces deep personal change. The changes he makes in us are so foundational that the Bible’s best words describing them are ‘new creation.’ God’s plan is to change us so fundamentally that it is as if we are no longer us; something brand new has been created!”

- Paul David Tripp, Lost in the Middle: Midlife and the Grace of God (Wapwallopen, Pa.: Shepherds Press, 2004), 124.

Every Kind of Good Abounds in Him

fredeaton — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 06:04:17 +0000

“We see that our whole salvation and all its parts are comprehended in Christ. We should therefore take care not to derive the least portion of it from anywhere else. If we seek salvation, we are taught by the very name of Jesus that it is of him. If we seek any other gifts of the Spirit, they will be found in his anointing. If we seek strength, it lies in his dominion; if purity, in his conception; if gentleness, it appears in his birth. For by his birth he was made like us in all respects, that he might learn to feel our pain. If we seek redemption, it lies in his passion; if acquittal, in his condemnation; if remission of the curse, in his cross; if satisfaction, in his sacrifice; if purification, in his blood; if reconciliation, in his descent into hell; if mortification of the flesh, in his tomb; if newness of life, in his resurrection; if immortality, in the same; if inheritance of the Heavenly Kingdom, in his entrance into heaven; if protection, if security, if abundant supply of all blessings, in his Kingdom; if untroubled expectation of judgment, in the power given to him to judge. In short, since rich store of every kind of good abounds in him, let us drink our fill from this fountain, and from no other.”

John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2.16.19.

(HT: Ray Ortlund)

We come as the Father’s gift unto Jesus

Bart — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 06:43:56 +0000

“Will not the Father hear those who cry in His dear Son’s Name; who plead the merits of His only begotten; who present all their supplications as one with Christ? Jesus said, ‘I know that You hear Me always.’ This truth flows down to all the members of His mystic body.

We come as they who are the Father’s gift unto Jesus. We come as the bride of the Heavenly Bridegroom—as the members of Him who is the Head of the body—as the sheep of His pasture—as the jewels of His mediatorial crown—as they in whom He had delight before the worlds were framed—as they whom He will love while endless ages roll. We come as they whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life—as they for whom the blood of God was shed—as they whom celestial righteousness enrobes—as they for whom thrones in heaven are provided—as they for whom Jesus testified, ’The glory which You gave Me, I have given them.’

Thus we approach the Father of the blessed Jesus. Let all fears and doubts and hesitations vanish! God would as soon deny His Son as those whom His Son represents.”

—Henry Law, Meditations on Ephesians