The Gospel Alphabet by Timothy Keller
S is for Salvation
S is for Salvation
Scripture is quite clear that the Gospel “is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). As we have already noted, this is not a truth pertaining only to evangelism. The Gospel saves those who believe, from first to last, through and through. It includes all the wondrous doctrines of our great salvation, including election, regeneration, justification, sanctification, glorification, and much more. For this reason alone, the Gospel must remain central in all the ministries of the church.
PARKING AND WAITING UNIVERSAL SIGNALS
(Maybe this really happened)
The other week I dropped my wife, Deb, off at Westfield Shopping Center where she was going to pick up something “quickly.” The parking lot was nearly full so I drove up and down several lanes waiting for her. While coming down one lane, a car with a young man driving stopped near an open space and I noticed that he gave me the "Are you going to park there?" look.
I responded by gestures. First I shook my head. Next I pointed at him, then at the parking space and then at me, my watch and the mall. Finishing off, I frowned, raised my palms upward and shrugged. Once he had parked, he walked over to me to make sure I didn't want the space.
"You must be single," I replied. "If you were married, you would've known that was the universal sign for 'Go ahead and take the spot. I'm waiting for my wife.'"
HOSPITALITY AND GENEROSITY IN THE LUTHER HOME
By Justin Taylor
(A few of Tom’s sermons lately have dealt with the topic of generosity. Another place we are to show generosity is through the resource of our homes where hospitality is seen as a virtue of the gospel.)
When Martin Luther (the 42-year-old former monk) married Katharina von Bora (the 26-year-old former nun), perhaps it was appropriate that they moved into the dilapidated Black Cloister, which had once housed forty monks, including Luther—who had lived there for fourteen years.
On the night of the Luther’s public wedding ceremony and celebration, Andreas Karlstadt—a frequent adversary of Luther’s—showed up at their door. He had fled the Peasants’ War and was seeking shelter. Martin invited him to hide at the Black Cloister—and Karlstadt stayed for eight more weeks!
The house was filled with the sound of children. The Luthers had six children in their first nine years of marriage—three sons, and three three daughters (one of whom died at a few months of age, another at the age of 13). And then a few years into their marriage, the Luthers took into their home the six children of Luther’s sister. They also raised Katherine’s nephew. Martin often told them stories, taught them songs and games, played melodies on his lute, and instructed them in the faith.
University students often ate and boarded there, and Luther’s letters make reference to a steady stream of guests either coming or going.
There was a waiting list for those who wanted to room and board with the Luthers—no doubt because of the stimulating theological education and conversation, but also because for many years the Luther didn’t charge anyone for room and board.
As Martin lectured and wrote and debated and preached and traveled, Katie drove the wagon, took care of the field, bought cattle and put them out to pasture, brewed beer, prepared food for the graduation banquets, rented horses, sold linen, served as Martin’s publishing agent, and often nursed him back to health during his frequent illnesses.
Luther was very generous to the poor, and refused to charge for lecturing or to accept honoraria for his writing. The dynamic soon proved unsustainable, and the Luthers struggled with debt. But God always provided. Luther once wrote:
"God put fingers on our hand for the money to slide through them so He can give us more. Whatever a person gives away, God will reimburse."
Another time Luther said: "Riches are among the most trivial things on earth and the smallest gift God gives to a person."
Luther compared their poverty to the riches he had found in marriage: "My Katie is in all things so obliging and pleasing to me that I would not exchange my poverty for the riches of Croesus "[sixth century B.C. king famed for his riches].
Once, when Luther thought he was dying, he wrote: "My dear son and my dear Kate. I have nothing [in worldly goods] to bequest to you, but I have a rich God. Him I leave to you. He will nourish you well."
This word proved prophetic. Luther died in 1546 at the age of 62. Katie would live seven more difficult years without many earthly goods, dying in 1552 at the age of 53. But among her final recorded words was that the desire of her heart was to “cling to Christ like a burr to a dress.”
Prosperity and money are not inherently bad, but they must be informed by the gospel. The Luthers could have made different choices, but at the end of their day, their lives are a testimony to the vision Martin so eloquently wrote about:
"Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
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