(HT: ChortlesWeakly)
R. Scott Clark
R.Scott Clark is the President of the Heidelberg Reformation Association, the author and editor of, and contributor to several books and the author of many articles. He has taught church history and historical theology since 1997 at Westminster Seminary California. He has also taught at Wheaton College, Reformed Theological Seminary, and Concordia University. He has hosted the Heidelblog since 2007.
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Amazing. Keeping that image file.
You should
The hospital Machen died in is still serving the community. An interesting irony of his telegram is his dictating such great gospel truth in a Roman Catholic Hospital. The following is from the hospital’s present web site.
“Since our founding in 1885, CHI St. Alexius Health Bismarck has been dedicated to serving the residents of central and western North Dakota, northern South Dakota and eastern Montana.
We are a Roman Catholic organization whose sponsors are the Sisters of St. Benedict of the Annunciation Monastery, Bismarck, ND and as an organization we follow the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services as promulgated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.”
So also the passive obedience of Christ, for there can be no remission of sin without it.
The Two doctrines meet together in the Cross, so that we’re required to have faith in it for our salvation, judgement & mercy or justice & righteousness meet, Oh the wisdom of God, what a wonderful Saviour, what a wonderful Salvation!
Robert,
Thank you for this insight into the righteousness of Christ, it is the only ground of our acceptance with God. It is crucial that we separate justification and sanctification, because if we mix the two, and look in any way at our sanctification, including repentance which is a response to God’s grace in justification, we are not trusting in Christ alone.
Faith works through love, and it is true that the doers of the law will be justified, but not because of their own love or their own obedience to the law. They are justified by trusting in Christ’s perfect love and obedience. That trust cannot fail but to produce a response of love and gratitude, and the evidence will be repentance for having offended God, and a sincere desire to please Him.
As the prologue to the ten commandments says, I am the Lord you God who has brought you out of bondage, therefore obey. Our imperfect obedience is accepted by God, as a response to our acceptance with Him, our justification, through the perfect obedience of Christ. That is the obedience of faith.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.