| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Tess of the d'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy: Malay Peninsula, they ran amuck, and made it their
purpose to destroy life--in this case harmless
feathered creatures, brought into being by artificial
means solely to gratify these propensities--at once so
unmannerly and so unchivalrous towards their weaker
fellows in Nature's teeming family.
With the impulse of a soul who could feel for kindred
sufferers as much as for herself, Tess's first thought
was to put the still living birds out of their torture,
and to this end with her own hands she broke the necks
of as many as she could find, leaving them to lie where
Tess of the d'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll: for him.
The poor King look puzzled and unhappy, and struggled with the
pencil for some time without saying anything; but Alice was too
strong for him, and at last he panted out, `My dear! I really
MUST get a thinner pencil. I can't manage this one a bit; it
writes all manner of things that I don't intend--'
`What manner of things?' said the Queen, looking over the book
(in which Alice had put `THE WHITE KNIGHT IS SLIDING DOWN THE
POKER. HE BALANCES VERY BADLY') `That's not a memorandum of
YOUR feelings!'
There was a book lying near Alice on the table, and while she
Through the Looking-Glass |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: die unto God. Vice versa, to die unto the Law is to live unto God. If you
want to live unto God, bury the Law, and find life through faith in Christ
Jesus.
We have enough arguments right here to conclude that justification is by
faith alone. How can the Law effect our justification, when Paul so plainly
states that we must be dead to the Law if we want to live unto God? If we
are dead to the Law and the Law is dead to us, how can it possibly
contribute anything to our justification? There is nothing left for us but to
be justified by faith alone.
This nineteenth verse is loaded with consolation. It fortifies a person
against every danger. It allows you to argue like this:
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