A Prayer For Good Friday

Blessed Lord Jesus,
Before thy cross I kneel and see the heinousness of my sin,
   my iniquity that caused thee to be ‘made a curse’,
   the evil that excites the severity of divine wrath.

Show me the enormity of my guilt by
   the crown of thorns,
   the pierced hands and feet,
   the bruised body,
   the dying cries.

Thy blood is the blood of incarnate God,
   its worth infinite, its value beyond all thought.
Infinite must be the evil and guilt that demands such a price.
Sin is my malady, my monster, my foe, my viper,
   born in my birth,
   alive in my life,
   strong in my character,
   dominating my faculties,
   following me as a shadow,
   intermingling with my every thought,
   my chain that holds me captive in the
   empire of my soul.

Sinner that I am, why should the sun give me light,
  the air supply breath,
   the earth bear my tread,
   its fruits nourish me,
   its creatures subserve my ends?

Yet thy compassions yearn over me,
   thy heart hastens to my rescue,
   thy love endured my curse,
   thy mercy bore my deserved stripes.

Let me walk humbly in the lowest depths
   of humiliation,
   bathed in thy blood,
   tender of conscience,
   triumphing gloriously as an heir of salvation."

– “The Precious Blood,” Valley of Vision, 74-75.

Regarding "picking and choosing the Old Testament":

“I find it frustrating when I read or hear columnists, pundits, or journalists dismiss Christians as inconsistent because ‘they pick and choose which of the rules in the Bible to obey.’ What I hear most often is “Christians ignore lots of Old Testament texts—about not eating raw meat or pork or shellfish, not executing people for breaking the Sabbath, not wearing garments woven with two kinds of material and so on. Then they condemn homosexuality. Aren’t you just picking and choosing what they want to believe from the Bible?

It is not that I expect everyone to have the capability of understanding that the whole Bible is about Jesus and God’s plan to redeem his people, but I vainly hope that one day someone will access their common sense (or at least talk to an informed theological advisor) before leveling the charge of inconsistency.”

—	Tim Keller. Read more here:  http://www.redeemer.com/news_and_events/newsletter/?aid=363

“What Is The Foundation Of The Gospel?” - Ken Ham.

Great point.

“For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” - Romans 5:17

Charles Spurgeon on the atonement

We are often told that we limit the atonement of Christ, because we say that Christ has not made satisfaction for all men, or all men would be saved. Now, our reply to this is that, on the other hand, our opponents limit it, we do not. The Arminians say, Christ died for all men. Ask them what they mean by it. Did Christ die so as to secure the salvation of all men? They say, "No, certainly not." We ask them the next question-Did Christ die so as to secure the salvation of any man in particular? They say, "No." They are obliged to admit this if they are consistent. They say, "No; Christ has died so that any man may be saved if"-and then follow certain conditions of salvation. We say then, we will just go back to the old statement-Christ did not die so as beyond a doubt to secure the salvation of anybody, did He? You must say "No;" you are obliged to say so, for you believe that even after a man has been pardoned, he may yet fall from grace and perish. Now, who is it that limits the death of Christ? Why you... We say Christ so died that He infallibly secured the salvation of a multitude that no man can number, who through Christ's death not only may be saved, but are saved, must be saved, and cannot by any possibility run the hazard of being anything but saved. You are welcome to your atonement; you may keep it. We will never renounce ours for the sake of it.

(Sermon 181, New York Street Pulpit, IV, p. 135)