"We need to hear the gospel every day...

[Michelle]

...because we forget it every day."

This quote is attributed to Martin Luther, however I couldn't verify it through a google search. I first heard it from Tullian Tchividjian, a PCA pastor, and every link on google was to other reformed pastors' sermons. Perhaps it's just a sentiment circulating among calvinist speakers?

Regardless, I would love to hear reactions from the posters here about this quote. What does it mean to hear the gospel every day? Do you preach the gospel to yourself? Do you hear it every Sunday? Do we truly forget it so easily?

[steve]

It is hard to imagine that a truly born-again person, who lives his/her life consciously in relationship with God, would be in danger of forgetting the Gospel. Perhaps some aspects of the Gospel might be neglected, if not reasserted occasionally.

I would think that a true Christian has a settled conviction and awareness of the Gospel that informs all of his/her other thoughts about everything else, day by day. If someone told me that he/she forgets the Gospel every day, I would assume that that person not yet comprehended or embraced it in a saving fashion.

[Michelle]

Okay, what if we scale back the hyperbolic language (which is probably why this gets attributed to Luther) and paraphrase the quote: "We believers need to be reminded from time to time of the gospel because of our proclivity to pursue something shiny on the horizon (idolatry) and/or to prove ourselves worthy of salvation (works righteousness), when all along salvation is by grace through faith in Christ."

[steve]

I am sure your modified statement would be applicable to many. I would be more comfortable saying, "Those who have a proclivity to forget what the Gospel teaches will need to be reminded from time to time, according to their degree of forgetfulness. However, those who walk humbly with God every day (normative Christians) are not likely to easily forget who it is that saves them, and on what basis."