Grace Upon Grace Quotes

“Luther, therefore, does not envisage the spiritual life as a process of self-development, but as a process of reception from the triune God. This process of reception turns proud, self-sufficient individuals into humble beggars before God.”
― John W. Kleinig, Grace Upon Grace: Spirituality for Today

“Luther does not advocate a particular practice of spirituality, but outlines the process of spiritual formation in the life of every Christian. This involves the interplay between three forces as we pray, meditate, and are tempted: the Holy Spirit, God’s Word, and Satan.”
― John W. Kleinig, Grace Upon Grace: Spirituality for Today

“We all too readily regard the life of meditation and prayer as something that we have to do apart from Christ and His presence with us. We think of our devotions as our duty or work, our achievement and the product of our determination and self-discipline. And that assumption sets us up for failure and spiritual disillusionment.”
― John W. Kleinig, Grace Upon Grace: Spirituality for Today

“However, spiritual life does not come to us haphazardly. The Holy Spirit—and the life the Holy Spirit brings—is available to us only in Christ. And He gives this life to us through His Word and through faith in His Word. This means that our spirituality does not come from having spiritual powers or from our spiritual self-development but depends on our faith in Him. Because we are joined to Christ we continually receive our life from Him.”
― John W. Kleinig, Grace Upon Grace: Spirituality for Today

“The blood of Jesus, by which He has ransomed and redeemed us (Acts 20:28; Romans 3:24–25; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18–19; Revelation 1:8–9; 5:9), justifies us before God the Father (Romans 5:9), cleanses us from all impurity (Hebrews 9:14; 1 John 1:7), and makes us holy (Hebrews 10:29; 13:12). Jesus gives us that blood to drink in Holy Communion (Matthew 26:27–28). There He sprinkles our hearts, not just our bodies, with His blood so that we are holy through and through (Hebrews 9:13–14; 10:21; 12:24; 1 Peter 1:2). In Communion, His blood speaks a better word to us than the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:24). Jesus’ blood does not cry out for justice and revenge but for pardon and justification. It contradicts Satan when he condemns us for sinning against God and others for sinning against us; it covers and protects us with Christ’s own righteousness and holiness. By our faithful reception and reliance on His blood in Holy Communion, we stand under the protection of Christ, just as the Israelites were kept safe from the angel of death in Egypt by the blood of the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:21–27; Hebrews 11:28). Thus we overcome the evil one by the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God (Revelation 12:11).”
― John W. Kleinig, Grace Upon Grace: Spirituality for Today

“You may remember that the Lord God appeared to His people at Mount Sinai. That encounter was His great theo-phany, His foundational appearance to the children of Israel. Yet it happened in a strange way. His glory, His visible gracious presence, was veiled in a cloud that was dark by day and bright at night. He concealed Himself in that deep dark cloud so that He could reveal Himself safely while speaking. So, from a human point of view, the closer they came to Him, the deeper they came into the darkness. Thus in Exodus 20:21 we read that “the people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.” The”
― John W. Kleinig, Grace Upon Grace: Spirituality for Today