From the Morning Scriptures

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you  free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the sinful nature,  God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful humanity to be a sin offering.  And so he condemned sin in human flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind controlled by the sinful nature  is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.  The sinful mind  is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are not controlled by the sinful nature but are in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.  But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of  his Spirit who lives in you.

Romans 8:1-11 (TNIV)

I am content to let Scripture speak for itself today. Wonderful Good News to be had in it!

The Cross or Scales of Justice?

The repeated promises in the Qur’an of the forgiveness of a compassionate and merciful Allah are all made to the meritorious, whose merits have been weighed in Allah’s scales, whereas the gospel is good news of mercy to the undeserving. The symbol of the religion of Jesus is the cross, not the scales.

—Dr. John R.W. Stott, Christian Mission in the Modern World 50.

An Ancient Martyr Desires God

[Writing before his impending martyrdom, Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, ca. 115 writes] The delights of this world and all of its kingdoms will not profit me. I would prefer to die in Jesus Christ than to rule over all the earth. I seek him who died for us, I desire him who rose for us. I am in the throes of being born again. Bear with me, beloved; do not keep me from living, do not wish me to die. I desire to belong to God; do not give me over to the world, and do not seduce me with perishable things. Let me see the pure light; when I am there, I shall be truly fulfilled at last. Let me imitate the sufferings of my God. If anyone has God within, understand what I want and have sympathy for me, knowing what drives me on.

The prince of this world would snatch me away and destroy my desire to be with God. So let none of you who will be there give satan help; side rather with me, that is, with God. Do not have Jesus Christ on your lips and the world in your hearts. I no longer wish to live, as people count life. And I shall have my way, if you wish it so. Wish it, then, so that you too may have God’s favor. Pray for me that I may reach my goal [of martyrdom]. If I am to suffer, it will be because you loved me well; if I am rejected, it will be because you hated me. If I attain to God I will be something.

—Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, Letter to the Trallians 8

The Short Route to God

God offers us a short route to the possession of himself. He cries out: Love me and you will have me, for you would be unable to love me if you did not possess me already. All you who have been born again in Christ and whose life is from above, listen to me; or rather, listen to the Holy Spirit saying through me: “Sing to the Lord a new song.” But make sure that your life does not contradict your words.

—Augustine, Sermon 34.1-3

Ambrose Muses on Death

Death must be active within us if life also is to be active within us. “Life” is life after death, a life that is a blessing. This blessing of life comes after victory, when the contest is over, when the law of our fallen nature no longer rebels against the law of our reason, when we no longer need to struggle against the body that leads to death, for the body already shares in victory. [The apostle Paul] therefore teaches us to seek out this kind of death even in this life, so that the death of Christ may shine forth in our lives—that blessed death by which our outward self is destroyed and our inmost self renewed, and our earthly dwelling crumbles away and a home in heaven opens before us.

The Lord allowed death to enter this world so that sin might come to an end. But he gave us the resurrection of the dead so that our nature might not end once more in death; death was to bring guilt to an end, and the resurrection was to enable our nature to continue forever. What is death but the burial of sin and the resurrection of goodness?

—Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, Treatise on Death as a Blessing

Praying With Jesus

[Jesus] prays for us as our priest, he prays in us as our head, he is the object of our prayers as our God. Let us recognize both our voice in his, and his voice in ours. Himself unchanged, he took to himself our created nature in order to change it, and made us one with himself, head [Jesus] and body [the Church].

—Augustine, Commentary on Psalm 85.1