When we define ourselves, when I define myself, the place in which I am like you and the place in which I am not like you, I'm not excluding you from the joining - I'm broadening the joining.
God is the one to be praised, not our transformation.
The people who tend to be the most gracious are those who know how badly they need grace
Your identity is firmly anchored in Christ's accomplishment, not yours; his strength, not yours; his performance, not yours; his victory, not yours.
Legalism says God will love us if we change. The gospel says God will change us because He loves us.
God's acceptance of us cannot be gained by our successes nor forfeited by our failures.
Here's one way I can know that I've forgotten the gospel of grace: when your sin bothers me more than my sin.
But then with me the horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man's mind, which has been developed from the mind of the lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy. Would any one trust in the convictions of a monkey's mind, if there are any convictions in such a mind?
And just think, fellow Southrons, what kind of a Confederate nation we could have, if after independence, politicians abandoned equivocation and spoke honestly and firmly on all issues? If they were to do their duty to God, nation, and people, there would be virtually no need for any form of federal litigation.
I don't believe in director's cuts where you make things longer. The coolest thing was when the Coen brothers did a director's cut of 'Blood Simple,' and they made it shorter.
When the Holy Spirit takes over your life, He'll drive every sickness out of your body; He'll make right everything that was wrong.