Mercy involves both truth and love. Truth, in that mercy involves no denial of wrongs having been committed. Love, in that mercy involves no dwelling on wrongs, but is instead focussed on moving towards reconciliation.
Tag Archives: salvation
Do not be ashamed to enter the Church
John Chrystotom once said, “Do not be ashamed to enter again into the Church. Be ashamed when you sin. Do not be ashamed when you repent. Pay attention to what the devil did to you. These are two things: sin and repentance. Sin is a wound; repentance is a medicine. Just as there are forContinue reading “Do not be ashamed to enter the Church”
Contemplating salvation in the depths of depression
As I grapple with my own depression I am reminded that there is an already / not yet tension in the way the apostles spoke of salvation. They had witnessed the resurrection of Jesus, but the resurrection of the dead was still to come. They had witnessed the defeat of death, and yet the threatContinue reading “Contemplating salvation in the depths of depression”
Three things we have no need of
Three things we have no need of: Omniscience Omnipotence Omnibenevolence As we already have them all in Christ
Is something essential being overlooked?
A man who has never had that experience, be it only very briefly, who has never felt that he is exiled from God and from real life, will never understand what Christianity is about. And the one who is perfectly “at home” in this world and its life, who has never been wounded by theContinue reading “Is something essential being overlooked?”
Three things Jesus achieved
Three things Jesus achieved: He revealed the way of life, He released us from tyranny, And he restored our standing before God.
What did Jesus achieve?
What did Jesus achieve? Jews at the time of Jesus expected the messiah to achieve a number to things: to defeat the enemies of Israel; to restore the Temple; to gather the exiles of Israel; and to teach the Torah to the nations. The earliest Christians, who were Jewish by and large, saw Jesus asContinue reading “What did Jesus achieve?”
The story of the sower
Spring has me thinking of the story of the sower. This image illustrates the story from a variety of cultural perspectives. For those unfamiliar with the story, the Gospel of Mark retells it like this: Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he gotContinue reading “The story of the sower”
How can one death make any difference?
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) When we consider the blood spilled every day in the wars that rage across the surface of the earth, it is difficult to comprehend how one more death canContinue reading “How can one death make any difference?”
The false gospel of self righteousness
“As we bring the gospel home to our family, we dare not do so as a self-righteous older brother. Even if our family members are out squandering their inheritance with prostitutes or wallowing in the mud with pigs, if we’re pointing to our record of good behavior while condemning their wicked ways, it will beContinue reading “The false gospel of self righteousness”
Curious Christian 