The parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew hinges on whether a guy is wearing the right costume for the party.

God uses the fifth commandment to protect us from selfishness, prevent us from only thinking about our needs, and to drive us to Christ and our neighbors.

This is an adaptation of the introduction from “In Defense of Martin Luther”written by John Warwick Montgomery (1517 Publishing, 2017). Used with permission.

It’s so easy to slip into thinking about forgiveness solely in terms of our authority over it.

Jesus will strengthen and encourage us because he is true life, and life has defeated death.

We now stand holy and blameless before our Heavenly Father as his own dear children, and we are set free to serve our neighbor in love.

Satan and the old Adam don't want Jesus to bear our crosses for us because that means we can't claim that we've done anything to merit God's mercy and salvation.

Christ crucified is at the heart of both our freedom from sin and death and our freedom to serve and love our neighbor.

Our freedom as Christians is not a form of independence. Our freedom in Christ comes from our dependence on him.

You who would be a law unto yourself, Christ is the gospel unto you, proclaiming you forgiven.