"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)
Friday, June 20, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
A Quest For Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life - by J. I. Packer
"Maturity is a compound of wisdom, goodwill, resilience, and creativity. The Puritans exemplified maturity; we don't." (pg. 22)
"Pastor, they [Puritan clergy] said, are responsible for rebuking heresy and defending truth, lest their flocks be misled and thereby enfeebled, if not worse. Biblical truth is nourishing, human error is killing, so spiritual shepherds must guard sound doctrine at all costs." (pg. 64)
"Not only in connection with justification, but at every point, first to last, the Puritan account of faith's focus, exercise, and fruits is structured in terms of conscience receiving God's word and by its light judging how God sees one and how through Christ one may or does stand related to him in covenant mercy." (pg. 68)
"He who would interpret Scripture aright, therefore, must be a man of a reverent, humble, prayerful, teachable and obedient spirit; otherwise, however tightly his mind may be 'stuffed with notions', he will never reach any understanding of spiritual realities." (pg. 100)
"'There is a dangerous error grown too common in the world [it is commoner still today] that a man is bound to do every thing which his conscience telleth him is the will of God; and that every man must obey his conscience, as if it were the lawgiver of the world; whereas, indeed, it is not ourselves, but God, that is our lawgiver. And conscience is...appointed...only to discern the law of God, and call upon us to observe it: and an erring conscience is not to be obeyed, but to be better informed....'" (pg. 113)
"A good conscience is a tender conscience. The consciences of the godless may be so calloused that they scarcely ever act at all; bu the healthy Christian conscience (said the Puritans) is constantly in operation, listening for God's voice in his word, seeking to discern his will in everything, active in self-watch and self-judgement." (pg. 116)
"Its [the old gospel] centre of reference was unambiguously God. But in the new gospel the centre of reference is man. This is just to say tha the old gospel was religious in a way that the new gospel is not. Whereas the chief aim of the old was to teach people to worship God, the concern of the new seems limited to making them feel better. The subject of the old gospel was God and his ways with men; the subject of the new is man and the help God gives him. There is a world of difference. The whole perspective and emphasis of gospel preaching has changed." (pg. 126)
"...we appeal to men as if they all had the ability to receive Christ at any time; we speak of his redeeming work as if he had done no more by dying than make it possible for us to save ourselves by believing; we speak of God's love as if it were no more than a general willingness to receive any who will turn and trust; and we depict the Father and the Son, not as sovereignly active in drawing sinners to themselves, but as waiting in quiet impotence 'at the door of our hearts' for us to let them in." (pg. 126ff)
"'It is a mercy to have a faithful friend that loveth you entirely...to whom you may open you mind and communicate your affairs...And it is a mercy to have so near a friend to be a helper to your soul and...to stir up in you the grace of God.'" (pg. 262)
"It was a Puritan maxim that 'all grace enters by the understanding'. God does not move men to action by mere physical violence, but addresses their minds by his word, and calls for the response of deliberate consent and intelligent obedience. It follows that every man's first duty is to explain it. The only way to the heart that he is authorised to take runs via the head." (pg. 281)
"Doctrinal preaching certainly bores the hypocrites; but it is only doctrinal preaching that will save Christ's sheep. The preacher's job is to proclaim the faith, not to provide entertainment for unbelievers - in other words, to feed the sheep rather than amuse the goats." (pg. 285)
"To their [Puritans] minds, it would be the worst advice possible to tell a troubled person to stop worrying about his sins and trust Christ at once when that person had not yet faced the specifics of his or her sinfulness and has not yet come to the point of clear-headedly desiring to leave all sinful ways behind and be made holy. To give this advice, they held, before the heart is weaned from sin would be the way to induce false peace and false hopes, as so to produce 'gospel-hypocrites', which is the last thing that a Christian counsellor should be willing to do." (pg. 298)
J. I. Packer, A Quest For Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1990)
"Pastor, they [Puritan clergy] said, are responsible for rebuking heresy and defending truth, lest their flocks be misled and thereby enfeebled, if not worse. Biblical truth is nourishing, human error is killing, so spiritual shepherds must guard sound doctrine at all costs." (pg. 64)
"Not only in connection with justification, but at every point, first to last, the Puritan account of faith's focus, exercise, and fruits is structured in terms of conscience receiving God's word and by its light judging how God sees one and how through Christ one may or does stand related to him in covenant mercy." (pg. 68)
"He who would interpret Scripture aright, therefore, must be a man of a reverent, humble, prayerful, teachable and obedient spirit; otherwise, however tightly his mind may be 'stuffed with notions', he will never reach any understanding of spiritual realities." (pg. 100)
"'There is a dangerous error grown too common in the world [it is commoner still today] that a man is bound to do every thing which his conscience telleth him is the will of God; and that every man must obey his conscience, as if it were the lawgiver of the world; whereas, indeed, it is not ourselves, but God, that is our lawgiver. And conscience is...appointed...only to discern the law of God, and call upon us to observe it: and an erring conscience is not to be obeyed, but to be better informed....'" (pg. 113)
"A good conscience is a tender conscience. The consciences of the godless may be so calloused that they scarcely ever act at all; bu the healthy Christian conscience (said the Puritans) is constantly in operation, listening for God's voice in his word, seeking to discern his will in everything, active in self-watch and self-judgement." (pg. 116)
"Its [the old gospel] centre of reference was unambiguously God. But in the new gospel the centre of reference is man. This is just to say tha the old gospel was religious in a way that the new gospel is not. Whereas the chief aim of the old was to teach people to worship God, the concern of the new seems limited to making them feel better. The subject of the old gospel was God and his ways with men; the subject of the new is man and the help God gives him. There is a world of difference. The whole perspective and emphasis of gospel preaching has changed." (pg. 126)
"...we appeal to men as if they all had the ability to receive Christ at any time; we speak of his redeeming work as if he had done no more by dying than make it possible for us to save ourselves by believing; we speak of God's love as if it were no more than a general willingness to receive any who will turn and trust; and we depict the Father and the Son, not as sovereignly active in drawing sinners to themselves, but as waiting in quiet impotence 'at the door of our hearts' for us to let them in." (pg. 126ff)
"'It is a mercy to have a faithful friend that loveth you entirely...to whom you may open you mind and communicate your affairs...And it is a mercy to have so near a friend to be a helper to your soul and...to stir up in you the grace of God.'" (pg. 262)
"It was a Puritan maxim that 'all grace enters by the understanding'. God does not move men to action by mere physical violence, but addresses their minds by his word, and calls for the response of deliberate consent and intelligent obedience. It follows that every man's first duty is to explain it. The only way to the heart that he is authorised to take runs via the head." (pg. 281)
"Doctrinal preaching certainly bores the hypocrites; but it is only doctrinal preaching that will save Christ's sheep. The preacher's job is to proclaim the faith, not to provide entertainment for unbelievers - in other words, to feed the sheep rather than amuse the goats." (pg. 285)
"To their [Puritans] minds, it would be the worst advice possible to tell a troubled person to stop worrying about his sins and trust Christ at once when that person had not yet faced the specifics of his or her sinfulness and has not yet come to the point of clear-headedly desiring to leave all sinful ways behind and be made holy. To give this advice, they held, before the heart is weaned from sin would be the way to induce false peace and false hopes, as so to produce 'gospel-hypocrites', which is the last thing that a Christian counsellor should be willing to do." (pg. 298)
J. I. Packer, A Quest For Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1990)
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
The Life Of God In The Soul Of Man - by Henry Scougal
"...true religion is a union of the soul with God, a real participation of the Divine nature, the very image of God drawn upon the soul, or, in the apostle's phrase, 'it is Christ formed within us'." (pg. 41-42)
"The root of the Divine life is faith; the chief branches are love to God, charity to man, purity and humility;..." (pg. 52)
"...I had rather see the real impressions of a godlike nature upon my own soul, than have a vision from heaven, or angel sent to tell me that my name were enrolled in the book of life." (pg. 55)
"The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love: he who loveth mean and sordid things doth thereby become base and vile; but a noble and well-placed affection doth advance and improve the spirit unto a conformity with the perfections which it loves." (pg. 68)
"The true way to improve and ennoble our souls is, by fixing our love on the divine perfections, that we may have them always before us, and derive an impression of them on ourselves, and 'beholding with open face, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, we may be changed into the same image, from glory to glory'." (pg. 69)
"Love is the greatest and most excellent thing we are masters of; and therefore it is folly and baseness to bestow it unworthily;..." (pg. 69-70)
"But oh! how happy are those who have placed their love on him who can never be absent from them!" (pg. 75)
"...let us never look upon any sin as light and inconsiderable; but be fully persuaded, that the smallest is infinitely heinous in the sight of God, and prejudicial to the soul of men: and that if we had the right sense of things, we should be as deeply affected with the least irregularities as now we are with the highest crimes." (pg. 100)
"The love of the world, and the love of God, are like the scales of a balance, as the one falleth, the other doth rise:..." (pg. 110)
"...the deepest and most pure humility doth not so much arise from the consideration of our own faults and defects, as from a calm and quiet contemplation of the divine purity and goodness." (pg. 129)
Henry Scougal, The Life Of God In The Soul Of Man (Scotland, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 1996, 2001, 2002)
"The root of the Divine life is faith; the chief branches are love to God, charity to man, purity and humility;..." (pg. 52)
"...I had rather see the real impressions of a godlike nature upon my own soul, than have a vision from heaven, or angel sent to tell me that my name were enrolled in the book of life." (pg. 55)
"The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love: he who loveth mean and sordid things doth thereby become base and vile; but a noble and well-placed affection doth advance and improve the spirit unto a conformity with the perfections which it loves." (pg. 68)
"The true way to improve and ennoble our souls is, by fixing our love on the divine perfections, that we may have them always before us, and derive an impression of them on ourselves, and 'beholding with open face, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, we may be changed into the same image, from glory to glory'." (pg. 69)
"Love is the greatest and most excellent thing we are masters of; and therefore it is folly and baseness to bestow it unworthily;..." (pg. 69-70)
"But oh! how happy are those who have placed their love on him who can never be absent from them!" (pg. 75)
"...let us never look upon any sin as light and inconsiderable; but be fully persuaded, that the smallest is infinitely heinous in the sight of God, and prejudicial to the soul of men: and that if we had the right sense of things, we should be as deeply affected with the least irregularities as now we are with the highest crimes." (pg. 100)
"The love of the world, and the love of God, are like the scales of a balance, as the one falleth, the other doth rise:..." (pg. 110)
"...the deepest and most pure humility doth not so much arise from the consideration of our own faults and defects, as from a calm and quiet contemplation of the divine purity and goodness." (pg. 129)
Henry Scougal, The Life Of God In The Soul Of Man (Scotland, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 1996, 2001, 2002)
Future Grace - by John Piper
"Sin is what you do when your heart is not satisfied with God. No one sins out of duty. We sin because it holds out some promise of happiness. That promise enslaves us until we believe that God is more to be desired than life itself (Psalm 63:3)." (pg. 9-10)
"Could it be that gratitude for bygone grace has been pressed to serve as the power for holiness, which only faith in future grace was designed to perform?" (pg. 11)
"...faith is the God-appointed means of justification and sanctification because, better than any other act, it highlights the freedom of grace and magnifies the glory of God." (pg. 19)
"In regard to justification, faith is not the channel through which a power or a transformation flows to the soul of the believer, but rather faith is the occasion of God's forgiving and acquitting and reckoning as righteous. ... However, in regard to sanctification, faith is indeed the channel through which divine power and transformation flow to the soul; and the work of God through faith does indeed touch the soul, and change it." (pg. 26)
"The only debt that grace creates is the "debt" of relying on more grace for all that God calls us to be and do." (pg. 42)
"As unbelief gets the upper hand in our hearts, one of the effects is anxiety. The root cause of anxiety is a failure to trust all that God has promised to be for us in Jesus." (pg. 54)
"Every act of grace shown to a person because he is a sinner is also an act of mercy because his sin brings misery. And every act of mercy shown to a person because of his miserable plight is also an act of grace because he doesn't deserve it." (pg. 77)
"God made us alive and secured us in Christ so that he could make us the beneficiaries of everlasting kindness from infinite riches of grace. This is not because we are worthy. Quite the contrary, it is to show the infinite measure of his worth." (pg. 82-83)
"Belief is not merely an agreement with facts in the head; it is also an appetite for God in the heart, which fastens on Jesus for satisfaction." (pg. 86)
"Pride does not like the sovereignty of God. Therefore pride does not like the existence of God, because God is sovereign." (pg. 92)
"God reigns so supremely on behalf of his elect that everything which faces us in a lifetime of obedience and ministry will be subdued by the mighty hand of God and made the servant of our holiness and our everlasting joy in God." (pg. 116-117)
"Justification by faith secures final glorification. God has ordained it. God accomplishes it. The future grace of glorification is guaranteed by the past grace of justification." (pg. 125)
"...much of what makes us feel shame is not that we have brought dishonor to God by our actions, but that we have failed to give the appearance that other people admire. Much of our shame is not God-centered but self-centered. Until we get a good handle on this, we will not be able to battle the problem of shame at its root." (pg. 134)
"Loving your enemy doesn't earn you the reward of heaven. Treasuring the reward of heaven empowers you to love your enemy." (pg. 163)
"...the strength of patience hangs on our capacity to believe that God is up to something good for us in all our delays and detours. This requires great faith in future grace, because the evidence is seldom evident." (pg. 174)
"All future obedience comes by the power of future grace." (pg. 185)
"Therefore, two things are necessary for saving faith to emerge. One is to use our perception and our mind to hear and see and understand and validate a testimony to the truth of Christ. The other is that we must apprehend and embrace the spiritual beauty and worth of Christ through the illumination of the Holy Spirit." (pg. 202)
"The safest place in the universe is with our arms around the neck of God. And the most dangerous place is any path where we flee from his presence." (pg. 243)
"It is not the memory of past grace that 'wills and works for God's good pleasure.' It is God himself, graciously arriving each moment, that brings the future into the present." (pg. 292)
"When something drops into your life that seems to threaten your future, remember this: the first shockwaves of the bomb are not sin. The real danger is yielding to them. Giving in. Putting up no spiritual fight. And the root of that surrender is unbelief - a failure to fight for faith in future grace. A failure to cherish all that God promises to be for us in Jesus." (pg. 307)
"The key to assurance is not to eliminate the biblical commands for endurance, but rather to magnify grace as a future power to believe, as well as a past pardon of sin." (pg. 317)
"All true virtue comes from faith in future grace; and all sin comes from lack of faith in future grace." (pg. 323)
"Faith stands or falls on the truth that the future with God is more satisfying than the one promised by sin. Where this truth is embraced and God is cherished above all, the power of sin is broken." (pg. 326)
"...the test of whether our faith is the kind of faith that justifies is whether it is the kind of faith that sanctifies." (pg. 332)
"The challenge is not merely to pursue righteousness, but to prefer righteousness." (pg. 338)
"God so values our wholehearted faith in future grace that he will, graciously, take away everything else in the world that we might be tempted to rely on - even life itself." (pg. 347)
"If the nature of faith is to be satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus, then the universal biblical mandate to believe is a radical and pervasive call to pursue our own happiness in God." (pg. 386)
"My discovery is that God is supreme not where he is simply served with duty but where he is savored with delight." (pg. 399)
John Piper, Future Grace (Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah Publishers, Inc., 1995)
"Could it be that gratitude for bygone grace has been pressed to serve as the power for holiness, which only faith in future grace was designed to perform?" (pg. 11)
"...faith is the God-appointed means of justification and sanctification because, better than any other act, it highlights the freedom of grace and magnifies the glory of God." (pg. 19)
"In regard to justification, faith is not the channel through which a power or a transformation flows to the soul of the believer, but rather faith is the occasion of God's forgiving and acquitting and reckoning as righteous. ... However, in regard to sanctification, faith is indeed the channel through which divine power and transformation flow to the soul; and the work of God through faith does indeed touch the soul, and change it." (pg. 26)
"The only debt that grace creates is the "debt" of relying on more grace for all that God calls us to be and do." (pg. 42)
"As unbelief gets the upper hand in our hearts, one of the effects is anxiety. The root cause of anxiety is a failure to trust all that God has promised to be for us in Jesus." (pg. 54)
"Every act of grace shown to a person because he is a sinner is also an act of mercy because his sin brings misery. And every act of mercy shown to a person because of his miserable plight is also an act of grace because he doesn't deserve it." (pg. 77)
"God made us alive and secured us in Christ so that he could make us the beneficiaries of everlasting kindness from infinite riches of grace. This is not because we are worthy. Quite the contrary, it is to show the infinite measure of his worth." (pg. 82-83)
"Belief is not merely an agreement with facts in the head; it is also an appetite for God in the heart, which fastens on Jesus for satisfaction." (pg. 86)
"Pride does not like the sovereignty of God. Therefore pride does not like the existence of God, because God is sovereign." (pg. 92)
"God reigns so supremely on behalf of his elect that everything which faces us in a lifetime of obedience and ministry will be subdued by the mighty hand of God and made the servant of our holiness and our everlasting joy in God." (pg. 116-117)
"Justification by faith secures final glorification. God has ordained it. God accomplishes it. The future grace of glorification is guaranteed by the past grace of justification." (pg. 125)
"...much of what makes us feel shame is not that we have brought dishonor to God by our actions, but that we have failed to give the appearance that other people admire. Much of our shame is not God-centered but self-centered. Until we get a good handle on this, we will not be able to battle the problem of shame at its root." (pg. 134)
"Loving your enemy doesn't earn you the reward of heaven. Treasuring the reward of heaven empowers you to love your enemy." (pg. 163)
"...the strength of patience hangs on our capacity to believe that God is up to something good for us in all our delays and detours. This requires great faith in future grace, because the evidence is seldom evident." (pg. 174)
"All future obedience comes by the power of future grace." (pg. 185)
"Therefore, two things are necessary for saving faith to emerge. One is to use our perception and our mind to hear and see and understand and validate a testimony to the truth of Christ. The other is that we must apprehend and embrace the spiritual beauty and worth of Christ through the illumination of the Holy Spirit." (pg. 202)
"The safest place in the universe is with our arms around the neck of God. And the most dangerous place is any path where we flee from his presence." (pg. 243)
"It is not the memory of past grace that 'wills and works for God's good pleasure.' It is God himself, graciously arriving each moment, that brings the future into the present." (pg. 292)
"When something drops into your life that seems to threaten your future, remember this: the first shockwaves of the bomb are not sin. The real danger is yielding to them. Giving in. Putting up no spiritual fight. And the root of that surrender is unbelief - a failure to fight for faith in future grace. A failure to cherish all that God promises to be for us in Jesus." (pg. 307)
"The key to assurance is not to eliminate the biblical commands for endurance, but rather to magnify grace as a future power to believe, as well as a past pardon of sin." (pg. 317)
"All true virtue comes from faith in future grace; and all sin comes from lack of faith in future grace." (pg. 323)
"Faith stands or falls on the truth that the future with God is more satisfying than the one promised by sin. Where this truth is embraced and God is cherished above all, the power of sin is broken." (pg. 326)
"...the test of whether our faith is the kind of faith that justifies is whether it is the kind of faith that sanctifies." (pg. 332)
"The challenge is not merely to pursue righteousness, but to prefer righteousness." (pg. 338)
"God so values our wholehearted faith in future grace that he will, graciously, take away everything else in the world that we might be tempted to rely on - even life itself." (pg. 347)
"If the nature of faith is to be satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus, then the universal biblical mandate to believe is a radical and pervasive call to pursue our own happiness in God." (pg. 386)
"My discovery is that God is supreme not where he is simply served with duty but where he is savored with delight." (pg. 399)
John Piper, Future Grace (Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah Publishers, Inc., 1995)
When People Are Big And God Is Small - by Edward T. Welch
"1. We fear people because they can expose and humiliate us. 2. We fear people because they can reject, ridicule, or despise us. 3. We fear people because they can attack, oppress, or threaten us." (pg. 23)
"The roots of shame-induced fear of man lie in our relationship with God. We stand ultimately under his penetrating, holy gaze." (pg. 35-36)
"What is it that shame-fear and rejection-fear have in common? To use a biblical image, they both indicate that people are our favorite idol. We exalt them and their perceived power above God." (pg. 44)
"Feelings have become the inarticulate mutterings of the divine soul: to be morally upright is to do whatever your heart inspires you to do. When following inner impulses, this assumption declares, we can do no wrong." (pg. 81)
"Yet if our use of the term "needs" is ambiguous, and its range of meaning extends all the way to selfish desires, then there will be some situations where we should say that Jesus does not intend to meet our needs, but that he intends to change our needs." (pg. 89)
"Most sins are ungodly exaggerations of things that are good. As a result, we can supply proof texts to justify our behavior long after it has become idolatrous." (pg. 101)
"The triune God delights in showing us his grandeur and holiness, and we should never be satisfied with our present knowledge of him. So aspire to the fear of the Lord." (pg. 133)
"When psychological needs, rather than sin, are seen as our primary problem, not only is our self-understanding affected, but the gospel itself is changed." (pg. 146)
"The main reason why there is an epidemic of emptiness is that we have created and multiplied our needs, not God." (pg. 151)
"People are most similar to God when he is the object of their affection. People should delight in God, as he does in himself." (pg. 156)
"To image God means to imitate and represent God for the sake of his glory." (pg. 199)
"No one should have to ask what their gifts are; we should tell people their gifts as they minister to us." (pg. 205)
Edward T. Welch, When People Are Big And God Is Small (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1997)
"The roots of shame-induced fear of man lie in our relationship with God. We stand ultimately under his penetrating, holy gaze." (pg. 35-36)
"What is it that shame-fear and rejection-fear have in common? To use a biblical image, they both indicate that people are our favorite idol. We exalt them and their perceived power above God." (pg. 44)
"Feelings have become the inarticulate mutterings of the divine soul: to be morally upright is to do whatever your heart inspires you to do. When following inner impulses, this assumption declares, we can do no wrong." (pg. 81)
"Yet if our use of the term "needs" is ambiguous, and its range of meaning extends all the way to selfish desires, then there will be some situations where we should say that Jesus does not intend to meet our needs, but that he intends to change our needs." (pg. 89)
"Most sins are ungodly exaggerations of things that are good. As a result, we can supply proof texts to justify our behavior long after it has become idolatrous." (pg. 101)
"The triune God delights in showing us his grandeur and holiness, and we should never be satisfied with our present knowledge of him. So aspire to the fear of the Lord." (pg. 133)
"When psychological needs, rather than sin, are seen as our primary problem, not only is our self-understanding affected, but the gospel itself is changed." (pg. 146)
"The main reason why there is an epidemic of emptiness is that we have created and multiplied our needs, not God." (pg. 151)
"People are most similar to God when he is the object of their affection. People should delight in God, as he does in himself." (pg. 156)
"To image God means to imitate and represent God for the sake of his glory." (pg. 199)
"No one should have to ask what their gifts are; we should tell people their gifts as they minister to us." (pg. 205)
Edward T. Welch, When People Are Big And God Is Small (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1997)
The Knowledge Of The Holy - by A. W. Tozer
"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." (pg. 1)
"The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him." (pg. 3)
"The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God." (pg. 4)
"For while the name of God is secret and His essential nature incomprehensible, He in condescending love has by revelation declared certain things to be true of Himself. These we call His attributes." (pg. 11)
"What God declares the believing heart confesses without the need of further proof. Indeed, to seek proof is to admit doubt, and to obtain proof is to render faith superfluous." (pg. 19)
"Need is a creature-word and cannot be spoken of the Creator. God has a voluntary relation to everything He has made, but He has no necessary relation to anything outside of Himself." (pg. 32)
"The unbeliever denies the self-sufficiency of God and usurps attributes that are not his. This dual sin dishonors God and ultimately destroys the soul of the man." (pg. 35)
"Nothing in God is less or more, or large or small. He is what He is in Himself, without qualifying thought or word. He is simply God." (pg. 46)
"Wisdom, among other things, is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve those ends by the most perfect means." (pg. 60)
"We rest in what God is. I believe that this alone is true faith. Any faith that must be supported by the evidence of the senses is not real faith." (pg. 62)
"The testimony of faith is that, no matter how things look in this fallen world, all God's acts are wrought in perfect wisdom." (pg. 62)
"With the goodness of God to desire our highest welfare, the wisdom of God to plan it, and the power of God to achieve it, what do we lack? Surely we are the most favored of all creatures." (pg. 64)
"Science observes how the power of God operates, discovers a regular pattern somewhere and fixes it as a 'law'." (pg. 66)
"When men no longer fear God, they transgress His laws without hesitation. The fear of consequences is no deterrent when the fear of God is gone." (pg. 71)
"The greatness of God rouses fear within us, but His goodness encourages us not to be afraid of Him. To fear and not be afraid - that is the paradox of faith." (pg. 84)
"God's compassion flows out of His goodness, and goodness without justice is not goodness." (pg. 88)
"Because God is immutable He always acts like Himself, and because He is a unity He never suspends one of His attributes in order to exercise another." (pg. 98)
"Theological knowledge is the medium through which the Spirit flows into the human heart, yet there must be humble penitence in the heart before truth can produce faith. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth. It is possible to have some truth in the mind without having the Spirit in the heart, but it is never possible to have the Spirit apart from truth." (pg. 104)
A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge Of The Holy (New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1961)
"The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him." (pg. 3)
"The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God." (pg. 4)
"For while the name of God is secret and His essential nature incomprehensible, He in condescending love has by revelation declared certain things to be true of Himself. These we call His attributes." (pg. 11)
"What God declares the believing heart confesses without the need of further proof. Indeed, to seek proof is to admit doubt, and to obtain proof is to render faith superfluous." (pg. 19)
"Need is a creature-word and cannot be spoken of the Creator. God has a voluntary relation to everything He has made, but He has no necessary relation to anything outside of Himself." (pg. 32)
"The unbeliever denies the self-sufficiency of God and usurps attributes that are not his. This dual sin dishonors God and ultimately destroys the soul of the man." (pg. 35)
"Nothing in God is less or more, or large or small. He is what He is in Himself, without qualifying thought or word. He is simply God." (pg. 46)
"Wisdom, among other things, is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve those ends by the most perfect means." (pg. 60)
"We rest in what God is. I believe that this alone is true faith. Any faith that must be supported by the evidence of the senses is not real faith." (pg. 62)
"The testimony of faith is that, no matter how things look in this fallen world, all God's acts are wrought in perfect wisdom." (pg. 62)
"With the goodness of God to desire our highest welfare, the wisdom of God to plan it, and the power of God to achieve it, what do we lack? Surely we are the most favored of all creatures." (pg. 64)
"Science observes how the power of God operates, discovers a regular pattern somewhere and fixes it as a 'law'." (pg. 66)
"When men no longer fear God, they transgress His laws without hesitation. The fear of consequences is no deterrent when the fear of God is gone." (pg. 71)
"The greatness of God rouses fear within us, but His goodness encourages us not to be afraid of Him. To fear and not be afraid - that is the paradox of faith." (pg. 84)
"God's compassion flows out of His goodness, and goodness without justice is not goodness." (pg. 88)
"Because God is immutable He always acts like Himself, and because He is a unity He never suspends one of His attributes in order to exercise another." (pg. 98)
"Theological knowledge is the medium through which the Spirit flows into the human heart, yet there must be humble penitence in the heart before truth can produce faith. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth. It is possible to have some truth in the mind without having the Spirit in the heart, but it is never possible to have the Spirit apart from truth." (pg. 104)
A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge Of The Holy (New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1961)
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