Sinner Saint Quotes

“How can these two contradictory things both be true at the same time, that I am a sinner and deserve divine wrath and hate, and that the Father loves me? Here nothing can intervene except Christ the Mediator… A Christian… is loved by the Father, not for his own sake”
― Luke Kjolhaug, Sinner Saint: A Surprising Primer to the Christian Life

“WE’RE ALL LOSERS. Wait a minute, before you throw this book away just because some gloomy theology nerd said something that offends us all in the well-greased therapeutic Bubble Wrap of late modern societies. Actually, it’s a relief. It’s cruel to tell people that they can do anything, be anything, achieve anything. I’ve never succeeded at space exploration, not out of a lack of interest, but because I suck at math, physics, and other things I’m told are fairly essential. It’s good to know our limits, so we can actually discover what we’re good at. But none of us is good at God. That’s a relief too, because we know it. Seriously, how many campfires have blazed as you poured out your tears and promised to “make Jesus Lord”? Maybe you have a very different religious background to my upbringing—and the author’s—but it’s pretty much the same. Even in a totally secular approach—being good without God—the upbeat rhetoric of self-care leaves you wondering, “What’s the next rule I have to follow to become a better me?” Learn to forgive yourself, you’re wonderful, you’re the star of the story you’re writing for yourself—blah, blah, blah. It’s just more “law” but with a life coach. There’s good news for all of us. Jesus isn’t a life coach. He didn’t come to give more rules for how to make life work. He didn’t come for people who thought they were good, but those who knew they were lost (Luke 5:32). The religious leaders thought they were successful enough at the whole religion game to be able to tell everyone else how to live. But they didn’t even follow their own rules, much less those weightier commands God gave for looking out for each other (Mark 7:8-9). Come on, please join me on your knees as you read this life-changing book: “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner,” said the tax-collector. “I tell you,” said Jesus, “this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:13-14). Dr. Michael S. Horton”
― Luke Kjolhaug, Sinner Saint: A Surprising Primer to the Christian Life