My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.—Edward Mote (1797-1874)
“Christianity not only leads its members to believe people of other faiths have goodness and wisdom to offer,
it also leads them to expect that many will live lives morally superior to their own.
Most people in our culture in our culture believe that, if there is a God, we can relate to him and go to heaven through leading a good life. Let’s call this the “moral improvement” view. Christianity teaches the very opposite.
In the Christian understanding, Jesus does not tell us how to live so we can merit salvation.
Rather, he comes to forgive and save us through his life and death in our place. God’s grace does not come to people who morally outperform others, but to those who admit their failure to perform and who acknowledge their need for a Savior.” – Tim Keller, The Reason for God, 19
O love of God how strong and true
Eternal and yet ever new
Uncomprehended and unbought
Beyond all knowledge and all thoughtO wide embracing wondrous Love
We read thee in the sky above
We read thee in the earth below
In seas that swell and streams that flowWe read thee best in him who came
To bear for us the cross of shame
Sent by the Father from on high
Our life to live, our death to dieWe read thy power to bless and save
Even in the darkness of the grave
Still more in resurrection light
We read the fullness of thy mightBy Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)