Martin Luther on Romans 12:1

This past weekend I read a chapter entitled “Compelled By Love” in Jerry Bridges’ book Transforming Grace. In the chapter Bridges quotes Martin Luther on Romans 12:1 and I thought it was too good not to post here.

“A lawdriver insists with threats and penalties; a preacher of grace lures and incites with divine goodness and compassion shown to us; for he wants no unwilling works or reluctant services, he wants joyful and delightful services of God.”

While I’m writing about Jerry Bridges I should mention that he appears in several promotional videos for the upcoming Desiring God national conference. You can find the videos here.

Tags: quotes, grace, Martin Luther, Jerry Bridges

Subscribe to this blog's RSS feed

I came across this passage again in Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ sermons on Romans 6. In this passage Lloyd-Jones is addressing the question raised in Romans 6:1 (”What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?”) in response to the Apostle Paul’s preaching about God’s grace.

First of all let me make a comment, to me a very important and vital comment. The true preaching of the gospel of salvation by grace alone always leads to the possibility of this charge being brought against it. There is no better test as to whether a man is really preaching the New Testament gospel of salvation than this, that some people might misunderstand it and misinterpret it to mean that it really amounts to this, that because you are saved by grace alone it does not matter at all what you do; you can go on sinning as much as you like because it will redound all the more to the glory of grace. That is a very good test of gospel preaching. If my preaching and presentation of the gospel of salvation does not expose it to that misunderstanding, then it is not the gospel…I would say to all preachers: If your preaching of the salvation has not been misunderstood in that way, then you had better examine your sermons again, and you had better maker sure that you really are preaching the salvation that is offered in the New Testament to the ungodly, to the sinner, to those who are dead in trespasses and sins, to those who are the enemies of God (Romans: Exposition of Chapter 6, The New Man, pp. 8-10).

As I was reading through Calvin’s Institutes I came across the following two quotes in connection with the effects of the Fall on human nature.

There is, indeed, nothing that man’s nature seeks more eagerly than to be flattered (Book II, Chapter I, Part II).

Nothing pleases man more than the sort of alluring talk that tickles the pride that itches in his very marrow (Book II, Chapter I, Part II).

I’ve been reading The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture by Shane Hipps. In this book Hipps make the case, relying heavily on Marshall McLuhan, that the “the forms of media and technology–regardless of their content–cause profound changes in the church and culture” (p. 23). In other words, “the medium is the message”.

I don’t plan to do any sort of review of the book here. I would like to pass on an interesting quote from the book though. It would be better if you could read this quote after having read the first four chapters, but here it is anyway.

In Christ, God’s medium and message are perfectly united…More than just the words he said, the life Jesus lived was the revealed Word of God. After Jesus died and ascended into heaven, God found a new way to ensure the divine presence would remain active on earth, creating the mysterious medium of the church–the body of Christ. If God’s chosen medium was Christ, and the church is the body of Christ, then the church is God’s chosen medium for God’s ongoing revelation to the world…if the medium is the message, the message of the gospel is profoundly shaped by the way the church lives in the world (p. 92, italics added).

That last sentence indicates that the way we live as Christian individually and, even more so, corporately is extremely important. Let’s forget about evangelistic techniques and live as God’s people in this world!

Tags: books, reading, McLuhan, media, communication, church, gospel, Christianity

My oldest son:

We’re making cookies because we like to eat cookie dough!