Hallelujah!
You who serve GOD, praise GOD!
Just to speak his name is praise!
Just to remember GOD is a blessing--now and tomorrow and always.
From east to west, from dawn to dusk, keep lifting all your praises to GOD!
GOD is higher than anything and anyone, outshining everything you can see in the skies.
"The prophet confirms that the praises of God must be continued throughtout the whole course of our life. If his name is to be continually praised, it ought, at least, to be our earnest endeavor, during our brief pilgrimage here, that the remembrance of it may flourish after we are dead."
(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms)
"The Great Exchange"
Romans 4:1-8
Reading from the English Standard Version
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
"Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;
blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin."
What is "justification?" "Fundamentally, justification is a legal declaration wherein God the Father pronounces us righteous through faith alone based on the merit of Christ alone. The righteousness that is imputed to our account is an alien righteousness, one that is wholly outside of ourselves. We are not justified based on the good works that we do but on the good works that Jesus has done."
God views us as righteous in Christ.
"Any Room For Grace?"
Romans 12:1
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
God's goal is to conform us to the likeness of Christ, who was completely without sin. We cannot keep our commitment to holiness perfectly, but that should be our aim.
Is there any place for grace? Absolutely. In fact, in the above verse, Paul is making his appeal on the basis of God's mercy.
There is a relationship between grace and discipline. "A loving response to God's grace and mercy is the only motive acceptable to God for the commitment Paul called for."
This is why we need to preach the gospel to ourselves daily.
I praise you for justification. Wow. What a marvelous truth of the gospel. I am so thankful that, when you look at me, you see the righteousness of Christ that has been imputed to me, rather than the ugliness of my sin. Hallelujah!
Grace and peace, friends.