This is so good, Anne. Thank you. Reminds me of Luther to Erasmus in “The Bondage of the Will:”
“But, my salvation is in God’s hands and not my own. He will be faithful to His promise to save me, not on the basis of what I do but according to His great mercy. God does not lie; He will not let my enemy the devil snatch me out of His hands. By “free will,” not one person can be saved. But by free grace, many will be saved.“
This morning our rector’s sermon framed Genesis 3 and Matthew 4 with Romans 5, “For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.”
Which, thank you St. Paul, about sums it up. And we sang that great old hymn, “It is well”—
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come
Let this blest assurance control
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
Which should always indeed leave us, through our tears, with a happy Lent.
I often wonder if God in His mercy said the tree of good and evil was not to be eaten because He never created man and woman to handle evil; all the horrors of humanity - disease and destruction of children, wars and divorces and holocausts and lies. Human history has proven that human beings are ill equipped to handle their own demons much less those ravaging our world.
Thank you for articulating our limitations and pointing to the saving Person of our Jesus.
Bless you for waking before the sun to share what we all ponder but could not articulate, especially before the light of day and coffee. You are gifted!!! Enjoy this Sunday tucked inside Lent :)
As a Catholic who comes from a family thoroughly Jewish in culture if not belief, the whole ground of Satan's questioning -- and what's more the method of inquiry of the Greeks, the Jesuits, and even of Tucker Carlson (though used facilely by him for the purpose of strawmanning) -- is one more indication of the thoroughly Jewish roots of western civilization.
As clear a presentation of the gospel as will be preached from any pulpit. Thank you, Anne!
So closed-minded, bigoted and fundamentalist of Jesus to "shut down conversations" with the devil! I mean, the devil was just asking questions!
I see you’re “shutting down conversation” again…. And very well, too. 👍
Speaking of "Just asking Questions" this Babylon Bee Headline is gold:
"Tucker Uncovers Shocking Evidence That Israel Controlled By Jews!"
https://babylonbee.com/news/tucker-uncovers-shocking-evidence-that-israel-controlled-by-jews
This is so good, Anne. Thank you. Reminds me of Luther to Erasmus in “The Bondage of the Will:”
“But, my salvation is in God’s hands and not my own. He will be faithful to His promise to save me, not on the basis of what I do but according to His great mercy. God does not lie; He will not let my enemy the devil snatch me out of His hands. By “free will,” not one person can be saved. But by free grace, many will be saved.“
This morning our rector’s sermon framed Genesis 3 and Matthew 4 with Romans 5, “For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.”
Which, thank you St. Paul, about sums it up. And we sang that great old hymn, “It is well”—
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come
Let this blest assurance control
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
Which should always indeed leave us, through our tears, with a happy Lent.
Thanks for the quote from “The Bondage of the Will”. It’s one of my very favorite books!!
The allure of deadly sin…
Thanks for your writing Anne!
Help us Jesus!
Anne, you're just plain good!!
Anne this is one of your best posts, bless you.
I often wonder if God in His mercy said the tree of good and evil was not to be eaten because He never created man and woman to handle evil; all the horrors of humanity - disease and destruction of children, wars and divorces and holocausts and lies. Human history has proven that human beings are ill equipped to handle their own demons much less those ravaging our world.
Thank you for articulating our limitations and pointing to the saving Person of our Jesus.
Bless you for waking before the sun to share what we all ponder but could not articulate, especially before the light of day and coffee. You are gifted!!! Enjoy this Sunday tucked inside Lent :)
As a Catholic who comes from a family thoroughly Jewish in culture if not belief, the whole ground of Satan's questioning -- and what's more the method of inquiry of the Greeks, the Jesuits, and even of Tucker Carlson (though used facilely by him for the purpose of strawmanning) -- is one more indication of the thoroughly Jewish roots of western civilization.