But Paul knew that his sin was nailed to the cross, and the hammer of God's mercy has no claw.

Holiness is not a bid to be noticed or loved or accepted by God. Holiness, rather, is acting out and acting upon the truth that God has noticed, loved and accepted us long before we did anything to warrant that.

God is a holy God. He will judge the wicked. All people on the face of the earth have broken the laws of God. It is pretty easy to see that from up here. A good person is such a relative term. People might think they are good down there, but there are only two categories on the other side: lost and saved. That's it. He made it pretty simple. They have sinned, and God provided a Savior. Now it is their choice to decide what to do with Him.

Many people assume that being a Christian means you follow all the rules and have your life together. They assume that "Christian" equals "good person"—when the opposite is true. The gospel is not about what we can do for God (good advice), but what God has done for us (good news). Jesus lived a perfect life precisely because we can't.

Now that Jesus has come and completed his work, he has made all things clean. The rules have changed. Evolved.

Lest anyone think that any action, however required or useful, could be a source of pride, Sibbes preached that "it is a sottish conceit to think that we can fit ourselves for grace, as if a child in the womb could forward its natural birth. If God hath made us men, let us not make ourselves gods."107

The truly changed, truly converted, truly Christian heart can say with John Newton, "I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I wish to be. I am not what I hope to be. Yet I can truly say, I am not what I once was. By the grace of God, I am what I am.

May John Newton's prayer for himself be our prayer to God for our churches: "I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I wish to be. I am not what I hope to be. Yet I can truly say, I am not what I once was. By the grace of God I am what I am.

On the Sabbath day, we are remembering that my relationship with God did not begin with what I've done, it is not sustained by what I do, and it is not guaranteed to the end by my effort or work. I'm saved from beginning to end by Jesus' work.

You aren't what's been done to you but what Jesus has done for you. You aren't what you do but what Jesus has done. What you do doesn't determine who you are. Rather, who you are in Christ determines what you do.

Heaven goes by favour. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.

There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.