'Not because of anything you have done'
2 Tim 1:9
'God saves sinners in virtue of his own purpose and
grace, and not in virtue of their good works. It is the undeserved freeness of
the gospel which offends. The ‘natural’ or unregenerate man hates to have to
admit the gravity of his sin and guilt, his complete helplessness to save
himself, the indebtedness to the cross. This is what Paul meant by ‘the
stumbling block of the cross
Many preachers succumb to
the temptation to mute it. They preach man and his merit instead of Christ and
his cross and they substitute the one for the other’in order that they may not
be persecuted for the cross of Christ (Gal. 6:12; cf. 5: 11). No man can preach Christ crucified with faithfulness
and escape opposition, even persecution.'
(2 Timothy, Stott, Page 43)
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