Friday, June 20, 2008

Respectable Sins: Confronting The Sins We Tolerate - by Jerry Bridges

"In the biblical sense of the term, sainthood is not a status of achievement and character but a state of being - an entirely new condition of life brought about by the Spirit of God." (pg. 14)

"Usually, however, our sinful actions stem not from a failure to achieve but from an inner urge to fulfill our own desires." (pg. 21)

"If I complain about the difficult circumstances of my life, I impugn the sovereignty and goodness of God and tempt my listener to do the same. In this way, my sin "metastasizes" into the heart of another person." (pg. 24)

"The truth is, there is never a day in our lives when we are so "good" we don't need the gospel." (pg. 37)

"Practically speaking, we live under the controlling influence of the Spirit as we continually expose our minds to and seek to obey the Spirit's moral will for us as revealed in Scripture. We live in dependence on Him through prayer as we continually cry out to Him for His power to enable us to obey His will." (pg. 41)

"Ungodliness may be defined as living one's everyday life with little or no thought of God, or of God's will, or of God's glory, or of one's dependence on God." (pg. 54)

"A person may be moral and upright, or even busy in Christian service, yet have little or no desire to develop an intimate relationship with God. This is a mark of ungodliness." (pg. 58)

"We can resign ourselves to circumstances we know will never change but still harbor in our hearts a smoldering discontentment. But as Amy Carmichael so helpfully brought out, it is neither in resignation nor submission but only in acceptance that we find peace." (pg. 75)

"What is self-control? It is a governance or prudent control of one's desires, cravings, impulses, emotions, and passions. It is saying no when we should say no. It is moderation in legitimate desires and activities, and absolute restraint in areas that are clearly sinful." (pg. 110)

"Let me make a statement loud and clear. It is never okay to be angry at God. Anger is moral judgment, and in the case of God, it accuses Him of wrongdoing. It accuses God of sinning against us by neglecting us or in some way treating us unfairly. It also is often a response to our thinking that God owes us a better deal in life than we are getting." (pg. 127)

"The damage to God's glory by our sin is determined not by the severity of our sin but by the value of God's glory." (pg. 137)

"Usually, there are two conditions that tempt us to envy. First, we tend to envy those with whom we most closely identify. Second, we tend to envy in them the areas we value most." (pg. 149)

Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins: Confronting The Sins We Tolerate (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2007)