Luther: original sin

Saturday, May 28, 2022
    Commemoration of Lanfranc, Prior of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1089
Meditation:
“Your first father sinned;
    your spokesmen rebelled against me.
So I will disgrace the dignitaries of your temple,
    and I will consign Jacob to destruction
    and Israel to scorn.”
    —Isaiah 43:27-28 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Original sin is in us, like the beard—we are shaved today and look clean, and have a smooth chin; tomorrow our beard has grown again, nor does it cease growing while we remain on earth. In like manner original sin cannot be extirpated from us as long as we exist. Nevertheless, we are bound to resist it to our utmost strength, and to cut it down unceasingly.
    ... Martin Luther (1483-1546), in The Life of Luther, M. Michelet, London: David Bogue, 1846, p. 267 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 43:27-28; Ps. 51:2; 90:7-8; Luke 6:45; John 8:34; Rom. 5:12; 6:23; 7:22-24; 14:23; 1 Cor. 15:22; Heb. 12:14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, give me Your strength to defeat sin in my life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Calvin: the favors of grace

Friday, May 27, 2022
    Commemoration of John Calvin, renewer of the Church, 1564
Meditation:
    Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
    —1 Timothy 1:13-14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Our iniquity and depravity prevent us from enjoying that blessed life which is revealed to all men in the law. Hence the grace of God, which succours us without the assistance of the law, is rendered sweeter; and his mercy, which confers it on us, more amiable; from which we learn that he is never wearied with repeating his blessings and loading us with new favours.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, II.vii.7, p.319 (see the book)
    See also 1 Tim. 1:13-14; Ps. 145:7; Rom. 3:20; 4:14-16; 5:17,20-21; 2 Cor. 3:7-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your grace is never lacking. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Gossip: the Gospel is free

Thursday, May 26, 2022
    Ascension
    Feast of Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, 605
    Commemoration of Arthur John Gossip, Spiritual Writer, 1954
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
    —Matthew 24:12-13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    No doubt the gospel is quite free, as free as the Victoria Cross, which anyone can have who is prepared to face the risks; but it means time, and pains, and concentrating all one’s energies upon a mighty project. You will not stroll into Christlikeness with your hands in your pockets, shoving the door open with a careless shoulder. This is no hobby for one’s leisure moments, taken up at intervals when we have nothing much to do, and put down and forgotten when our life grows full and interesting... It takes all one’s strength, and all one’s heart, and all one’s mind, and all one’s soul, given freely and recklessly and without restraint. This is a business for adventurous spirits; others would shrink out of it. And so Christ had a way of pulling up would-be recruits with sobering and disconcerting questions, of meeting applicants, breathless and panting in their eagerness, by asking them if they really thought the y had the grit, the stamina, the gallantry, required. For many, He explained, begin, but quickly become cowed, and slink away, leaving a thing unfinished as a pathetic monument of their own lack of courage and of staying power.
    ... A. J. Gossip (1873-1954), From the Edge of the Crowd, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1924, p. 230-231 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 24:12-13; 7:13-14; 10:22; Mark 4:18-19; 13:13; Luke 18:18-27; 22:31-32; John 8:31-32; 15:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant Your people strength to persevere. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bloesch: the whole Gospel, but only the Gospel

Wednesday, May 25, 2022
    Feast of the Venerable Bede, Priest, Monk of Jarrow, Historian, 735
    Commemoration of Aldhelm, Abbot of Mamsbury, Bishop of Sherborne, 709
Meditation:
    Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
    —Acts 20:26-27
Quotation:
    I speak as a socially concerned evangelical, one who sees that the Gospel is a stick of dynamite in the social structure. We need to proclaim the whole Gospel to the whole man, and this includes relating Christian faith to the whole man, and this includes relating Christian faith to the economic and political areas of life as well as the so-called religious area. At the same time we must beware of combining the Gospel with any social ideology.
    ... Donald G. Bloesch (1928-2010), Essentials of Evangelical Theology, Harper & Row, 1978, p. xi (see the book)
    See also Acts 20:26-27; Ex. 23:6; Isa. 1:23; Amos 5:24; Luke 7:29-30; Eph. 1:11; Heb. 6:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, awaken Your people to Your whole counsel. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Wesley: preaching in the field

Tuesday, May 24, 2022
    Feast of John and Charles Wesley, Priests, Poets, Teachers, 1791 & 1788
Meditation:
    To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.
    —1 Corinthians 9:22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I could scarcely reconcile myself at first to this strange way of preaching in the fields, of which [Whitfield] set me an example on Sunday; having been all my life (till very lately) so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order, that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin, if it had not been done in a church.
    ... John Wesley (1703-1791), entry for March 29, 1739, Journal of the Rev. John Wesley, v. I, London: J. Kershaw, 1827, p. 177 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 9:19-22; Matt. 5:1-12; Rom. 1:16; 11:13-14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are calling Your people to spread the gospel. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tillotson: fact or fiction?

Monday, May 23, 2022
    Commemoration of Petroc, Abbot of Padstow, 6th century
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
    —Matthew 26:56 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is by no means necessary to salvation to believe that St. Matthew wrote ... the gospel, but only to believe what he wrote.
    ... John Tillotson (1630-1694), Works of Dr. John Tillotson, v. IX, London: J. F. Dove, for R. Priestley, 1820, p. 231 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 26:54-56; 21:42; 22:31-32; Mark 12:24; 2 Tim. 3:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have made the truth about Jesus available to us all. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Flavel: from God, to us

Sunday, May 22, 2022
Meditation:
    For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
    —Romans 5:6 (KJV)
Quotation:
    O what a melting consideration is this! That out of His agony comes our victory; out of His condemnation, our justification; out of His pain, our ease; out of His stripes, our healing; out of His gall and vinegar, our honey; out of His curse, our blessing; out of His crown of thorns, our crown of glory; out of His death, our life: if He could not be released, it was that you might. If Pilate gave sentence against Him, it was that the great God might never give sentence against you. If he yielded that it should be with Christ as they required, it was that it might be with our souls as well as we can desire. And therefore, thanks be to God for His unspeakable gifts.
    ... John Flavel (1628-1691), Serm. XXIV from The Fountain of Life [1671], in The Whole Works of the Reverend Mr. John Flavel, v. I, Paisley: A. Weir and A. McLean, 1770, p. 331 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 5:6; Isa. 53:5; Luke 23:23-24; 2 Cor. 9:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have saved me from my sins. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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