God is not at a distance from history, uninvolved and on the periphery, an interested spectator or distant 'first cause;' rather he is governing all things by his providence and wisdom.
God is never, never, never obligated to be merciful to sinners. That is the point we must stress if we are to grasp the full measure of God's grace.Chosen by God (26)
we live in what may be the most anti-intellectual period in the history of Western civilization. "Burning Hearts Are Not Nourished by Empty Heads", Christianity Today (Sep 3 1982)
For a work to be considered good it must not only conform outwardly to the law of God, but it must be motivated inwardly by a sincere love for GodChosen by God, 107
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)
The universe is no democracy. It is a monarchy. God himself has appointed his beloved Son as the preeminent King. Jesus does not rule by referendum, but by divine right. In the future every knee will bow before him, either willingly or unwillingly. Those who refuse to do so will have their knees broken with a rod of iron.
If a person who is still in the flesh, who is not yet reborn by the power of the Holy Spirit, can incline or dispose himself to Christ, what good is rebirth? This is the fatal flaw of non-Reformed views.Chosen by God (55)
For since His will can have for its object nothing but good, it cannot will evil as evil, but as terminated on the permission of that which is good. God, therefore, properly does not will sin to be done, but only wills to permit it.
In Scripture, however, the goal of human life is to glorify God. Our dignity is to be found not in what we do, but in what God has done for us and in us. Our meaning and significance are to be found in the fact that God has created us in his image and redeemed us by the blood of his Son. The biblical writers, therefore, are not horrified, as modern writers tend to be, by the thought that we may be under the control of another. If the other is God, and he has made us for his glory, then we could not possibly ask for a more meaningful existence.Systematic Theology
Imagine having an unmediated, direct apprehension of the very being of God. That is what the New Testament promises will occur at the end of the Christian's earthly life.The Great Rescue, 57-58
The word beatific comes from the same root from which we get the word beatitude. Thus, the beatific vision is a vision of supreme blessedness, the blessedness we will experience when see God face to face.The Great Rescue, 57
I don't think I have ever in my life heard a sermon on the beatific vision, and I cannot fathom why. It is the ultimate prize, the ultimate goal for the Christian.The Great Rescue, 56
We flatter ourselves on our performance because we judge ourselves on a curve. We compare ourselves with others, and as long as there are people who seem more sinful than we are, we congratulate ourselves on our virtue.The Great Rescue, 18
Original sin is not the sin that Adam and Eve committed. It is the result of that first sin. Original Sin has reference to our sinful condition, our sinful bent, our sinful inclination from which actual sin flows.The Great Rescue, 17-18