In every other religion the indicative flows from the imperative. Which means, ‘because I do, therefore I am... because I do this, therefore I’m a child of God.’ But only in Christianity does the imperative flow from the indicative. ‘Because I am in Christ all these things, therefore I obey.’ Exactly the opposite.

Neither son loved the father for himself. They both were using the father for their own self-centered ends rather than loving, enjoying, and serving him for his own sake. This means that you can rebel against God and be alienated from him either by breaking his rules or by keeping all of them diligently. It 's a shocking message: Careful obedience to God's law may serve as a strategy for rebelling against God .

If there is a God, you owe him far more than a morally decent life.

Only on the cross do you have a totally holy God and a totally loving God.

Suffering is the stripping of our hope in finite things, therefore we do not put our ultimate hope in anything finite.

God sees us as we are, loves us as we are, and accepts us as we are. But by His grace, He does not leave us as we are.

When we worry we are saying, 'I know the way my life is supposed to go, and God's not getting it right'.