Our attempts at charity without God, our attempts at charity before faith and hope, all fail because they are based on ourselves and our own false sufficiency and our own righteousness as their foundation and cause. But the charity that comes after faith is God's own work in and through us, and is part of our own salvation.

Our only qualification for God's grace is our emptiness, not our fullness; our undeservingness, not our deservingness. 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous but the sinners.' (Mk 2:17). Similarly, on an infinitely lower level, this book is for empty hearts, not full ones.

The world thinks men are good and saints are better. Pascal knows men are sinners and saints are miracles.

The "good news" part of this point is that we can cooperate in salvation, as we cannot cooperate in creation.

Faith is the acknowledgment of the entire absence of all goodness in us, and the recognition of the cross as the substitute for all the want on our part. Faith saves, because it owns the complete salvation of another, and not because it contributes anything to that salvation.

God loves us for who we are. We cant work our way to his love. That doesnt work here on this wold either. You either love someone for who they are, or you can forget it. Love that is earned is no love at all. It wont last.

The biblical way to express God's love to a sinner is to show him how great his sin is (using the Law—see Romans 7:13; Galatians 3:24), and then give him the incredible grace of God in Christ.

Dear Jesus, I thank You that we must come with empty hands. I thank You that You have done all—all—on the cross, and that all we need in life or death is to be sure of this." Mama threw her arms around her and they clung together. But I stood rooted to the spot, knowing that I had seen a mystery.

Of course it was not my wholeness, but Christ's that made the difference.

Grace. Changes. Everything. We don't bring anything. Jesus brings everything.

If you've messed up big - like me, like Isaiah - congratulations! You're at the top of God's talent-scouting list.

We know for certain that we are not made right with God by our good works. We are saved only by grace through faith. And while we're not saved by good works, we are saved for good works.