Debtors to Grace...

Poem by A.M. Toplady

A debtor to mercy alone,

Of heavenly mercy I sing;

Nor fear drawing near to the Throne,

My person and offering to bring.

The terrors of law and of God,

With me can have nothing to do;

My Savior's obedience and blood

Hide all my transgressions from view.

The work which His goodness began,

The arm of His strength will complete;

His promise is "Yes" and "Amen"

And never was forfeited yet.

Things future, nor things that are now

Not all things below or above,

Can make Him His purpose fore go,

Or sever my soul from His love.

My name from the palms of His hands,

Eternity will not erase;

Impound on His heart it remains

In marks of indelible grace.

And I to the end shall endure,

As sure as the earnest is given;

More happy, but not more secure

The spirits departed to heaven."

"As I look across the Christian landscape...the depth and complexity and ugliness and danger of sin in professing Christians is either minimized--since we are already justified--or psychologized as a symptom of woundedness rather than corruption...We proceed to heal the wound of the people lightly...What Owen offers is not quick relief, but long-term, deep growth in grace that can make strong,healthy trees where there was once a fragile sapling. I pray that thousands...will choose the harder, long-term path of growth, not the easier, short-term path of circumstantial relief."

(John Piper--foreword in the book: Overcoming SIN and TEMPTATION bu John Owen)