Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Romans 5:20 But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.
SOLA GRATIA (GRACE ALONE) - 3
By grace! Oh, mark this word of promise
When you are by your sins oppressed,
When Satan plagues your troubled conscience,
And when your heart is seeking rest.
What reason cannot comprehend
God by his grace to you did send.
Romans 3:22-24 There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
"But you may say: Who knows whether He also bears my sin? I do indeed believe that He took away the sins of St. Peter, St. Paul, and other saints; they were pious people. Now if I, too, were St. Peter or St. Paul —. Do you, then, not hear what St. John says ... : This is the Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world? Surely you cannot deny that you are a part of the world of human beings; for you were born of a man and a woman, you are not a cow or a hog. In consequence, your sins must certainly be included, as well as those of St. Peter or St. Paul.
"And you are not able to atone for your sin any more than these have been able to atone for their sin. No one is excepted here. Therefore do not follow your own ideas, but cling to the Word that promises you forgiveness of sins through the Lamb that takes away the sins of the world -- if a man will only believe it. Do you hear? There is no insufficiency in the Lamb. It bears all sins from the very beginning of the world. Therefore it must bear yours too, and offer you grace."
-- Martin Luther
