“Let us thank God, therefore, that
we have been delivered from this
monster of uncertainty and that now
we can believe for a certainty that
the Holy Spirit is crying and issuing
that sigh too deep for words in our
hearts.
And this is our foundation:
The gospel commands us to look, not at our own good deeds or perfection, but at God as he promises, and at Christ himself, the Mediator… .
And this is the reason our theology is certain: It snatches us away from ourselves and places us outside of ourselves, so that we do not depend on our strength, conscience, experience, person, or works but depend on that which is outside ourselves, that is, on the promise and truth of God which cannot deceive” ( LW 26:387).
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This ought be where we look, whether we be Lutherans, Catholics, Reformed, Baptist, Pentecostal, or whatever.
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Can we ever learn to leave it alone (our works), as proof that we “really are Christians”?
Sadly, for many I am sorry to say, the answer is no.
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