God's salvation does not come in response to a changed life. A changed life comes in response to the salvation, offered as a free gift.

Freedom is not the absence of limitations and constraints but it is finding the right ones, those that fit our nature and liberate us.

If the church does not identify with the marginalized, it will itself be marginalized. This is God's poetic justice.

Repentance out of mere fear is really sorrow for the consequences of sin, sorrow over the danger of sin — it bends the will away from sin, but the heart still clings. But repentance out of conviction over mercy is really sorrow over sin, sorrow over the grievousness of sin — it melts the heart away from sin. It makes the sin itself disgusting to us, so it loses its attractive power over us. We say, ‘this disgusting thing is an affront to the one who died for me. I’m continuing to stab him with it!’

We only fully grasp the gospel when we understand, as Paul did, that we are the worst sinner we know

You can only afford to be generous if you actually have some money in the bank to give. In the same way, if your only source of love and meaning is your spouse, then anytime he or she fails you, it will not just cause grief but a psychological cataclysm. If, however, you know something of the work of the Spirit in your life, you have enough love "in the bank" to be generous to your spouse even when you are not getting much affection or kindness at the moment.

What greater value could you possibly have than to be delighted in and sacrificed for by the Maker of the universe.