Friday, May 08, 2020

Christ the Controversialist - by John R. W. Stott

"We are to be dogmatic about what has been plainly revealed and agnostic about what has not; and it is this Christian combination of dogmatism and agnosticism which we find it difficult to preserve.  Our troubles begin when we allow our dogmatism to invade the realm of 'the secret things' or our agnosticism to obscure 'the things that are revealed'." (pg. 15)

"Dislike of dogmatism, hatred of controversy, love of tolerance, the call to close our ranks, and the spirit of ecumenism - these are some of the modern tendencies which are unfriendly to the purpose of this book." (pg. 26)

"The Christian's welcome to change must be discriminating, however.  It does not include the apostolic doctrine of the New Testament.  Our responsibility towards this is not to abandon it but to hold it fast, not to modify it but to maintain it in its pristine purity." (pg. 37)

"If God occupies only the gaps, then as scientific discoveries increase and the gaps decrease, God is gradually edged out of His own universe." (pg. 57)

"The true function of Scripture is to testify to Christ so plainly and powerfully that first we see Him, and secondly we believe in Him for life." (pg. 100)

"If the priesthood of all believers is the first fruit of justification, 'assurance' is the second, that is to say, the God-given certainty that through Christ our sins have been forgiven, we have peace with God and He has given us eternal life." (pg. 124)

"We need to remember that the living God of the biblical revelation is not only the Saviour and Father of His covenant people; He is also the Creator, Lord and Judge of all mankind." (pg. 146)

"...'pride' usually betrays its presence in haughty looks and vain practices, but even if the proud man succeeds in preserving a humble appearance, his secret pride is still an abomination to the Lord." (pg. 147)

"...although we are not sanctified by the law but by the Spirit, yet what the Spirit does in sanctifying us is precisely to write the law in our hearts!  Thus the observance of the law, though not the ground of our justification, is the result of it, and though not the means of our sanctification is the essence of it." (pg. 153)

"The only worship pleasing to God is heart-worship, and heart-worship is rational worship.  It is the worship of a rational God who has made us rational beings and given us a rational revelation so that we may worship Him rationally, even 'with all our mind'." (pg. 165)

"The history of the world has been soiled by the pursuit of religion without morality, of piety without love.  Sometimes the conscience of worshippers has been so blind or hard that they have actually introduced evil into their acts of worship and even identified the two." (pg. 170)

"So true Christian love will care for people as people, and will seek to serve them, neglecting neither the soul for the body nor the body for the soul." (pg. 188)

"...to practice our religion before men is certain to degrade it, to practice it before God is equally certain to ennoble it." (pg. 202)

John R. W. Stott, Christ the Controversialist (London, England: The Tyndale Press, 1970)

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