And the verdict is...

"The Christian is the man who no longer seeks his salvation, his deliverance, his justification in himself, but in Jesus Christ alone. He knows that God’s Word in Jesus Christ pronounces him guilty, even when he does not feel his guilt, and God’s Word in Jesus Christ pronounces him not guilty and righteous, even when he does not feel righteous at all. The Christian no longer lives of himself, by his own claims and his own justification, but by God’s claims and God’s justification. He lives wholly by God’s Word pronounced upon him."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer from Life together
(thanks to Mockingbird blog)

The limited power of the law

"While the law guides, it does not give. It has the power to reveal sin but not the power to remove sin. It simply cannot engender what it commands. The law shows us what godliness is, but it cannot make us godly like the gospel can. The law shows us what a sanctified life looks like, but it does not have sanctifying power as the gospel does. So, apart from the gospel, the law crushes. The law shows us what to do. The Gospel announces what God has done. The law directs us, but only the gospel can drive us. It’s very important to keep these distinctions in mind.

The operative power that makes you a Christian is the same operative power that keeps you a Christian: the unconditional, unqualified, undeserved, unrestrained grace of God in the completed work of Christ. As I said, the banner under which Christians live reads, “It is finished.” So relax, and rejoice… You’re free!"

Tullian Ttchividjian
From Jesus + Nothing = Everything 
thanks to Mockingbird blog for the link...

From the Lutheran Files...

From C. F. W. Walther's epic lectures "Law and Gospel; How to Read and Apply the Bible"

"...the essence, of a Christian - that which makes a person a Christian - is that he knows how to seek his salvation in Christ and thus to escape the Law."

Paul says God's law has the power to condemn us because we don't keep it but when Christ died for us He freed us from the law's power.  He did this by taking the punishment we deserve for breaking the law upon Himself "Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin... if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

Don't eat the French Fry

 

An excerpt from The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character and Achievement found on Mockingbird:

"You can tell people not to eat the French fry. You can give pamphlets about the risks of obesity. You can deliver sermons urging them to exercise self-control and not eat the fry. And in their nonhungry state, most people will vow not to eat it. But when their hungry self arises, their well-intentioned self fades, and they eat the French fry. Most diets fail because the conscious forces of reason and will are simply not powerful enough to consistently subdue unconscious urges."

The law is powerless to save you from yourself.  You need to be changed by someone outside of yourself.  "The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.  He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit." - Paul in his letter to the Romans.

 

The Rodfather rulz

"A friend of mine was walking down a street in Minneapolis one day and was confronted by an evangelical brother who asked, “Brother, are you saved?” Hal rolled his eyes back and said, “Yes.” That didn’t satisfy this brother, so he said, “Well, when were you saved?” Hal said, “About two thousand years ago, about a twenty minutes’ walk from downtown Jerusalem.” This is the gospel message. It’s just as important for Christians to believe for their sanctification as it is for pagans to believe for their justification; for it is the same message, the same salvation, the same work of God. It’s just as important for the evangelical church today as it was for the reformers in the sixteenth century. Without this simple, but mind-boggling message, there is no hope, not for the sinner nor for the saint."

Dr Rod Rosenbladt (The Rodfather) on Gospel Coalition blog