“But Now…” by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“When the devil attacks you and suggests to you that you are not a Christian, and that you have never been a Christian because of what is still in your heart, or because of what you are still doing, or because of something you once did – when he comes and thus accuses you, what do you say to him? Do you agree with him? Or do you say to him: ‘Yes, that was true, but now…’ Do you hold up these words against him? Or when, perhaps, you feel condemned as you read the Scripture, as you read the Law in the Old Testament, as you read the Sermon on the Mount, and as you feel that you are undone, do you remain lying on the ground in hopelessness, or do you lift up your head and say, ‘But now’? This is the essence of the Christian position; this is how faith answers the accusations of the Law, the accusations of conscience, and everything else that would condemn and depress us. These are indeed very wonderful words, and it is most important that we should lay hold of them and realize their tremendous importance and their significance.”

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans: An Exposition of Chapters 3.20-4.25