Thanks, Jason. just got around to this one. I love Jenson's emphasis on the simultaneous working of God's Word as both law and gospel. Plenty here to ponder and digest. I do wonder that at the end what's really gospel is not so much our reaching out to Christ, but his already having embraced me.
I have never heard of Pr Gerecke, but his is an amazing story of faith and love.
Agreed, we can't save ourselves by practicing virtue or pursuing justice. We'll never get close to the standard.
Nevertheless, justice and virtue are gifts from God. Yes, they condemn us, but they can also guide us. When we ask how we can serve God and love our neighbour, they give us a direction to point. We might even find that the discipline of the Law -- however inconsistently or imperfectly we follow it -- can make our lives and our neighbour's lives a little better. We'll try and fail. So what? We try again.
I worry that sometimes "radically grace-centric language" can obscure this.
Thanks, Jason. just got around to this one. I love Jenson's emphasis on the simultaneous working of God's Word as both law and gospel. Plenty here to ponder and digest. I do wonder that at the end what's really gospel is not so much our reaching out to Christ, but his already having embraced me.
I have never heard of Pr Gerecke, but his is an amazing story of faith and love.
Agreed, we can't save ourselves by practicing virtue or pursuing justice. We'll never get close to the standard.
Nevertheless, justice and virtue are gifts from God. Yes, they condemn us, but they can also guide us. When we ask how we can serve God and love our neighbour, they give us a direction to point. We might even find that the discipline of the Law -- however inconsistently or imperfectly we follow it -- can make our lives and our neighbour's lives a little better. We'll try and fail. So what? We try again.
I worry that sometimes "radically grace-centric language" can obscure this.