Month: June 2013
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On Clothing, Light, Knowledge, & Free Will
Don: I was stimulated by the blog comment on the Emperor’s New Clothes and its application to the story in Matthew 22 of the wedding guest who refuses to don the wedding garment. It suggests that what is called for is a return to a grace-dependent nakedness that was part of the condition of Man…
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Unpardonable Sin & Inner Light
Don: Scripture contains a number of illustrations of the concept of there being some kind of inner light within every human being. For example: 1 John 3:24: …The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by…
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Grace vs. the Unpardonable Sin
Don: Throughout history, well-meaning Christians have lived in fear of committing, or of having committed, the unpardonable sin. The notion that one must never be guilty of this sin was a common sermon topic when I was a boy. But given the ubiquity and all-encompassing nature of grace that we have deduced in our recent…
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Grace and the Prodigal Son
Don: We have left Matthew to sojourn briefly in Luke 15, to study the parable of the prodigal son. It will help to answer our questions about grace and about how it is possible to pull a spiritual plastic bag over our heads. The context: Jesus is attracting sinners to him, and the Pharisees and…
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The Law and Grace
Don: Last week Jason asked if law and grace are a zero sum game. Rimon had remarked earlier that fallen man may have as much difficulty accepting or keeping God’s grace as he has of keeping God’s law. God’s love and grace seem closely related. How do they relate to the gospel, to the good…