The argument against iconography breaks down because those who reject icons do not understand what idolatrous images were actually used for. They were not merely religious art. They are a kind of religious technology designed to trap and control a god.
When the gospel began to be preached, forgiveness from God was a revelation, something new that was outside of anyone’s expectation of how a god should operate.
Sexual immorality is a kind of evil that introduces corruption into a person and his community in a way that is deep and damaging like almost nothing else is.
If we read the parable of the Publican and Pharisee merely as a morality tale about being humble rather than prideful, we miss how it is placed in the larger narrative of the Scripture and all the revelation of God.
As co-heirs with Christ, today we are offered in His holy temple along with Him. Today we share in His place as the first-born, both receiving and distributing the inheritance of God to all our siblings. And today we do so as a royal priesthood, both priests and kings, bringing God’s presence even to the nations.