Quote 421
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I am much afraid that the universities will prove to be the great gates of hell, unless they diligently labour in explaining the Holy Scriptures, and engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not unceasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt.
This doctrine is the head and the cornerstone. It alone begets, nourishes, builds, preserves, and defends the church of God; and without it the church of God cannot exist for one hour. What Luther Says: An Anthology Vol 2 (704)
The truth of the Gospel is the principle article of all Christian doctrine...Most necessary is it that we know this article well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads continually Death by Love (91)
A Bible that's falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn't.
If anyone would feel the greatness of sin he would not be able to go on living another moment; so great is the power of sin.
In a word, if the Scripture be obscure or ambiguous, what need was there for its being sent down from heaven? Are we not obscure and ambiguous enough in ourselves, without an increase of it by obscurity, ambiguity, and darkness being sent down unto us from heaven?Bondage of the Will, Section 36
Grant that I may not pray alone with the mouth; help me that I may pray from the depths of my heart.
Unless I am convinced by scripture or by clear reason - for I do not trust the Pope or Church councils, since everyone knows that they can make mistakes and contradict themselves - I am bound by the scriptures I have quoted. My conscience is held captive by the Word of God. I cannot and will not take back anything, because it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me. Amen. Diet of Worms, Defense against Catholic accusations
The Law with its function does contribute to justification - not because it justifies, but because it impels one to the promise of grace and makes it sweet and desirable. Therefore we do not abolish the Law; but we show its true function and use, namely, that it is a most useful servant impelling us to Christ; for its function and use is not only to disclose the sin and wrath of God but also to drive us to Christ. Therefore the principal purpose of the Law in theology is to make men not better but worse; that is, it shows them their sin, so that by the recognition of sin they may be humbled, frightened, and worn down, and so may long for grace and for the Blessed Offspring.
the most exalted minds have so fallen, as to deny that there is any God at all; and to fable, that fortune disposes of all things at random; such were Epicurus and Pliny.Bondage of the Will, Section 166
But now, since God has put my salvation out of the way of my will, and has taken it under His own, and has promised to save me, not according to my working or manner of life, but according to His own grace and mercy, I rest fully assured and persuaded that He is faithful, and will not lie, and moreover great and powerful, so that no devils, no adversities can destroy Him, or pluck me out of His Hand.Bondage of the Will, Section 164
As to myself, I openly confess, that I should not wish free will to be granted me, even if it could be so, nor anything else to be left in my own hands, whereby I might endeavor something toward my own salvation.Bondage of the Will, Section 164
free will cannot be applied to anyone but to God only. You may, perhaps, rightly assign to man some kind of will, but to assign unto him free will in divine things, is going too far.Bondage of the Will, Section 41
The only thing you contribute to your salvation is your sin!
Here, then, is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God's Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy. Knowing Scripture (Page 20)
If we ultimately appeal to human reason, or to logic, or to historical accuracy, or to scientific truth, as the authority by which Scripture is shown to be God's words, then we have assumed the thing to which we appealed to be a higher authority than God's words and one that is more true or more reliable. Systematic Theology (78)
the Article of justification is the Master and the prince, the lord, the ruler, and judge, over all the kinds of doctrine, which preserves and governs the entire church doctrine and sets up our conscience in the sight of God.
For by their free will, they have made Christ to be unto them no longer a sweet Mediator, but a dreaded Judge, whom they strive to please by the intercessions of the Virgin Mother, and of the Saints; and also, by variously invented works, by rites, ordinances, and vows; by all which, they aim at appeasing Christ, in order that He might give them graceBondage of the Will, Section 157
For if the righteousness of God exist without the law, and without the works of the law, how shall it not much rather exist without free will!Bondage of the Will, Section 147
We know well enough, that God does not love or hate as we do; because, we love and hate mutably, but He loves and hates from an eternal and immutable nature; and hence it is, that accidents and passions do not pertain unto Him.Bondage of the Will, Section 101
If, therefore, free will be of one and the same nature and impotency in all men, no reason can be given why it should attain unto grace in one, and not in another; if nothing else be preached to all, but the goodness of a long-suffering and the punishment of a mercy-showing God.Bondage of the Will, Section 81
man, by the words of the law, is admonished and taught what he ought to do, not what he can do, that is, that he is brought to know his sin, but not to believe that he has any strength in himself.Bondage of the Will, Section 56
In short, I will preach it [the Word], teach it, write it, but I will constrain no man by force, for faith must come freely without compulsion. Take myself as an example. I opposed indulgences and all the papists, but never with force. I simply taught, preached, and wrote God's Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.
God foreknows nothing by contingency, but that He foresees, purposes, and does all things according to His immutable, eternal, and infallible will. By this thunderbolt, free will is thrown prostrate, and utterly dashed to pieces. Those, therefore, who would assert free will, must either deny this thunderbolt, or pretend not to see it, or push it from them.The Bondage of the Will (33)
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)
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2. J.C. Ryle (111)
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