Category Archives: Ed Welch

“Christ alone is your defense” by Ed Welch

“When you belong to the King, how can you discern the difference between the Devil’s condemnation and the Spirit’s conviction? How can you determine if you are in the bogus courtroom or the real one?

In the real courtroom:

  • you know your good deeds are not enough
  • your hope is in Christ alone for your deliverance
  • when convicted of sins, you are pointed past your sins and on to Christ
  • the last word is always hope.

In the Devil’s counterfeit:

  • the attention is all on your sins
  • you stand and fall on your own behavior
  • you are alone without an advocate
  • questions are raised about the extent of God’s forgiveness.

Christ alone, Christ alone– that is your defense.”

–Edward T. Welch, Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2007-8), 221.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leave a comment

Filed under Christian Theology, Ed Welch, Jesus Christ, Justification, Quotable Quotes, The Gospel

“Worriers are false prophets” by Ed Welch

“Worriers are false prophets.”

–Edward T. Welch, Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2008), 51.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leave a comment

Filed under Anxiety, Christian Theology, Ed Welch, Quotable Quotes

“His forgiveness is holy” by Ed Welch

“No doubt you have wronged other people in your life and they have forgiven you. That is certainly an expression of the grace of God. But don’t use the experience of human forgiveness to understand the forgiveness of God. Remember: we have been enemies of God. We still find the seeds of rebellion in our hearts everyday; we didn’t even seek God and beg His forgiveness, yet He is pleased to forgive.

One common feature of all world religions, except for the religion revealed in the Old and New Testaments, is that the gods demand some kind of human penance when they are wronged. Human beings must pay the gods back by giving more money, adhering to proper rituals, going through some form of self-punishment, or practicing some means of works righteousness.

When religions are shaped by the way people treat one another, such a system is unavoidable. The psalmist knows this. He knows that all other gods keep records of who has been naughty and who has been nice. But God is holy, and his forgiveness is holy. Nothing can compare to it. As a result the psalmist says, ‘If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness; therefore You are feared’ (Ps. 130:3-4).

Do you ever think that your sins are too bad, and that forgiveness for those sins requires you to get your act together first? If so, you don’t fear God. You are minimizing his forgiveness. You are acting as though his forgiveness is ordinary, just like that of any person or make-believe god. In contrast, the fear of the Lord leads us to believe that when God makes promises too good to be true, they are indeed true.”

–Ed Welch, Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2007), 194-5.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leave a comment

Filed under Christian Theology, Ed Welch, Forgiveness, Holiness, Quotable Quotes