Via Christopher, a meditation on violence, redemption, and the importance of holding on to our doctrine of sin:

There is Good News hidden in the doctrine of sin. Sin is the great equalizer. Sin levels the playing field and throws us back on God’s loving kindness. In Paul’s vision, Jews are no better and certainly no worse than Gentiles. In other words, insiders are neither better nor worse than outsiders. We have been called but not because we deserve it. We have been chosen—not for privilege but for service.

This makes me think of Alan Jacobs’ “universal democracy of sinners” that Jeremy blogged about a while ago.