Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 60   (Source)

¹ Rom. 3:21-28; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8-9; Phil 3:8-11
² Rom. 3:9-10
³ Rom. 7:23
⁴ Tit. 3:4-5
⁵ Rom. 3:24; Eph. 2:8
⁶ Rom. 4:3-5 (Gen. 15:6); 2 Cor. 5:17-19; 1 John 2:1-2
⁷ Rom. 4:24-25; 2 Cor. 5:21
⁸ John 3:18; Acts 16:30-31

Greg Koukl writes:

"James and Paul go together.  Like two sides of the same coin, they don't conflict with each other; they complement each other.  Both teach us something vital.  Paul looks at what goes on internally; James talks about the external results.  Paul says, "We're saved by faith."  James says, "This is what saving faith looks like."
 My own interpretive paraphrase captures the sense of it:

(21) Consider Abraham for a minute (remember him, the father of true faith?).  His life is a perfect example of what I'm talking about.  He demonstrated to everyone the content of his faith when he obeyed God by offering up Isaac on the altar.  (22) His action was a clear, visible demonstration to us that his faith was not a bunch of words.  To him, faith and works went hand in hand; they were two sides of the same coin.  The exercise of one caused the other to grow.  (23) Years before, God had declared Abraham righteous because of his faith ("And Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness"  Genesis 15:6).  Abraham's obedience regarding Isaac was visible proof that God's earlier declaration of his faith was accurate and well deserved.  Abraham's actions fulfilled God's word, demonstrating his friendship with God.

 The entire truth is conveniently captured for us in one passage, Titus 3:4-8:

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.  This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God may be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men.

Christians need "justification" plus "justification."  Faith alone saves, but faith that is alone is not the genuine article.  It's not saving faith."   Read the article here

"Over these two decades, we’ve been through a series of controversies within evangelicalism about the character of God and his gospel: open theism, Evangelicals and Catholics Together, and the “emergent” movement, to name a few. Along the way, we’ve engaged Robert Schuller, with the publication of his Self-Esteem: The New Reformation, at a moment when it seemed from the Christian best-seller list that Christianity was being radically re-written in the subjective and therapeutic categories of modernity."   Read More

"Welcome to the Ehrman Project. Dr. Bart Ehrman is raising significant questions about the reliability of the Bible. In an engaging way, he is questioning the credibility of Christianity. His arguments are not new, which he readily admits. Numerous Biblical scholars profoundly disagree with his findings. This site provides responses to Dr. Ehrman's provocative conclusions."

"Stuart Robinson, in his biblical-theological work Discourses of Redemption, focused on the eight-fold interpretation of God’s curse on the serpent, when he wrote:

1. The Redeemer would be a man (i.e. the seed of the woman)
2. The Redeemer would be more than a man (i.e. He would be Divine) because He would conquer the one who conquered man (i.e. the devil)
3. The Redeemer would represent a people.
4. The Redeemer would gather a collective group of redeemed individuals to Himself (this is seen in the use of the word ‘seed’ in Scripture. Christ is the “Seed” of the woman, and we are the ‘seed’ of the woman in Him.) This was the beginning of the visible church on earth. There would be a corporate nature of the redeemed.
5. Redemption would involve a new nature. Before this promise men were all hopelessly lost in sin. Man had made himself a slave of sin and Satan, and accordingly had a fallen, corrupt nature. In order for there to be enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman, those who would become the seed of the woman would necessarily have to have a different nature.
6. It would be the gracious work of God in giving His people a new nature.
7. The Lord would put the enmity between the devil and those in his kingdom and Christ and those in His Kingdom.
8. The Redeemer would die a vicarious death on behalf of His people. (i.e. His heal would be bruised, not for anything that He had done but because of the sin of others).

The only thing I would add to all this is the fact that God did not require anything of His people except faith in His promise. This first preaching of the Gospel shows that salvation is ALL the work of God and ALL the work of grace. Man contributes nothing to it except his sin."

--Nick Batzig  (FeedingOnChrist.com)

GLORY BE TO THE GOD THE FATHER
"To Him be the glory forever!" Romans 11:36

Glory be to God the Father,
Glory be to God the Son,
Glory be to God the Spirit,
Great Jehovah, Three in One!
Glory, glory, glory, glory,
While eternal ages run!

Glory be to Him Who loved us,
Washed us from each spot and stain!
Glory be to Him Who bought us,
Made us kings with Him to reign!
Glory, glory, glory, glory,
To the Lamb that once was slain!

Glory to the King of angels,
Glory to the church's King,
Glory to the King of nations!
Heaven and earth, your praises bring;
Glory, glory, glory, glory,
To the King of glory bring!

"Glory, blessing, praise eternal!"
Thus the choir of angels sings;
"Honor, riches, power, dominion!"
Thus its praise creation brings;
Glory, glory, glory, glory,
Glory to the King of kings!

Horatius Bonar, 1866

"What sin could indeed be so great that the holy blood of God could
not pay for it? What sin could be so great that the vivifying flesh of
Christ could not heal it? What could be so deadly that the death of
the Son of God could not remove it? What flaming darts of the devil
could be so fatal that they could not be extinguished in this fountain
of divine grace? What conscience could be stained so much that this
blood could not cleanse it?" -- Johann Gerhard

J. Gresham Machen writes:

"Without the cross the Sermon on the Mount would be an intolerable burden; with the cross it becomes the guide to a way of life. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus held up an unattainable ideal, he has revealed the depths of human guilt, he has made demands far too lofty for human strength. But thank God, he has revealed guilt only to wash it away, and with his demands he has given strength to fulfill them. It is a sadly superficial view of the sermon on the mount which substitutes it for the story of the cross. A deeper understanding of it leads straight to Calvary."   J. Gresham Machen The New Testament: An Introduction to its Literature and History (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust) pp. 196-974

HT Feeding On Christ

Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy,
cast off that I might be brought in,
trodden down as an enemy that I might be welcomed as a friend, 
surrendered to hell’s worst that I might attain heaven’s best,
stripped that I might be clothed,
wounded that I might be healed,
a thirst that I might drink,
tormented that I might be comforted,
made a shame that I might inherit glory,
entered darkness that I might have eternal light.

My Saviour wept that all tears might be wiped from my eyes,
groaned that I might have endless song,
endured all pain that I might have unfading health,
bore a thorny crown that I might have a glory-diadem,
bowed his head that I might uplift mine,
experienced reproach that I might receive welcome,
closed his eyes in death that I might gaze on unclouded brightness,
expired that I might for ever live.

- The Valley of Vision

HT. Dave Bootsma