[There is no video of the service for 6/11; the text of the sermon follows.]

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Have you ever wondered about that saying, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too?” Obviously, in one sense, you have to have the cake in order to eat it. But the saying reminds us that once we’ve eaten it, we no longer have it. We cannot both keep it in front of us and eat it. It is one or the other: you can eat it, but then it’s gone. Or you can leave it sitting on the table in front of you, but then you don’t get to eat it.

Paul is telling us that we cannot have our salvation cake and eat it too. We cannot earn our salvation and have it given to us. It is one or the other: either we can and must observe the law perfectly in order to receive what God promises us, in order to inherit eternal life; or it is a free gift promised by God, which we receive purely by faith.