In Scripture the election of God ... does not come out of works but out of grace. God's electing plan prepares the way of salvation in which man learns that salvation is obtained only as a divine gift an never as an acquisiton because of good works.

Worthy partakers are those who confess their sins in self-abhorrence, humiliation, faith in God's promises, and gratefulness of heart. This is the 'worthiness' that belongs to the Lord's Supper. It is not at all meritorious in nature, but is in complete harmony with what is signified and sealed in the Lord's Supper. It is a worthiness that coincides with a confession of 'unworthiness' and with trust in the salvation of God.

Lord, will those who are saved be few?" ... Jesus' answer seems so noncommittal, so evasive ... Strive to enter by the narrow door (Luke 13:23f.) ... this evasiveness is only apparent ... This is the answer to this question ... this question has been answered, once for all time.

I began to meet young men and women who talked about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and while I cherish my Catholic upbringing and the foundation that it poured in my faith, that had not been a part of my experience.

My evidence that I am saved does not lie in the fact that I preach, or that I do this or that. All my hope lies in this: that Jesus Christ came to save sinners. I am a sinner, I trust Him, then He came to save me, and I am saved.

Our natural virtues can never come anywhere near what Jesus Christ wants.

I love to give to charity, but I don't want to be charity. This is why I have so much trouble with grace.

It's not about finding ways to avoid God's judgment and feeling like a failure if you don't do everything perfectly. It's about fully experiencing God's love and letting it perfect you. It's not about being somebody you are not. It's about becoming who you really are.

God acts differently. God continues to give, refusing to make giving dependent on our receiving things rightly.

This is why we believe in Jesus Christ—to help us see that we are not what we ought to be and to help us become what we ought to be.

When sin becomes bitter, then Christ becomes sweet.

Those who imagine that they can discover special gimmicks and put them to work for themselves usually ignore God's will and his grace.