As was mentioned at the beginning of this task, the postings will rotate between different topics. Today’s ‘sip From the WEL’ was inspired by Romans 1:17 – For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (KJV)

This verse was the one that had freed Martin Luther from his years’ worth of learning and believing that works alone would save him. Hard to believe one could live in the shadows of uncertainty by unbelief for so long. Yet this was the verse Luther said freed him from those shackles, allowing him to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit and in that enlightenment be open to what the Bible has to say.

If only I can remember that with better regularity and certainty. There are times when I let doubt creep in if only for a moment. Then I remember the best book of books to have, to open, to read, to know.

By Faith Alone – not by what I do in hopes of ‘earning a place’… One pastor illustrated it best: God’s grace is as sure as a ladder from solid ground to up above. Why step off a rung of that ladder onto a piece of string (‘what can I do to earn my place?’) that cannot possibly bear my weight? Why sidestep what has been laid out before me onto something that is so flimsy and unsure?

Create in me a clean heart, o God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit. Amen. (TLH1941)