Month: April 2010

Grace Alone

One of the best things I’ve ever read from Michael Spencer:

For me, the Gospel itself is “the Gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:24) The Bible is incomprehensible apart from grace. It is the tidal wave predicted in the first scenes, and it eventually arrives to soak everything and everyone in Jesus. Titus summarizes the incarnation and work of Jesus as, “the Grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.” The New Covenant is grace and truth from Jesus, as contrasted with the law that came through Moses. (Consult Hebrews for the difference.) Every single New Covenant blessing comes through grace. Listing the scriptures that substantiate this would be woefully redundant to most of my readers. The air of heaven is grace. The heart of the Father is grace. The Good in the Good News is grace.

Emphasis mine. Read the whole post. He understands the grace of God in a way that I can only hope I will attain. This is the heart of the gospel, and it’s beautiful.

Michael Spencer obituary

The Associated Baptist Press has a good obituary for Michael Spencer, the Internet Monk, today.

I never knew him personally, never even corresponded with him. But his writings on his blog have had a profound impact upon my faith over the course of the past several years. His writings were instrumental in helping me come out of the fog of a mid-life faith crisis and take on the new wineskins Christ had been preparing for me: more ancient, more grace-filled, critiquing evangelicalism without completely rejecting it. I can truly say that he was my mentor in many ways even though we never met.

I thank God for his life, and his voice will be sorely missed.

There are No Words

Today, the Internet Monk, Michael Spencer, passed away after battling cancer. I, for one, will sorely miss his honesty, and his unfailing trust in the grace of God. A grace that goes beyond anything that any of us expects. He gave us all a window into that grace, and for that I am deeply grateful.

May he rejoice in the presence of his Lord, and may that same Lord comfort his family and friends in their time of loss.