December 18, 2010 (a living, flaming thing)

a living, flaming thing
photo by Patrick Frey

“The heir of heaven
serves his Lord simply out of gratitude;
he has no salvation to gain, no heaven to lose; …
now, out of love to the God who chose him,
and who gave so great a price for his redemption,
he desires to lay out himself entirely to his Master’s service.
O you who are seeking salvation by the works of the law,
what a miserable life yours must be!…
you have that if you diligently persevere in obedience,
you may perhaps obtain eternal life, though, alas!
none of you dare to pretend that you have attained it.
You toil and toil and toil,
but you never get that which you toil after,
and you never will, for,
“by the works of the law
there shall no flesh living be justified”…
The child of God works not for life;
he does not work to be saved,
he works because he is saved.”
- C.H. Spurgeon

“Faith, as Paul saw it,
was a living, flaming thing
leading to surrender and obedience
to the commandments of Christ.”
- A.W. Tozer