35

Since we are redeemed by grace alone, through faith alone, where does this faith come from?
All the gifts we receive from Christ we receive through the Holy Spirit, including faith itself. (Titus 3:4-6) (from here)

Thank you for giving me faith, Lord. I saw that Christianity was desperately important and I saw that if it was true, I must sign on. It was you who made me so sure of its truth, even before I'd heard the historical evidence. I wasn't even there intellectually - had someone asked me, I may well have said that it could be true spiritually but not literally. Yet that wasn't what I believed - without understanding it, in my heart I knew it to be actually, really true.

My faith brought me life, now and always. Thank you.

34

Since we are redeemed by grace alone, through Christ alone, must we still do good works and obey God's Word?
Yes, because Christ, having redeemed us by his blood, also renews us by his Spirit; so that our lives may show love and gratitude to God; so that we may be assured of our faith by the fruits; and so that by our godly behavior others may be won to Christ. (1 Peter 2:9-12) (from here)

Lord Jesus, you saved us that we might make something of our lives. You could not be more loving or more good and generous. You could not have done more for us. What you did was unthinkably, unimaginably, breathtakingly, heartbreakingly kind. A deed so beautiful it illuminated all history.

We submit to you because in an instant you won our hearts. And it is so good living as you tell us to live. There could not be a better Master or Dad.

You change us. You are more than the best human ruler - you are God Almighty, and having won us, you change us. We are obedient when it hurts; we do things we never would have done before. For now we know you. And if we sometimes doubt our faith, we have these changes to assure us that it is real.

May we never grow weary in doing good. May we fight for it, fight with your Spirit. May there be nothing in our lives that says you are not good or you are not strong. May it be our greatest privilege and joy to follow you. May our changed character be a source of great assurance. May people be saved as they look on our good, hope-filled lives.

33

Should those who have faith in Christ seek their salvation through their own works, or anywhere else?
No, they should not, as everything necessary to salvation is found in Christ.To seek salvation through good works is a denial that Christ is the only Redeemer and Savior. (Galatians 2:16) (from here)

Thank you, Lord - I might doubt your desire and power to work in the world and be endlessly worried that I'm not serving as I should, but on this most basic of beliefs I do okay. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for assuring me that I am saved and safe only because of Him. Thank you, Lord, that it is so and that I know it to be so. That you did it all, leaving nothing, nothing for me. That on the cross it was done.

Thank you that in those times when I feel like I'm not good enough to approach you, that that is exactly what you died for - for people not good enough to approach you. That in those moments I don't need to - I should not - first improve myself and then draw close. That I can and must simply kneel at your feet and receive forgiveness. Thank you, Lord, that these times don't come as a surprise to you, but they have been provided for - that there is no sin that falls outside of what you brought to pass, hanging there.

There is nothing else; there is no other hope; we do not even have hope in ourselves. Praise you that it is all in you. All!

32

What do justification and santification mean?

Justification means our declared righteousness before God, made possible by Christ’s death and resurrection for us. Sanctification means our gradual, growing righteousness, made possible by the Spirit’s work in us. (1 Peter 1:1-2) (from here)

We are perfect in you. Knowing this, we strive to live out who we are, having our very selves changed by you. It's radical and profound and I am well-accustomed to it. Yet my life betrays how feeble is my actual faith - the anxiety, worry, stress, pressure, and striving I live by show I doubt my perfection and the security I have in you. I strive for my sanctification with more than a glad, grateful confidence and a serious purpose. Forgive me, Lord. Thank you for the people who have helped me to - at last - see this about myself. Give me the assurance I lack - of your goodness, power, and trustworthiness and my security in you. Help me ever strive, but as your beloved child. Have mercy on me.

31

What do we believe by true faith?
Everything taught to us in the gospel. The Apostles’ Creed expresses what we believe in these words: We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. (Jude 1:3) (from here)

Thank you, Lord, for the things we know to be true. Thank you for speaking to us and letting us know your thoughts and the sort of God you are - a little similar, but so very different to human-made gods. Thank you for the things you have done in the world before the eyes of all, and for the things you promise to do.

Lord, sometimes I grow weary of the Apostle's Creed and its truths seem faded. Forgive me. Help me thrill at the profundity and surity of these words and at the privilege of being part of this great family stretching out across countries and years, together affirming the very same things.

Praise you for who you are, Father, Son and Spirit! Praise you for what you have done on this earth - on that hill! Praise you for the coming consummation of all! Now I know what it is to live. I am to live under you. It has been your pleasure to save me and have me repeat these words with all my heart and mind. And I thank you for it.

30

What is faith in Jesus Christ?
Faith in Jesus Christ is acknowledging the truth of everything that God has revealed in his Word, trusting in him, and also receiving and resting on him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel. (Galatians 2:20) (from here)

Thank you for giving me faith, Lord. So many times I see intelligent people completely misunderstanding the cross, returning to that old idea of good behaviour. Sometimes they get it - and nothing changes, it has zero effect on their lives. Thank you for lifting the veil from my eyes and heart so I recognised the truth of what was said and was willing to bank my life on it. You gave me the gift and you opened my hands to receive it. My life would be other had you not stepped in - my death too.

Thank you for your mercy. Thank you that the security of my faith is my trust in him, no matter how fervant or faltering that trust might be. Yet please help it grow strong as I know him more. Give me this too. The gift, the open hands, the eager embrace.

29

How can we be saved?
Only by faith in Jesus Christ and in his substitutionary atoning death on the cross; so even though we are guilty of having disobeyed God and are still inclined to all evil, nevertheless, God, without any merit of our own but only by pure grace, imputes to us the perfect righteousness of Christ when we repent and believe in him. (Ephesians 2:8-9) (from here)

I never got to this point. I think I simply saw that you were Lord and began to follow you, learning more of you and your ways as I went along. I never asked this question - I was absolutely looking for help, but help in earthly things, never help in the face of death.

But I shudder at the thought of not being saved - that that's what I once was, that it's what my friends are. I see the awful danger of it. I see the futility of trying to right things ourselves and I see that our only hope is to humble ourselves and throw ourselves on your mercy. That it is every bit a saving or a rescue as when someone's drowing in the shallows or on an organ waiting list or in the darkness of a paedophile's brothel.

How then can we be saved? By jumping into your arms. By believing that you will catch us. By believing that you can catch us.

You are better than a lifeguard, better than an organ donor, than a policeman, than an ordinary citizen picking through rubble in the hope of hearing someone's voice or a boyfriend lying in front of his girl so his body might take the bullets meant for her. These beautiful deeds are but pale shadows of you. You saved us from horror when there was no injustice in it. You secured heaven for us for all eternity and in the face of all threat. And you did it at such cost.

Thank you that when we ask about salvation, there is something to be said.

28

What happens after death to those not united to Christ by faith?
At the day of judgment they will receive the fearful but just sentence of condemnation pronounced against them. They will be cast out from the favorable presence of God, into hell, to be justly and grievously punished, forever. (John 3:16-18 & 36) (from here)

Lord Jesus, I want to tell you that I hate hell. I want to make you understand how deeply it troubles me. But you don't like it any more than I do.

I want to somehow convince you that it's unnecessary or unjust or could be avoided, that ridding us of it would be better for your image or make you a better God. I speak as if you were untroubled by its existence; as if you had not shown yourself to be perfectly good and loving; as if you were so cruel or uncaring as to allow it when other, better options were at hand. You are not that god.

I should rather believe you. That hell is real and eternal and terrible. That it is just - because it is what people want, and because it is what we deserve. That in its justice it is loving and dignifying - because it shows that what we do with our lives matters, and that the evil we do to others and they to us does not go unnoticed.

I cannot say why evil stepped into this world, why an angel became the proud, murderous, lying, crafty Accuser. It is better that I cannot say, for I would not wish there to be a reason. Yet still I cannot understand why you would have it so. But I see that it is bad and I see that there needs to be justice and I - mostly - believe you when you say that hell is just.

Father, as always, in the things I do not - and cannot - understand, and in the times when I rock on the edge of accusing you (following my former master), I come back to the cross. There I see that you suffered hell so that we might not have to. There I see that in your justice you were all love. There I see every person invited and beseeched to throw themselves upon your mercy.

Lord, teach me how to talk about this with my friends. Stir my heart to pray for them. Give me at once a dreadful urgency and a sure trust and joy in you. Make me more like your beloved Son.

27

Are all people, just as they were lost through Adam, saved through Christ?
No, only those who are elected by God and united to Christ by faith. Nevertheless God in his mercy demonstrates common grace even to those who are not elect, by restraining the effects of sin and enabling works of culture for human well-being. (Romans 5:17) (from here)

This is the part I hate of my faith, though I see it is just and fair. Yet I do not understand why, being merciful, you would not extend that mercy to all instead of only some. That is how I would do it. But, Lord, I am nothing. I know nothing. My thinking and feeling is eaten up by sin. Who am I to judge or seek your place? I am not and I do not. Knowing what you did for me and countless others - and greater and better still, for your own glory - I cannot help but declare your goodness and put my trust in you.

Forgive me, Lord, when my doubting and accusing verge on blasphemy. Have me know my place. Have me bow before you and trust you, in part from fear, but much more with happy rejoicing.

And while I don't know if in the end you will save any or all of my friends and family who are now far from you, yet I thank you for them. Thank you for their loyalty and their care, for the many ways they are a blessing to me. Thank you that you stop us from being what we might, from cruelty and violence, betrayal and anarchy, for we are each capable of all that. Thank you for the dignity and intelligence and creativity and good we keep. Help me ever appreciate and respect my friends and society, even as I seek their salvation. Help them see that this is so and wonder at it despite themselves. Have mercy, Lord, have mercy.

26

What else does Christ's death redeem?
Christ’s death is the beginning of the redemption and renewal of every part of fallen creation, as he powerfully directs all things for his own glory and creation’s good. (Colossians 1:19-20) (from here)

One day, living here in Chile, I will experience an earthquake - it's just about given. My building sways with the passing traffic and gentle tremors don't bother me, but I dread the big ones and I dread that earthquake even more. In Australia, my parents' house backs onto bush and, living there, bushfires are always a possible threat. But I am rich - the fire service puts out the fires on my parents' hill, and here my building is sturdy and withstood the last earthquake. I don't know what it is to live in places where broken nature might kill you.

It's even more than this - we live with smog and weariness and disease and ground that produces little. Even without your revelation, we might think the physical world cursed. Our world and our bodies are no longer our friend, though they keep much of their magnificent beauty. It's the stuff of a dark fairytale, but it is our reality. Somehow this was the fitting punishment for the darkness that we welcomed into our hearts. Ruined, deeply evil humanity could no longer live in a glad, whole land. And the land cries and we join it.

And it rejoices at the name of Jesus and it longs for the consummation of all he wrought on the cross.

Thank you God that one day all will be well, that life will be much like the life we know, but utterly changed. We will step into a strangely familiar yet wholly foreign place, in bodies we know and do not know, and feel more at home there than we ever imagined. Thank you that on the cross you fixed everything. Thank you for your love wrought in justice. Thank you and thank you. A million times thank you.

25

Does Christ's death mean all our sins can be forgiven?
Yes, because Christ’s death on the cross fully paid the penalty for our sin, God graciously imputes Christ’s righteousness to us as if it were our own and will remember our sins no more. 
(2 Corinthians 5:21) (from here)

Maybe I'm going to do something terrible, or in anger, say something destructively cruel. Maybe my heart will soften and I will be horrified at my ordinary wrongs. Whatever it is, you received its exact punishment on the cross. That time when I thought that my negligence might have played a part in someone's death, and saw that with my confession, I might lose all, I remembered the murderer Moses, that there was forgiveness even for that and a place for him. Help me to appreciate how this is amazing. Help me praise you for your justice and for the completeness of your generous love. In my security, let me marvel and exclaim that I am secure.

Thank you that you came to earth to be punished for every last piece of evil, becoming all the wicked things though you were pure. And now you are raised up and I bow before you, smiling with relief and joy, my Lord and my King.

24

Why was it necessary for Christ, the Redeemer, to die?
Since death is the punishment for sin, Christ died willingly in our place to deliver us from the power and penalty of sin and bring us back to God. By his substitutionary atoning death, he alone redeems us from hell and gains for us forgiveness of sin, righteousness, and everlasting life. (Colossians 1:21-22) (from here)

I am here, as I now am, with all the hopes and promises I hold dear, with you at my side, with sorrow and comfort in sin - all because of you. I don't know how bad the things are that I have done and thought and felt and willed, but I know they're bad. You saved me from hell. You took the punishment that was coming to me and now there is none leftover for me. I don't have to spend a day or a minute there, for I died and was raised with you.

Without you, I would be going to hell for all eternity, though it costs me to say. Now I am safe and at home. Without you, that punishment would be deserved, though I struggle to see it. Now I am safe in your nail-pierced hands.

I tried to take your place. I walked up to you, the Maker and Lord of all, and spat in your face. Or I walked up to you and, failing to even acknowledge you, gazed over your shoulder. Then I started running things my way, as if it were my right. I know I only see the smallest part of how ugly and wrong that was. But you saw the abyss waiting for me and saw that I could not - nor wished to - step aside. So, taking on the disguise of a punk or an indifferent, you jumped in to suffer an eternity of pain - the punishment of many, including me. And now there is none leftover for me. Because of you, I am safe and free.

23

Why must the Redeemer be truly God?
That because of his divine nature his obedience and suffering would be perfect and effective; and also that he would be able to bear the righteous anger of God against sin and yet overcome death. (Acts 2:24) (from here)

Lord Jesus, you were a man just like us yet even more human, for you lived it perfectly. And you were also Almighty God. This is most strange - completely God, you were a man. Completely a man, you were God.

It's strange but it is very good. No mere person could suffer what you suffered - we would all die before receiving the minutest part. But you bore the punishment of all, for all time. Because of your divinity, we are saved. Thank you, Lord, for being willing to come down from your exalted place to endure this horror.

Before you came, we lived in a world where there was no longer any hope to be found in the race of man. We retained something of our ancient dignity, but ever broken and corrupted. You became our only hope; the only one who could live a perfect life and die a perfect death. Thank you, God, for giving us yourself.

Jesus, you became our perfect Mediator. You understand and sympathise with us in our weakness, and you speak to the Father on our behalf, holding up your nail-pierced hands. When Satan accuses us, we can remember this and walk confidently into your presence. Thank you, thank you, God.

22

Why must the Redeemer be truly human?
That in human nature he might on our behalf perfectly obey the whole law and suffer the punishment for human sin; and also that he might sympathize with our weaknesses. (Hebrews 2:17) (from here)

As I write this, Lord, you know of my disappointment and frustration: these things are not foreign to you. You have been through everything we go through and you sympathise with us - which is often exactly what we long for. But you didn't come to earth just to hold our hand in our disappointments and pain, though even that would be astonishing. You came to show us true humanity - how a life can be lived, what a man can be. You did that so you would be ready to die on the cross, so you could take our place there. Each hour and second of your short and perfect life was leading there. There you took what was owing to us for having defiled the life we are given, for undoing what a man should be. You hung there as one of us, on behalf of all your brothers, and when you rose again we were free.

21

What sort of Redeemer is needed to bring us back to God?
One who is truly human and also truly God. (Isaiah 9:6) (from here)

(Yay! Blue!)

For now I don't have to understand why this is: I have only to trust that a God-man was our one hope. You knew this and you did it, and I am grateful. You became what we are, fragile and battered by myriad things outside our control. You became subject to the things you had created. One day you were wholly, truely and only GOD, sitting and ruling over all in glory; the next you took on humanity, starting off as a voiceless, vulnerable foetus tucked inside a young mum. I don't understand it, but I know that because of your self-humbling I am lifted up, and without it I would still be wandering around in my arrogance and unhappiness, unwilling to listen to you until that day when I would be made to bow the knee and would hate you for it.

20

Who is the Redeemer?
The only Redeemer is the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, in whom God became man and bore the penalty for sin himself. (1 Timothy 2:5) (from here)

You redeemed us. We were lost and you redeemed us. You paid the price in your body so we might be released and restored. You walked into that North Korean labour camp, quietly demanding that all the prisoners be set free and that you would undergo their torture and animal labour. Except that we weren't innocent political prisoners - we deserved what we got, what was coming to us. The punishment was cruel because it was just - not a fraction less or more than what we had done.

How in a few hours you could suffer the punishment of all, I do not know. It was intense where it might have been eternal. And more intense because GOD was being punished. More intense because the SON cried to the FATHER, "Why have you forsaken me?".

This is what it took to redeem us. A few hours of the greatest evil as we killed God and as the Father looked on you as the sum of all human perversity. A few hours of the greatest love as you submitted to it all for love of your Father and of us, and after which the Father raised you singing to his side, crowning you with glory. This is what it means when we call you our Redeemer. It is no small thing. Help me never utter those words lightly.

19

Is there any way to escape punishment and be brought back into God's favour?
Yes, to satisfy his justice, God himself, out of mere mercy, reconciles us to himself and delivers us from sin and from the punishment for sin, by a Redeemer. (Isaiah 53:10-11) (from here)

I first heard this as a child and with a child's acceptance of all things taught, it seemed natural to me. Lord, I find it hard to marvel at what you did, difficult to see how strange and utterly unlikely. Help me see this, Lord. It is not so rare to have a sense of God or to fear a final accounting - but a God of love, of compassion and mercy, a God who would humble himself and be belittled, a God who would deign to suffer injustice at the hands of his creation? That is rare, rare stuff. We would never have imagined a god like you, who is wholly just and loving and who answers that paradox by giving of himself. Never.

Without the cross we would be completely, terribly lost, and it would be better not to think on what comes after death. With it we have the possibility of being reconciled and now we are yours, unbreakably safe, unfathomably beloved.

Help me marvel at who you are and what you have done, and help others see this astonishing beauty. Thank you, Lord. You are lovely.

18

Will God allow our disobedience and idolatry to go unpunished?
No, every sin is against the sovereignty, holiness, and goodness of God, and against his righteous law, and God is righteously angry with our sins and will punish them in his just judgment both in this life, and in the life to come. (Ephesians 5:5-6) (from here)

Lord, I don't like this dwelling in the shameful, guilty, terrifying part of reality. Knowing the hopeful truth, I want to hurry there - but today I'm to consider your punishment for sin. Whenever I think about it, my mind and heart turn tricks to explain it and, so doing, minimise it. I want to say, 'Hell is the absence of God', but then I realise that I am trying to exlude all the cruelty and perversion and abuse that humans commit in this life, as if somehow your absence will create nothing more than a neutral, melancholy place. Lord, I know that the people there will grind their teeth with hate for you. And that somehow you will be present to punish-

Lord, I don't see that our sin is worthy of such a place, though I believe it is. For a psychopath or dictator, sure. But for my friends, for me as I once was, and would still be but for you? Yet I know that what lies at the heart of every respectable, egoist sin is your dismissal and that there is nothing more grotesque.

Help me see you better that I realise the unbridled evil of this. Help me know you better that I appreciate the precious goodness of submitting to you. Help me warn my friends even when they do not want to hear. Let me show them the wrongness of their lives lived without reference to you, and the danger of continuing like this, in a way they will hear. Thank you Lord that you are not only a God of righteousness, but also a God of incredible mercy. Have mercy, Lord, have mercy.

17

What is idolatry?
Idolatry is trusting in created things rather than the Creator for our hope and happiness, significance and security. (Romans 1:21 & 25) (from here)

Lord, I don't want to talk about this because I love my idols so much I'm afraid you'll take them away. Somehow I think that by never mentioning them, you won't notice they're there. Silly. I'm like a kid who cuts their fringe and acts as if nothing's wrong, or who hides a broken thing the best their little limbs can manage, leaving most of it on display. Forgive me.

Lord, the things I don't want you to take away are... Now I have to think about what these fears show my idols to be- Lord, this isn't good. You should be enough for me. Thank you for giving me Pablo to teach this to me. Help me learn it and be glad. Help me see truely, and give me the courage to act on what you teach me - that you are sufficient and best - even when my heart is not yet convinced. Take from me this image of you as grasping and mean - that you would enjoy taking good things from me to make me love you more. Help me see that you are gracious and gentle, kindly and very generous. Bless me and teach me to enjoy what you give me as undeserved gifts from a better God. Let me know you so well and love you so dearly that I don't fear the loss of these things, but rather that they lose their import because you are my treasure and my heart's delight.

God, I am a baby in this. Take my hand, lead me and teach me, that I may be an example for others, that I may honour you as is your due. Amen.

16

What is sin?
Sin is rejecting or ignoring God in the world he created, rebelling against him by living without reference to him, not being or doing what he requires in his law—resulting in our death and the disintegration of all creation. (1 John 3:4) (from here)

Sin is my shame and my pleasure, Lord. I have done and thought ugly things and not done good because I chose to ignore or reject you. And even now I follow in that path - because I like it and I think I know best. I show myself a fool because it is you who are good and wise, and I do best when I follow you. Forgive me and change me, Lord, for I am lost without you, a dumb punk rewriting rules that were beautifully set, raging against an authority to whom I owe my existence, who gives me my every breath, and who does all to bless me. Make me see how evil and perverted and ugly is my sin. Let me not brush over some 'small' rejection of you. Make me your happy, gladly-trusting servant and child. Make me a woman of God, lovely and strong and weak. Let me love you and have no god apart from you, not even myself. Amen and amen.