“The man on the middle cross said I can come.”

without the preaching of the cross without preaching the cross to ourselves all day and every day we will very very quickly revert to faith plus works as the ground of our salvation so that to go to the old uh fort lauderdale question if you were to die tonight and and you were getting entry into heaven what would you say if you answer that and if i answer it in the first person we've immediately gone wrong because i because i believed because i have faith because i am this because i am continuing loved ones the only

proper answers in the third person because he because he they think about the thief on the cross and what an immense i i can't wait to find that fellow one day to ask him how did that shake out for you because you were you were you were you were cussing the guy out with your friend you've never been in a bible study you never got baptized you nev you didn't know a thing about church membership and and yet and yet you made it you made it how did you make it that's what the angel must

have said you know like what are you doing here well i don't know what what do you mean you don't know well like because i don't know well you know we did you excuse me let me get my supervisor they go get the supervisor ranger so with just a few questions for you first of all are you are you are you are you clear on the doctrine of justification by faith you guys said i never heard of it in my life and and what about let's just go to the doctrine of scripture immediately this guy's

just staring and eventually in frustration he says on on what basis are you here and he said the man on the middle cross said i can come now now that's the that is the only answer that is the only answer and if i don't preach the gospel to myself all day and every day then i will find myself beginning to trust myself trust my experience which is part of my fallenness as a man if i take my eyes off the cross i can then give only lip service to its efficacy while at the same time

living as if my salvation depends upon me and as soon as you go there it will lead you either to abject despair or a horrible kind of arrogance and it is only the cross of christ that deals both with the dreadful depths of despair and the pretentious arrogance of the pride of man that says you know i can figure this out and i'm doing wonderfully well no because the sinless savior died my sinful soul is counted free for god the justice satisfied to look on him and pardon me that's why luther says most of your

christian life is outside of you in this sense that we know that we're not saved by good works we're not saved as a result of our professions but we're saved as a result of what christ has achieved