Hello Ben.  This post is an answer to your tweets: “Your insistence that our works can have no merit is strangely at odds with our Lord’s teaching.  We believe that united with Him and His works, our works can be raised to be meritorious.” You also asked me to address verses like Matthew 25:34-46 and Romans 2:6.  And there are plenty of other verses that could be included that do prove that, in some sense, our works do have a place in the doctrine of salvation.  But we MUST understand the proper place of our works in the doctrine of salvation.  There is nothing more important for sinners like us than to accurately understand the Triune God’s doctrine of salvation.  We MUST get this right.  Our eternal destinies are at stake.  We must be very, very careful and devote ourselves to knowing the true Gospel of God so that we can enjoy all of its glorious benefits.  To understand God’s Gospel and believe it brings everlasting life and eternal joy.  If we don’t understand God’s Gospel, then we can’t believe it.  And if we can’t believe it, then we are doomed to perish, and we are still in our sins.  So, I decided to share with you an article written by the late Dr. John H. Gerstner.  Dr. Gerstner was one of Scott Hahn’s professors who tried to persuade him not to abandon Sola Fide by becoming Roman Catholic.  Hahn mentions him in his book “Rome Sweet Home”. Dr. Gerstner has greatly influenced my life and many others in the Protestant tradition.  In my opinion, he was the best at explaining Sola Fide accurately and in an understandable way.  This article is Chapter 4 in the book “Justification By Faith ALONE: Affirming the Doctrine By Which the Church and the Individual Stands or Falls”. The book was produced by Soli Deo Gloria publications in 1995.  In the book, Dr. Gerstner has another article entitled “Rome NOT Home”.  I would also be glad to share that chapter with you but you need to read the positive explanation of Sola Fide first.  So here it is my friend.  Enjoy.  And I pray you would read it carefully and prayerfully.  If you see errors in this article, please tell me.  The truth is my greatest desire.  And I’m persuaded that this article accurately and truthfully explains the Gospel of God which we receive by faith alone.  At the end of the article, Dr. Gerstner answers your question about verses like Matthew 25:34-46, Romans 2:6, etc. in the section entitled "After Justification, the Works of Faith Merit Reward".

In Christ alone,

Presbyterian Prince

Justification By Faith Alone 

(The Nature of Justifying Faith)

 by Dr. John H. Gerstner

Eternal life depends on Christ alone — nothing, but nothing, else. Predestination will not bring it. Providence cannot produce it. It does not rest on foreknowledge, divine decrees, or even the atonement itself. Eternal life is Christ dwelling in His righteousness in the soul of the justified person. So eternal life is union with Jesus Christ. And the word for that union with Jesus Christ is faith. The sinner comes to Him, rests in Him, trusts in Him, is one with Him, abides in Him; and this is life because it never, ever, ends. The united soul abides in the Vine eternally. Weakness, sin, proneness to sin never brings separation, but only the Father’s pruning, which cements the union even and ever tighter.

This is the heart of the Bible. This is the heart of the gospel. This is the heart of Christianity. This is the heart of the saint. This is the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those are the reasons it was the heart of the Reformation; and this is the reason the contemporary attempt of some Protestants to unite with those who do not even claim this heart of the life of Jesus Christ is to commit spiritual suicide. No lover of Jesus Christ can consent to this apostasy.

Faith is an Act but Not a Work

Faith means to trust in Jesus Christ. It is coming to Him. It is casting all your cares on Him. The old acrostic — Forsaking All I Trust Him? is theologically perfectly accurate. We all know the old Greek acrostic for fish: (icthus). I might coin a new acrostic on the Greek word for faith (pistis): Polluted I Surrender To Iesus Savior. No text of Holy Scripture tells it quite as well as Romans 4:5: "To the man who does not work, but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness."

Notice how many different ways (7) this Scripture teaches justification by faith alone in one verse:

1. The justified one does "not work."

2. The justified one "trusts."

3. The justified one trusts not in himself but in another: "God."

4. The justified one confesses himself to be "wicked."

5. The justified one does not have faith in his faith.

6. The justified one sees his faith only as "credited" to him.

7. The justified one sees his faith credited as "righteousness."

The hymn does not exaggerate when it says, "NOTHING in my hands I bring."

A woman said to me after hearing me preach on sin, "You make me feel so big (holding her fingers an inch apart)." I was shocked and replied, "Lady, that is too big; much too big, fatally big. You and I are a minus quantity, and all fallen mankind with us. Justification can only be by faith alone."

You see that faith is an act but it is not a work — a work of merit, that is. Faith is workless, worthless. According to Roman Catholicism, those works, so far from being worthless, are worth eternal life. They entitle a person who has perfected them to nothing less than eternal heaven.

I was debating a Romish priest once on this subject, and he seemed to be reluctant to admit how good his and his fellows’ works were. The audience was largely Protestant. I guess he would have appeared to evangelicals to be bragging. I couldn’t get him to defend what he was there to defend (until I brought from my briefcase Schroeder’s Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent and read from that source that works entitled a person to heaven). It was then that he acknowledged his church’s doctrine. Then, and only then, did he admit how good Roman Catholic works are thought to be.

Romanists many times fool Protestants by their claim to teach "by grace alone" (sola gratia). And they sometimes fool themselves when they are more evangelical than a Romanist can honestly be. Romanists are saved by their works which come from grace, according to their teaching. It is not the grace but the works which come from it that save them! If a person believes that grace saves him he is a Protestant and belongs with us. He is in the wrong church if he believes the evangelical way and is not witnessing honestly. A dishonest person can never be saved, be he Protestant or Roman.

I was in an area where some Protestant ministers told me of a "Father Joe" who, they said, was the most evangelical man in the whole area. I remarked that if that were so he was also the most dishonest man in the whole area. We have many Protestants today who are claiming to be one with Romanists as fellow evangelicals. Unless such Protestants are utterly ignorant of the meaning of evangelicalism, they cannot be Christians, much less Protestants or Roman Catholics. Christians are required to "provide things honest in the sight of all men" (Romans 12:17). Labels are supposed to tell contents. If this is true of bottles of medicine that concern only this life, how much more of the medicine of immortality — the contents of the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Evangelicalism means the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to — not infused into — the believer.

So Scripture is teaching us that the faith which saves is not a work. It has no spiritual value in itself. Strictly speaking, the true Christian church does not teach justification by faith. It teaches justification by Christ. Where does the faith come in? It is simply the uniting with, joining with, becoming one with, the Lord Jesus Christ. Being married to Christ, all that is His becomes His bride’s, the believer’s. A wife becomes a co-heir of all that belongs to her husband simply by being his wife, by her union with him in marriage. That is the fact: she is his wife. There is no virtue or merit in that. She simply possesses what now belongs to her by that relationship. Marriage is not a virtue that deserves a reward, but a relationship that brings the husband’s possessions along with him.

That is the meaning of the word "reckons" or imputes or credits. The justified one "does not work, but trusts God who justifies the wicked."

This is why I claim Thomas Aquinas for Protestantism. He teaches the justificatio impii, the justification of the impious or wicked, just as Paul teaches in Romans 4:5. If the wicked are ever justified, it cannot be by works or faith AS A WORK. It is justification by Jesus Christ alone. It is His righteousness, which He achieved for His people by fulfilling all righteousness, that becomes theirs as His bride.

Some Romanists will say that they too teach justification by grace — by Christ’s righteousness, in fact. But the righteousness of Christ which they claim justifies is not Christ’s own personal righteousness reckoned or credited or given or imputed to believers. Romanists refer to the righteousness which Christ works into the life of the believer or infuses into him in his own living and behavior. It is not Christ’s personal righteousness but the believer’s personal righteousness, which he performs by the grace of God.

It is Christ’s righteousness versus the believer’s own righteousness. It is Christ’s achievement versus the Christian’s achievement. It is an imputed righteousness not an infused righteousness. It is a gift of God versus an accomplishment of man. These two righteousnesses are as different as righteousnesses could conceivably be.

It does come down to the way it has been popularly stated for the last four and a half centuries: Protestantism’s salvation by faith versus Rome’s salvation by works. That is not a technically accurate way to state this vital difference, but it points to the truth. The Protestant trusts Christ to save him and the Catholic trusts Christ to help him save himself. It is faith versus works. Or, as the Spirit of God puts it in Romans 4:16, "Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace, and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring." It is "by faith SO THAT IT MAY BE BY grace...."

If a Romanist wants to be saved by grace alone, it will have to be by faith alone. "The promise comes by faith so that it may be by grace." You can’t be saved "sola gratia" except "sola fide." Every Roman Catholic who wants to be saved by grace must be saved by faith and join us.

And we want Romanists to be saved. We aren’t trying to win an argument but souls! How sad to see a banner raised against "faith alone" when that is the only way to be saved by grace. We agree with Roman friends — salvation is by grace. That is the reason it must be by faith. If it is a salvation based on works that come from grace, it is not based on grace but on the Christian’s works that come from grace. The works that come from grace must prove grace but they cannot be grace. They may come from, be derivative of, a consequence of, but they cannot be identified with it. Faith is merely union with Christ who is our righteousness, our grace, our salvation. 1 Corinthians 1:30, "It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus who has become for us wisdom from God," that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Christ is our righteousness. Our righteousness does not result from His righteousness, it is His righteousness.

 Faith is Not a Work, but it is Never without Work

Romanists have always tried to hang antinomianism on Protestantism. They seem incapable even of understanding "justification is by faith alone, but not by the faith that is alone," though that formula has been present since the Reformation.

If this were a true charge it would be a fatal one. If Protestantism thought that a sinner could be saved without becoming godly, it would be an absolute, damning lie. His name is "Jesus" for He saves His people from their sins, not in them. And He saves His people not only from the guilt of sin but from its dominating power as well. If a believer is not changed, he is not a believer. No one can have Christ as Savior for one moment when he is not Lord as well. We can never say too often: "Justification is by faith alone, but NOT by the faith that is alone." Justification is by a WORKING faith.

Why does Rome continue to make that centuries-long misrepresentation of justification by faith alone? Because:

First, she knows that faith without works is dead.
Second, she hears Protestantism teach justification by faith alone "apart" from works.
Third, she doesn’t listen when Protestantism explains that "apart from works" means "apart from the merit of works," not "apart from the presence of works."
Fourth, she hears some Protestants, who also misunderstand Protestantism, teaching "easy-believism."
Fifth, she knows "easy-believism" is an utterly overwhelming argument against Protestantism (which it would be if it were true).

Let me explain, therefore, once again what the Protestant biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone apart from works means. Justification with God is apart from the merit of works. That does not mean that justification is apart from the existence of works. Christianity teaches justification apart from the merit of works. Easy-believism teaches justification apart from the existence of works. Faith without the existence of works is dead. Faith without the merit and existence of works is antinomianism. Faith with the merit of works is legalism.

A.H. Strong (Baptist Theologian, 1836-1921) uses the analogy of a locomotive engine, its cars, and couplings. All the power to move the cars is in the locomotive. None of the power is in the couplings. Yet the locomotive, with all its power, cannot move one car without the coupling.

Justification is by Works — in One Sense

With all the clear biblicality and truth of justification by faith alone, there is still in human nature a gnawing sense of something lacking here. The Hindus call it "karma," or the law of works. My friends say, when I get a split on the bowling alley when I should have had a strike, "You don’t live right." Deuteronomy says, "Your sins will find you out." Hegel said that the Geschichte (history) of the world is the Gericht (judgment) of the world. The mills of the gods grind slowly but they grind exceedingly fine.

In other words, justification by faith alone seems to violate the built-in moral perception that each person must pay for his own bad deeds. He cannot be let off without penalty. God is not a respecter of persons. A moral being does not play favorites. Justice is blind.

So far is justification by faith alone from violating this principle that it honors it more than damnation itself. Christian heaven is gained in a way more just than what Jonathan Edwards calls "The justice of God in the damnation of the wicked."

This is implied in what has already been said about the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. But let me be more explicit. Jesus Christ was punished in the elect sinner’s stead. The full wrath of God deserved by the sinner was poured out in full on the sinner’s Substitute. And that punishment undergone by the sinner in his substitute was more than the sinner would have suffered by an eternity in hell, for the sinner’s Substitute was no less than the fullness of the Godhead dwelling bodily (Colossians 2:9). God cannot die in His own infinite, spiritual, unchangeable, eternal nature, but He could and did die in the real human nature to which He united Himself for the very purpose of suffering and dying so that His people need never suffer ever at the hand of a holy and just God. Surely mercy and truth kissed each other in perfect justice.

Thus, the sinner was punished. No sinner ever escapes the justice of God—least of all those for whom Jesus Christ suffered, bled, and died. Christ descended into hell on the cross. Because Christ descended into hell, those for whom He died ascend into heaven. They went to hell with Him and they will go to heaven with Him. That is the perfect justice of pure grace.

Theologians often say that God shows His justice in hell and His mercy in heaven. But in so doing He shows more justice in heaven than in very hell. Hell must be eternal because its victims never can suffer sufficiently in a temporal hell. Heaven must be eternal because the redeemed can never receive the blessings their Savior has purchased for them in a temporal (of, say, only trillions of years) heaven. Edwards has poignantly written in an unpublished sermon on Mark 9:44: "As sure as God is true, here will absolutely be no end to the miseries of hell." He could add: As surely as God is true here will absolutely be no end to the joys of heaven.

Jesus earned all this. He paid for it with His blood. All Christians can say with the chief of saints, who called himself the chief of sinners (Paul), "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Justification is ultimately by works — the works of Jesus Christ! They are received by the justified sinner as his own works. Christ justified His people by His works as their works; works done by them in their Substitute.

Christ justified Himself by His works. He was justified (or vindicated) by the Spirit, according to I Timothy 3:16. Probably the best translation of Romans 4:25 is: "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for (rather, "because of") our justification." Christ’s raising or resurrection showed that His redemption was successful. Christ "through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 1:4). Resurrection would not normally prove one to be the Son of God. All the dead are going to be resurrected at the last day of judgment. But Christ’s rising from death proved that He was the divine Savior He claimed to be and that His atonement had accomplished justification for those for whom He died. This was the New Covenant in His very blood shed for the remission of sins He had taken on Himself. Fulfilling all righteousness, He thus justified Himself and His people. Therefore, He was resurrected from death and ascended in glory for Himself and His people whom He brought in His train as He led captivity captive to heaven. Because of the justification of the Christians, the Lord Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, victor o’er the grave — His grave and His people’s. Hallelujah! Amen and Amen! Justification is by works — the works of Jesus Christ! and His people’s too (by faith)!

After Justification, the Works of Faith Merit Reward

"Leap for joy," the Lord Jesus says, "for great is your reward in heaven." (Luke 6:23) So, there are going to be rewards — great rewards for the works of faith.

Are the Romanists right after all? Rewards for works? Salvation earned by the Christian’s deeds?

There can be no doubt that the Lord Jesus Christ teaches rewards for faith-works. Nor can there be any doubt that it is not the Roman doctrine of justification by works, and is the Protestant doctrine of justification by faith alone. But it takes some explaining.

First, rewards for works is not the Roman doctrine of justification by works. The Christian’s works are so imperfect that they could never merit justification, which they couldn’t merit if they were perfect.

Second, rewards in heaven for imperfect works on earth is perfectly compatible with the Protestant doctrine of justification by faith alone apart from works. Imperfect works (or even perfect works) could never remit guilt or earn justification. But imperfect works can merit the rewards in heaven that the Lord Jesus Christ says they will receive. Even a cup of cold water given in Jesus’ name will have its eternal reward—deservedly! Why deservedly?

Christians will receive rewards in heaven for every one of their imperfect "good" works for a very good reason. Those post-justification good works are not necessary for heaven because Jesus Christ purchased heaven for those in Him by faith. The works are necessary to prove the genuineness of professed faith but they are not necessary for earning heaven. They are real "works of super-erogation," if you wish. Anyone who goes to heaven does so for the merit of Christ’s work alone, apart from any merit in any and all of his own works of obedience. If faith could exist apart from works, which it cannot, the believer could go to heaven without ever doing one good work. As it is, he goes to heaven without one iota of merit in anything and everything he does. But every post-justification good work he ever does will merit, deserve, and receive its reward in heaven.

You protest, "But post-justification works have sin in them, and therefore cannot merit any reward." You forget that their guilt of sin has been removed. Moreover, do you dare impugn the justice of God by saying that He would "reward" what did not deserve reward? (P.S. I confess my own and Augustine’s past error in using the oxymoron: "rewards of grace.")

In conclusion, faith, as union with Christ, possesses Christ’s righteousness which justifies perfectly forever. Being true faith, it is inseparable from works which contribute zero to justification. But being unnecessary for heaven (which Christ’s merit alone purchases), works are meritorious and the Christian is now to leap for joy because every one of his weakest of works will deservedly receive an everlasting reward in heaven.

Reader, I urge you to seek God for faith and, if and when God finds you, to abound in the works of the Lord!

               

Hello Ben!  I'm a blogger now thanks to you! And my wife is furious...lol.

I pray the Lord would bless our discussions.  Nothing matters more to me than knowing the truth in Jesus.  
Like you Ben, I'm a layman.  I work 50 hours a week to keep the bills paid, trying to be a good husband and father, trying to follow the Lord.  We gotta get this right don't we man? "Life is too short for bad theology!"

Your words in blue:It does not seem at all apparent to me that this teaches Sola Scriptura. If this is the strongest scriptural text for the SS hypothesis, it is lamentably weak. Indeed, 3:14 seems to speak directly to the oral tradition; and so do many other verses in scripture. St Paul admonishes us to hold to whatever he has taught by word of mouth or in writing, for example.

Often, Sola Scriptura is misunderstood as if we are saying that God's Word has never been transmitted orally.  Obviously, this is not the case.  When Paul told Timothy to hold to what he had learned by word of mouth, that was binding on him, that was the Word of God.  But Sola Scriptura does not address the time when special revelation was being given, the time of inscripturation.  SS addresses the period of time we are in now.  The Apostles are no longer with us.  They have gone to be with the Lord.  And all we have left from their authoritative oral preaching is now written and contained in the New Testament Canon.  Ephesians 2:20 says the church is "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone".
I think you would agree that the Apostles are the foundation of the Church.  Sola Scriptura seeks to guard that foundation.  SS seeks to test all doctrines by that Apostolic foundation. And since all of the Apostles are no longer here with us preaching orally, we have to hold to their teaching that was written down.  How did people in Jesus' day hold to Moses' teaching?  They had to stick closely to what was written by Moses since Moses was no longer with them to preach orally.  But during Moses lifetime, of course his oral preaching was the Word of God and binding.  Does that make sense Ben?  Sola Scriptura speaks to our current situation because there are no Apostles or Prophets around today who can preach authoritative oral revelation.  

I had said, "Scripture equips the man of God "for every good work." therefore, no other ultimate source is needed for religious truth." 

YOU SAID: The 'therefore' in this sentence actually hides a logical error. For example, a plumber might have a tool box that equipped him for every job he might encounter; but instructions on how to use the tools is also necessary. Scripture is indeed necessary and equips us (no Christian could deny that) but this verse does not teach that it is all that is necessary. 

I would disagree Ben.  Scripture completes the man of God.  "that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."  The text clearly says that Scripture completes the man of God and equips him for every good work.  If something more is needed, like the teaching Magisterium of the Church, then Scripture would not complete the man of God but he would need something more.  I think your comment simply contradicted what the text clearly says.  Notice Paul moves immediately in Chapter 4 and charges Timothy to "Preach the Word!"  False teachers are soon going to invade the church and Timothy's only defense will be "Preach the Word!"  This is clear teaching from Paul to Timothy to tenaciously hold to the God-breathed Scripture.  Paul knew his departure was near.  He didn't tell Timothy to go find the Pope, but to preach Scripture.

I had asked: "How does Scripture equip you to venerate departed saints?"

YOU SAID: There are two parts to this. The first is that I do not concede that Christians are bound by Scripture alone; that is, the Sacred Tradition of the Church, and the formal teaching of the Church, are also authoritative.

Here you have 3 items:  Scripture, Tradition, and Church.  But these 3 cannot be equal authorities.  What if the Church contradicts something taught in Scripture?  I can show you it does.  The Bible undeniably teaches Sola Fide. "whoever believes has eternal life" John 6:47.  Yet Rome teaches that justification is by faith + works.  Both cannot be true.  Someone is wrong.  Is it Scripture or the Church?
I contend that there can only be one ultimate authority in the Church, and that authority must be God speaking in Scripture.  But if you embrace the Church as an equal authority, she will be irreformable.  When false doctrines sneak in, there will be no way to get them out because there is no way to correct them.  In reality, those who believe the Church has equal authority with Scripture, actually end up making the Church the supreme authority.  Because the Church tells you how you must interpret Scripture.  Even though John 3:16 so clearly teaches Sola Fide, Roman Catholics can't see it because the Church won't let them see it because the Church is their ultimate authority, Sola Ecclesia.

YOU SAID: However, in this case, we have a clear Scriptural mandate. 'All generations shall call me blessed.' To refuse to venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary is to make a liar of her, in her proclamation that is clearly presented as inspired.
***I do desire to honor Mary as she deserves.  She is blessed.  She is the mother of my Lord.  She is Theotokos.  But I don't see a command in Scripture to pray to her after she had departed.  If she were here with us today, I would run to her and ask her to pray for me.  But we just don't see this practice done by the Apostles.  In fact, every time an Apostle or an angel is venerated in the New Testament, they are quickly commanded "Don't do that! Worship God!"  I can give you the references if you want them.  They are in Acts and Revelation if I remember correctly.

I had said, "So where is His Word? It is now written down in the Supreme Apostolic Tradition, Scripture. Can you give me an example of any other God-breathed revelation that's not in Scripture?"

YOU SAID: This line of argument risks being slightly circular: I only accept what is in Scripture: can you give ma an example of something I accept that is not in Scripture?.... 

You didn't really quote me accurately there Ben.  I asked, "Can you give me an example of any other God-breathed revelation that's not in Scripture?"  Remember, we know Scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16).  Jesus said that Scripture was God speaking.  The reason why only 27 books made the NT Canon was because the Church recognized that these were the Books that were breathed out by the Holy Spirit.  Sola Scriptura says that there's nothing else possessed by the Church that was written by the Holy Spirit except Scripture.  Can you give me anything else that is God speaking besides Scripture?  Please just give me one truth that is from the Holy Spirit that's not in the Bible.

YOU SAID: That is where interpretation is key. And that is why, Catholics believe, the Holy Spirit, as promised by Christ, protects the Church from errors of interpretation.

***I agree the Spirit protects the Church from error but how?  Haven't you read the numerous warnings in Scripture about false teachers and wolves coming in to the Church?  Read St. Paul in Acts 20:17-38.  How would the truth that Paul gave his life for be preserved? Paul commended the elders to "God and the word of His grace". He did not send the elders to the teaching magisterium.  He sent them to the word.

So, for example, I could cite the doctrine of the Trinity. It is implicit in Scripture, not least in the command to baptise all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. But nowhere in Scripture is there explicit teaching that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are three persons in one Godhead. That is an interpretation: guaranteed, I would argue, by the promise of Christ and the working of the Holy Spirit - but an interpretation, nonetheless.
***I disagree Ben.  The Trinity is clearly taught in Scripture.  The Creeds help us so much and we should treasure them, but the Creeds were born out of men pouring over Scripture.  The Trinitarian Creeds are some of the most beautiful examples of Sola Scriptura in practice.

 Well Ben, I'm winding down here.  I need some rest.  Thank you so much for this dialogue my friend.  I close this post by directing the eyes of our hearts to the Blessed Gift.  "For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life."  The good news Ben is that all we need is Him.  All we need is Jesus.  He is more than enough.  And simple child-like faith in Him brings full salvation.  Trust in Him alone my friend, and you will find rest for your soul.
With all of my heart now I look to Jesus and receive Him as my Bread.  He is my life.  I pray that you too would eat of Him and we could be brothers in Christ. Amen

By grace alone,
through faith alone,
in Christ alone,
to the glory of God alone,

Prince