Christian Revival

The cross does not merely provide a temporary respite from condemnation. We are told that Christ stands before the Father as our legal representative, our advocate (1 John 2:2; Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:... View MoreThe cross does not merely provide a temporary respite from condemnation. We are told that Christ stands before the Father as our legal representative, our advocate (1 John 2:2; Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:33-34). What this means is that the law, once our enemy, which demanded our punishment, now becomes our friend, demanding our acceptance. How so? The law has been perfectly fulfilled in our substitute, and so now it would be unjust for God to turn on us! For God to punish us for any sin would be to exact two payments for the same debt (since Jesus has already paid it). Now Jesus stands before the Father, in a sense, demanding not mercy but justice for us. We have both his law and his love for us. We could not be more secure.

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All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live. ... View MoreAll to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live. I surrender all, I surrender all. All to You, my blessed Savior, I surrender all. All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at His feet I bow, Worldly pleasures all forsaken; Take me, Jesus, take me now. All to Jesus I surrender, Wholly yours, my Savior divine; Let me feel Your Holy Spirit, Truly know that You are mine. All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I offer you my all; Fill me with Your love and power, Let Your blessing upon me fall. All to Jesus I surrender, Now I feel the sacred flame. Oh, the joy of full salvation! Glory, glory to His name!

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Martin Luther, Bondage of the Will (1525), 7.18: “I frankly confess that, for myself, even if it could be, I should not want ‘free-will’ to be given me, nor anything to be left in my own hands to enab... View MoreMartin Luther, Bondage of the Will (1525), 7.18: “I frankly confess that, for myself, even if it could be, I should not want ‘free-will’ to be given me, nor anything to be left in my own hands to enable me to endeavor after salvation; not merely because in face of so many dangers, and adversities, and assaults of devils, I could not stand my ground and hold fast my ‘free-will’ . . .; but because, even were there no dangers, adversities, or devils, I should still be forced to labor with no guarantee of success, and to beat my fists at the air. If I lived and worked to all eternity, my conscience would never reach comfortable certainty as to how much it must do to satisfy God. Whatever work I had done, there would still be a nagging doubt as to whether it pleased God, or whether he required something more. The experience of all who seek righteousness by works proves that; and I learned it well enough myself over a period of many years, to my own great hurt. But now that God has taken my salvation out of the control of my own will, and put it under the control of his, and promised to save me, not according to my working or running, but according to his own grace and mercy, I have the comfortable certainty that he is faithful and will not lie to me, and that he is also great and powerful, so that no devils or opposition can break him or pluck me from him. . . . Thus it is that, if not all, yet some, indeed many, are saved; whereas, by the power of ‘free-will’ none at all could be saved, but every one of us would perish.

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“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.