'freedom' Tagged Posts
A Diet of Worms
On October 31, 2017 we celebrated the 500-year anniversary of Martin Luther’s nailing his 95 Theses to the Castle church door. If October 31 marks the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, another famous date made it official. That date was April 18, 1521 at the Diet of Worms. The Diet (=assembly or gathering) was called by Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire to convene in the German city of Worms (pronounced “Vorms”). The reason this Diet was called…
Sausage Anyone?
Last year, as I was eating king cake with my colleagues on Fat Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday), we discussed how Catholics relinquish meat during the Lenten season. Our newest colleague was asked: “Are you Catholic?” “I used to be,” he said, “but I loved meat too much!” Chuckles filled the lunch room. As light-hearted as his comment was, the Reformed Reformation (not the Lutheran Reformation), of which Grace Community Bible Church can generally trace its roots, started by…
Sin Is In Prison
Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and union by faith into that death and resurrection, you have been justified and definitively sanctified. The condemnation due to sin has been removed. You are a saint. And this means that your relationship to sin has changed. When once sin held sway over you, you now have the power, through the Holy Spirit, “to not let sin reign in your mortal body” (Rom 6:12). Sin no longer reigns; righteousness reigns. Unfortunately,…