Intellectual ascent to correct doctrine is not salvation

You and I are stymied in our own creativity. We can only create as sub-creators, and even then our best work is only sub-creation.

The marker of those who understand the gospel of Jesus Christ is that, when they stumble and fall, when they screw up, they run to God and not from him, because they clearly understand that their acceptance before God is not predicated upon their behavior but on the righteous life of Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death.

The general confusion is that our moral behavior is what justifies us before God. Most of us would never say that with our mouths but we feel that lie in our heart and believe it in our minds. You can be morally upright and not be a worshipper of Christ at all.

Until Christ is our treasure, any other motivation we have to suffer for him is a fool’s errand.

There's a strong victim mentality in my generation. I think it's spiritual laziness. They will agree that God is sovereign over all, but then they will say, "Well, I wish he would sovereignly take away my lust issue." There's just not a lot of fortitude, not a lot of fight in them.

Love says: I’ve seen the ugly parts of you, and I’m staying.