Barth: self-justification

Saturday, August 6, 2022
Meditation:
    As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
    —Romans 3:10-12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The man who really prays never attempts to justify himself. In true prayer, he knows that he cannot do so.
    ... Karl Barth (1886-1968), Church Dogmatics, v. II, part 2 [1957], Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004, p. 752 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 3:10-12,22-23; 1 Cor. 6:11; 1 John 1:9; 5:16-17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I have fallen from Your will. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tauler: mercy

Friday, August 5, 2022
    Feast of Oswald, King of Northumbria, Martyr, 642
Meditation:
    Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
    —Matthew 5:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Mercy is the attribute that God shows forth in all His works: therefore a merciful man is a truly godlike man. For mercy is brought forth by love and kindness. Therefore the true Friends of God are much more merciful, and more ready to believe in the sinful and suffering, than those who are not loving. Mercy is born of that love which we ought to exercise towards each other.
    ... Johannes Tauler (ca. 1300-1361), The Inner Way, Sermon XXV (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:7; Hos. 6:6; Amos 5:24; Mic. 6:8; Luke 6:36; Col. 3:12-13; Jas. 2:12-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, increase our love. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Phillips: the coincidence of the material and the spiritual

Thursday, August 4, 2022
    Feast of John Vianney, Curè d’Ars, 1859
Meditation:
    Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
    —1 Corinthians 10:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    As every pilgrim in the spiritual life knows, it is hard to hold the unseen in our mental and spiritual grasp. Visions of eternal truth, crystal-clear at the time, have a disconcerting way of fading from our memory. But here I may reassure myself. Here I know that Christ Himself, taking pity on our blindness, and understanding our limitations, is allowing the seen and the unseen, the material and the spiritual, to coincide. Here, by His appointment, I can receive and absorb things that are physical and know that they are really things which are spiritual. It is no mere piece of bread or sip of wine that I receive—I receive the very Body and Blood of Christ into my own imperfect self.
    ... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), Appointment with God, New York, Macmillan, 1954, p. 36 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:27; 2 Cor. 4:18; 5:7; Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 11:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I receive You by the bread and wine. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Saphir: creed vs. actuality

Wednesday, August 3, 2022
Meditation:
    God presented [Jesus] as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
    —Romans 3:25-26 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is one thing to believe in justification by faith, it is another thing to be justified by faith.
    ... Adolph Saphir (1831-1891), Christ and Israel, London: Morgan and Scott, 1911, p. 73 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 3:25-26; Matt. 9:12-13; Rom. 1:16-17; 4:20-22; Phil. 3:8-11; Gal. 2:15-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, transform the theoretical belief into a reality for all Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Barclay: redemption eternally

Tuesday, August 2, 2022
Meditation:
    ... for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
    —1 Corinthians 8:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    To speak of the pre-existence of the Son is to say that God did not begin to redeem men when Jesus Christ came into this world, but that throughout all ages the redeeming power and the sacrificial work of God had been at work. To speak of the pre-existence of the Son means that the love which was demonstrated on Calvary is an eternal movement of the heart of God to men.
    ... William Barclay (1907-1978), The Mind of St. Paul, Harper & Row, 1975, p. 59 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 8:5-6; Gen. 22:17-18; Isa. 45:18; John 1:1-3,10; 5:17; Eph. 1:18-23; Col. 1:15-17; Heb. 1:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have provided for us from all eternity. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Spurgeon: the word from His mouth

Monday, August 1, 2022
Meditation:
    Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
    —2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If the anointing which we bear come not from the Lord of hosts we are deceivers, and since only in prayer can we obtain it, let us continue instant, constant, fervent in supplication... Think not to be a messenger of grace to others till you have seen the God of grace for yourselves, and had the word from his mouth.
    ... Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), Lectures to My Students, New York: R. Carter & Brothers, 1890, p. 80-81 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 1:21-22; Ps. 45:7; Isa. 59:21; Rom. 8:9; 1 John 2:20,27
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, speak continually within me, that I may always listen for Your voice. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Ignatius: returning the gifts

Sunday, July 31, 2022
    Commemoration of Ignatius of Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jesus, 1556
Meditation:
    My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
    —John 10:27 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given all to me. To Thee, O Lord, I now return it. All is Thine, dispose of it wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and grace, for this is sufficient for me.
    ... St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491/5-1556), The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, New York: P. J. Kennedy & Sons, 1914, p. 120 (see the book)
    See also John 10:27; Matt. 6:7-8; John 6:37-39; 7:17; Rom. 12:1-2; 14:8; 2 Cor. 5:5; 1 Pet. 4:19
Quiet time reflection:
    Amen and amen. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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