grace at a low cost, is in the last resort simply a new law, which brings neither help nor freedom.

Only the believer obeys — obedience follows faith, the way good fruit comes from a good tree. Only the obedient believe.

Battles are won, not with weapons, but with God. They are won where the way leads to the cross.

Only the man who follows the command of Jesus single-mindedly, and unresistingly lets his yoke rest upon him, finds his burden easy, and under its gentle pressure receives the power to persevere in the right way. The command of Jesus is hard, unutterably hard, for those who try to resist it. But for those who willingly submit, the yoke is easy, and the burden is light.

Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this. Whether it is a brief, single encounter or the daily fellowship of years, Christian community is only this. We belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ.

If you reject God's commanding word, you will not receive God's gracious word.

The Lord stands above the new day, for God has made it. All restlessness, all worry, and anxiety flee before him.