Be careful that you do not expect God to favor you on the merits of your offerings or works or religious activity. God only has regard for such things when they are done with faith in him.
Works must always flow from a heart of faith. Abraham did not make an offering of his only son, Isaac, as a mere work. Nor did he expect that God would honor the work itself.
We must remain aware of a dangerous temptation as we try to keep the law. As we observe the law, we can be enticed to think too highly of ourselves.
Do the things you are commanded and see if he will not pour out his blessings. But never expect him to justify you for the things you do.
The issue here—and always—is Christ. Let us not think so much about rewards, but instead, about the reward. We must press on toward the real goal.
We belong to Christ because of faith. This belonging means that we are his servants. So, we are to do his will and bidding. It also means...
The Lord has fought the fight. He has gone before us and has won the long battle. He is with us and will never leave us or forsake us.
Some orders of monks placed their hoods upon dead bodies, indicating that their good works were transferred to the account of the deceased.
The opponents’ conclusions were that if one pays for his own reward, he can pay more than is due. Therefore, the credit must be transferable to others.
There is nothing worthy of forgiveness and the resurrection of the body to everlasting life, save the work of Christ. Imagining otherwise does great damage to Scripture and to troubled hearts and minds.
Eternal life is a reward from God that is based on something very important: his promise. It is not based upon how much work we have done.
“Blessed are the poor,” Jesus says in Luke’s Sermon on the Plain. In Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, he says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit."
Faith is the means of justification, righteousness, and salvation. Only faith keeps our souls at peace before God. Our good deeds will never give us at rest.
We are reborn with a purpose. But let us be clear; the purpose does not precede or cause rebirth. That purpose is the result of our being newly created.
What will be the result in the future life for the way we have lived the present life? Left on our own, sin and death are terrifying.
We should recognize in ourselves that we are disposed to fall back into old ways. But we should also consider that others are just like us.
Good works are evidence that a person has been justified. For the Spirit who produces good works only indwells the justified.
Why did the gentiles come to a state of righteousness when the Jews worked hard at it but never arrived? Why did the gentiles attain righteousness when they did not even try?
What came first, the chicken or the egg? Some love to deliberate over such things; these questions wear out other people.
The difference that precedes salvation is easy to determine. That distinguishing feature is trust in the one who saves.
We are indentured servants, slaves to sin and death, and we can never earn our freedom. Either the master sets us free—and death and the devil are not going to do that—or someone pays our debt and sets free.
The old nature believes that if one loves enough, is joyous all the time, at peace, patient and kind toward others, is good, faithful, and self-controlled, that person will have earned God’s grace.
If a man was swimming in the ocean and began to drown, he would be quite correct to not trust his own efforts to save himself. But he would yell with his last breath to the lifeguard.
There is faith and there is the fruit of faith. Faith ought to have results in this life, not just the result of an eternal life to come.
God forgives us for the sake of his name. His reputation is at stake, so he will keep his promise. This is easy to understand.