A liberal Protestant, a liberal Catholic, and a liberal Jew can agree on almost everything, because they believe almost nothing! Proclaiming A Cross-Centered Theology (24)
Your belief is a miracle! You didn't choose it. Of course if you have a theology that says 'I did it' then you have no testimony to the power of God in your life!June 8 2011 Sermon (Minute 31)
God intentionally designed salvation so that no man can boast of it. He didn't merely arrange it so that boasting would be discouraged, or kept to a minimum-He planned it so that boasting would be absolutely excluded! Election does precisely that.
If we know nothing of these things, we shall know nothing whatever of Christian matters, and shall be far behind all people upon the earth.The Bondage of the Will (31)
it is not irreligious, curious, or superfluous, but essentially wholesome and necessary, for a Christian to know, whether or not the will does anything in those things which pertain unto salvation.The Bondage of the Will (31)
He Himself took on Him the burden of our iniquities, He gave His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy One for transgressors, the blameless One for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the incorruptible One for the corruptible, the immortal One for those who are mortal. For what other thing was capable of covering our sins than His righteousness? By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God? O sweet exchange! O unsearchable operation! O benefits surpassing all expectation! That the wickedness of many should be hid in a single righteous One, and that the righteousness of One should justify many transgressors!Epistle to Diognetus, http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0101.htm
O Hell, I see thee surging round; But in my Lord a cleft I've found, A solid, sure abiding place From which my enemy I face, As here with Thee at God's right hand, I on Thy Calvary-Victory stand.
In modern day evangelism, this precious doctrine [of regeneration] has been reduced to nothing more than a human decision to raise one's hand, walk an aisle, or pray a "sinner's prayer." As a result, the majority of Americans believe that they've been "born again" even though their thoughts, words, and deeds are a continual contradiction to the nature and will of God.
I was dying in my sins, hopeless, helpless, and on the brink of eternal fire. It was Jesus Christ who delivered me with the hand of His grace, and plucked me from everlasting burnings. It was Jesus Christ who placed me, a poor sinful worm, near the heart of His love. Stranger, that is the reason why I talk of Jesus Christ and make much of Him. I am not ashamed of it, because I love Him. Holiness (Chapter 15)
O the sweet exchange, O the incomprehensible work of God, O the unexpected blessings, that the sinfulness of many should be hidden in one righteous man, while the righteousness of one should justify many sinners.Epistle to Diognetus, 9.5
The fundamental explanation of our conversion was not that we were wiser or morally superior to others in choosing God, but that God chose to have mercy on us and intervened in our lives, revealing our need for His provision of the gospel. Our salvation is owned completely to the sovereign grace of God.
The life we recieve in the new birth is not just new life it's forever life, it's eternal life. That's what we get in the new birth. If You're born again you have a life and an inheritance, imperishable. This should make you the most bold, courageous, risk taking people in the planet.
The question is not whether you would like to pray this prayer and ask Jesus to come into your heart -- after all, you know, the handle to your heart is on the inside and if you do not open it Jesus cannot come in. My friend, Jesus is Lord of your heart and if He wants to come in, He will kick the door down.
Ask him in what he trusts for the forgiveness of his many sins, and he will tell you in the death of Christ. Ask him in what righteousness he hopes to stand innocent at the judgement day, and he will tell you it is the righteousness of Christ. Ask him by what pattern he tries to frame his life, and he will tell you that it is the example of Christ. Holiness (Chapter 15)
You don't have to be born again to love being guilt-free and pain-free and disease-free and safe and wealthy. All natural men without any spiritual life love these things. But to embrace Jesus as your supreme treasure requires a new nature. No one does this naturally. You must be born again. Think (72)