"Thomas Steele writes: Indeed activity (of labor) is so natural and delightful to man, that if idleness had the sanction of a law to enforce it, no doubt many would willingly pay their fine for liberty to work." (pg. 68)
"A hyper-spiritual, unbiblical view of decision making cripples many believers with thought patterns that result in unwarranted delay and vacillation on the one hand, and irresponsible, impulsive, emotionally loaded judgments on the other." (pg. 84)
"The soul that lives in accordance with manly dominion will not permit itself to be tossed to and fro by every wind of emotional anxiety or internal misgiving. Christian, please note: Subjective peace is not necessarily the compass needle for life-directing decisions." (pg. 103)
[quote from Sinclair Ferguson] "There is much that is mysterious about the way God guides us. What is plain to him is frequently obscure to us. But we are not called by god to make the mysterious, the unusual, and the inexplicable, the rule of our lives, but his word." (pg. 109)
"Manly dominion and aggressiveness does not independently plow forward without seeking wise advice. The man of true dominion is able to rule and subdue his pride that boasts in his own competence." (pg. 115)
Mark Chanski, Manly Dominion: in a passive-purple-four-ball world (Merrick, NY: Calvary Press Publishing, 2004)
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
The Crisis of Caring: Recovering the Meaning of True Fellowship - by Jerry Bridges
"The Greek word for fellowship is koinonia. It is translated several ways in the New Testament: for example, 'participation,' 'partnership,' 'sharing,' and, of course, 'fellowship.' These various uses of koinonia convey two related meanings: (1) to share together in the sense of joint participation or partnership, and (2) to share with in the sense of giving what we have to others." (pg. 16)
"One of the amazing privileges that believers have is to share with God in communion, actually giving something to Him." (pg. 58)
"To be objectively in fellowship with other believers while we experientially deny that very fellowship is to contradict the clear teaching of the Bible and to live in disobedience to the revealed will of God." (pg. 65)
"As we build up and enjoy one another, we are in fellowship, but as we join together to spread the gospel we are in partnership; our objectives are focused outside ourselves on those who need to be brought into the fellowship of God's people." (pg. 96)
"We may be sure that God has equipped us, both in natural ability and in spiritual gifts, for the function He has called us to perform." (pg. 108)
"Our abilities and even our temperaments have to be laid at the foot of the Cross and left there for God to either take up and use in our lives or, if He so chooses, to leave lying at the foot of the Cross." (pg. 127)
"The reason we don't experience this family-like empathy with our suffering brothers and sisters in Christ is that we have not yet been fully gripped by the truth that we are in a community relationship with them." (pg. 162ff)
"Missionary statesman Bob Pierce prayed, 'God break my heart with the things that break your heart.'" (pg. 165)
"When we are being served, we need to be sensitive to the demands we make and careful to express gratitude when someone else serves us. But when we are serving, we need to accept our role and serve as unto the Lord, whether or not considerateness and gratitude are shown." (pg. 178)
Jerry Bridges, The Crisis of Caring: Recovering the Meaning of True Fellowship (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1985)
"One of the amazing privileges that believers have is to share with God in communion, actually giving something to Him." (pg. 58)
"To be objectively in fellowship with other believers while we experientially deny that very fellowship is to contradict the clear teaching of the Bible and to live in disobedience to the revealed will of God." (pg. 65)
"As we build up and enjoy one another, we are in fellowship, but as we join together to spread the gospel we are in partnership; our objectives are focused outside ourselves on those who need to be brought into the fellowship of God's people." (pg. 96)
"We may be sure that God has equipped us, both in natural ability and in spiritual gifts, for the function He has called us to perform." (pg. 108)
"Our abilities and even our temperaments have to be laid at the foot of the Cross and left there for God to either take up and use in our lives or, if He so chooses, to leave lying at the foot of the Cross." (pg. 127)
"The reason we don't experience this family-like empathy with our suffering brothers and sisters in Christ is that we have not yet been fully gripped by the truth that we are in a community relationship with them." (pg. 162ff)
"Missionary statesman Bob Pierce prayed, 'God break my heart with the things that break your heart.'" (pg. 165)
"When we are being served, we need to be sensitive to the demands we make and careful to express gratitude when someone else serves us. But when we are serving, we need to accept our role and serve as unto the Lord, whether or not considerateness and gratitude are shown." (pg. 178)
Jerry Bridges, The Crisis of Caring: Recovering the Meaning of True Fellowship (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1985)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
The Everlasting Righteousness - by Horatius Bonar
"Man has always treated sin as a misfortune, not a crime; as disease, not as guilt; as a case for the physician, not for the judge. Herein lies the essential faultiness of all mere human religions or theologies. They fail to acknowledge the judicial aspect of the question, as that on which the real answer must hinge; and to recognise the guilt or criminality of the evil-doer as that which must first be dealt with before any real answer, or approximation to an answer, can be given." (pg. 3)
"Sin is too great an evil for man to muddle with. His attempts to remove it do but increase it, and his endeavours to approach God in spite of it aggravate his guilt. Only God can deal with sin, either as a disease or as a crime; as a dishonour to Himself, or as a hinderer of man's approach to Himself." (pg. 7)
"God's free love to the sinner is the first part of our message; and God's righteous way of making that free love available for the sinner is the second. What God is, and what Christ has done, make up one gospel. The belief of that gospel is eternal life." (pg. 23)
"The resurrection was the great visible seal set to this completeness. It was the Father's response to the cry from the cross, 'It is finished.' ... The resurrection added nothing to the propitiation of the cross; it proclaimed it already perfect, incapable of addition or greater completeness." (pg. 57ff)
"Men object not to receive any kind or amount of this world's goods from another, though they have done nothing to deserve them, but everything to make them unworthy of them; but they refuse to accept this favour of God, and a standing in righteousness before Him, on the ground of what a substitute has done and suffered. In earthly things they are willing to be represented by another, but not in heavenly things. The former is all fair, and just, and legal; the latter is absurd, an insult to their understanding, and a depreciation of their worth!" (pg. 91ff)
"Though faith is not 'the righteousness,' it is the tie between it and us. It realizes our present standing before God in the excellency of His own Son; and it tells us that our eternal standing, in the ages to come, is in the same excellency, and depends on the perpetuity of that righteousness which can never change." (pg. 113)
"Let it be granted that Christ in us is the source of holiness and fruitfulness (John xv. 4); but let it never be overlooked that first of all there must be Christ FOR US, as our propitiation, our justification, our righteousness. The risen Christ in us, our justification, is a modern theory which subverts the cross." (pg. 121)
"For Him resurrection was joy, not merely because it ended His connection with death, but because it introduced Him into the fulness of joy, - a joy peculiar to the risen life, and of which only a risen man can be capable." (pg. 139)
"...let us know that assurance was meant to be the portion of every believing sinner. It was intended not merely that he should be saved, but that he should know that he is saved, and so delivered from all fear and bondage, and heaviness of heart." (pg. 174)
"The love of God to us, and our love to God, work together for producing holiness in us. Terror accomplishes no real obedience. Suspense brings forth no fruit unto holiness. Only the certainty of love, forgiving love, can do this." (pg. 183)
Horatius Bonar, The Everlasting Righteousness (Carlisle, PA: The Banner Of Truth Trust, 1993)
"Sin is too great an evil for man to muddle with. His attempts to remove it do but increase it, and his endeavours to approach God in spite of it aggravate his guilt. Only God can deal with sin, either as a disease or as a crime; as a dishonour to Himself, or as a hinderer of man's approach to Himself." (pg. 7)
"God's free love to the sinner is the first part of our message; and God's righteous way of making that free love available for the sinner is the second. What God is, and what Christ has done, make up one gospel. The belief of that gospel is eternal life." (pg. 23)
"The resurrection was the great visible seal set to this completeness. It was the Father's response to the cry from the cross, 'It is finished.' ... The resurrection added nothing to the propitiation of the cross; it proclaimed it already perfect, incapable of addition or greater completeness." (pg. 57ff)
"Men object not to receive any kind or amount of this world's goods from another, though they have done nothing to deserve them, but everything to make them unworthy of them; but they refuse to accept this favour of God, and a standing in righteousness before Him, on the ground of what a substitute has done and suffered. In earthly things they are willing to be represented by another, but not in heavenly things. The former is all fair, and just, and legal; the latter is absurd, an insult to their understanding, and a depreciation of their worth!" (pg. 91ff)
"Though faith is not 'the righteousness,' it is the tie between it and us. It realizes our present standing before God in the excellency of His own Son; and it tells us that our eternal standing, in the ages to come, is in the same excellency, and depends on the perpetuity of that righteousness which can never change." (pg. 113)
"Let it be granted that Christ in us is the source of holiness and fruitfulness (John xv. 4); but let it never be overlooked that first of all there must be Christ FOR US, as our propitiation, our justification, our righteousness. The risen Christ in us, our justification, is a modern theory which subverts the cross." (pg. 121)
"For Him resurrection was joy, not merely because it ended His connection with death, but because it introduced Him into the fulness of joy, - a joy peculiar to the risen life, and of which only a risen man can be capable." (pg. 139)
"...let us know that assurance was meant to be the portion of every believing sinner. It was intended not merely that he should be saved, but that he should know that he is saved, and so delivered from all fear and bondage, and heaviness of heart." (pg. 174)
"The love of God to us, and our love to God, work together for producing holiness in us. Terror accomplishes no real obedience. Suspense brings forth no fruit unto holiness. Only the certainty of love, forgiving love, can do this." (pg. 183)
Horatius Bonar, The Everlasting Righteousness (Carlisle, PA: The Banner Of Truth Trust, 1993)
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Right Thinking In A World Gone Wrong: A Biblical Response To Today's Most Controversial Issues - by John MacArthur
"The rise of postmodern thought has similarly skewed the church's understanding of right and wrong - as an unbiblical tolerance (in the name of love) has weakened churches to the point where they are as soft on truth as they are on sin." (pg. 7)
"In a culture where parents excel at sanitizing little hands, bandaging little cuts, and vaccinating little immune systems, we must not neglect the spiritual well-being of little eyes, ears, and hearts." (pg. 54)
"Critics may claim capital punishment is hateful and destructive, but it is actually an outworking of God's common grace to humanity, enabling sinful societies to maintain civil order and deter criminal activity." (pg. 116)
"Rather than focusing on the God-given priority of evangelism (from the same Greek word that means "evangelical"), American evangelicalism has spent billions of dollars and millions of man hours fighting to legislate morality. Not only is it a battle we cannot win (since legislated morality cannot change the sinful hearts that make up a depraved society), it is also a battle we have not been called to fight." (pg. 122ff)
"The Bible does not place a premium on ignorance; thus, believers should have a basic understanding of and appreciation for economic principles and practices. The danger comes when understanding and appreciation turn into obsession and anxiety." (pg. 133)
"This earth was never ever intended to be a permanent planet - it is not eternal. We do not have to worry about it being around tens of thousands, or millions of years from now because God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth. Understanding this fact is important to holding in balance our freedom to use, and responsibility to care for, the earth." (pg. 148)
"The gospel enables the believer to see his identity in Christ as spiritual, not ethnic. Our ethnic and cultural identities are secondary as we assume the primary identity of citizens of God's kingdom. Here and only here can we find a common identity, which is an eternal one." (pg. 164)
"While we must recognize the equality of every race, we cannot also affirm the equality of every faith system. Religious pluralism is a great threat to the church, often coming on the heels of the noble pursuit of cultural diversity." (pg. 168)
"God uses the troubles of our lives, culminating in the inevitability of our own deaths, to pry our grips off this world and refocus our hearts on what lies ahead with Him." (pg. 187)
John MacArthur, Right Thinking In A World Gone Wrong: A Biblical Response To Today's Most Controversial Issues (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2009)
"In a culture where parents excel at sanitizing little hands, bandaging little cuts, and vaccinating little immune systems, we must not neglect the spiritual well-being of little eyes, ears, and hearts." (pg. 54)
"Critics may claim capital punishment is hateful and destructive, but it is actually an outworking of God's common grace to humanity, enabling sinful societies to maintain civil order and deter criminal activity." (pg. 116)
"Rather than focusing on the God-given priority of evangelism (from the same Greek word that means "evangelical"), American evangelicalism has spent billions of dollars and millions of man hours fighting to legislate morality. Not only is it a battle we cannot win (since legislated morality cannot change the sinful hearts that make up a depraved society), it is also a battle we have not been called to fight." (pg. 122ff)
"The Bible does not place a premium on ignorance; thus, believers should have a basic understanding of and appreciation for economic principles and practices. The danger comes when understanding and appreciation turn into obsession and anxiety." (pg. 133)
"This earth was never ever intended to be a permanent planet - it is not eternal. We do not have to worry about it being around tens of thousands, or millions of years from now because God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth. Understanding this fact is important to holding in balance our freedom to use, and responsibility to care for, the earth." (pg. 148)
"The gospel enables the believer to see his identity in Christ as spiritual, not ethnic. Our ethnic and cultural identities are secondary as we assume the primary identity of citizens of God's kingdom. Here and only here can we find a common identity, which is an eternal one." (pg. 164)
"While we must recognize the equality of every race, we cannot also affirm the equality of every faith system. Religious pluralism is a great threat to the church, often coming on the heels of the noble pursuit of cultural diversity." (pg. 168)
"God uses the troubles of our lives, culminating in the inevitability of our own deaths, to pry our grips off this world and refocus our hearts on what lies ahead with Him." (pg. 187)
John MacArthur, Right Thinking In A World Gone Wrong: A Biblical Response To Today's Most Controversial Issues (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2009)
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Spectacular Sins: And Their Global Purpose In The Glory Of Christ - by John Piper
"At the all-important pivot of human history, the worst sin ever committed served to show the greatest glory of Christ and obtain the sin-conquering gift of God's grace. God did not just overcome evil at the cross. He made evil serve the overcoming of evil. He made evil commit suicide in doing its worst evil." (pg. 12)
"If any person or any power or any wisdom or any love awakens any admiration or any amazement or any joy, let it be the greatest person and the greatest power and the greatest wisdom and the greatest love that exists - Jesus Christ." (pg. 32ff)
"The Son of God, Jesus Christ, will be more highly honored and more deeply appreciated and loved in the end because he defeats Satan not the moment after Satan fell, but through millennia of long-suffering, patience, humility, servanthood, suffering, and decisively through his own death." (pg. 49)
"He created the universe, and it has the meaning he gives it, not the meaning we give it. If we give it a meaning different from his, we are fools. And our lives will be tragic in the end." (pg. 57)
"Thousands of languages around the world and thousands of different peoples limit the global aspirations of arrogant mankind." (pg. 69)
"If God plans four hundred years of affliction for his people (Gen. 15:13) before the Promised Land, we should not be surprised that he says to us, 'through many tribulations you must enter the kingdom of God' (Acts 14:22)." (pg. 77)
"God's allegiance to his own name is the foundation of his faithfulness to us. If God ever forsook his supreme allegiance to himself, there would be no grace for us. If he based his kindness to us on our worth, there would be no kindness to us." (pg. 93)
John Piper, Spectacular Sins: And Their Global Purpose In The Glory Of Christ (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008)
"If any person or any power or any wisdom or any love awakens any admiration or any amazement or any joy, let it be the greatest person and the greatest power and the greatest wisdom and the greatest love that exists - Jesus Christ." (pg. 32ff)
"The Son of God, Jesus Christ, will be more highly honored and more deeply appreciated and loved in the end because he defeats Satan not the moment after Satan fell, but through millennia of long-suffering, patience, humility, servanthood, suffering, and decisively through his own death." (pg. 49)
"He created the universe, and it has the meaning he gives it, not the meaning we give it. If we give it a meaning different from his, we are fools. And our lives will be tragic in the end." (pg. 57)
"Thousands of languages around the world and thousands of different peoples limit the global aspirations of arrogant mankind." (pg. 69)
"If God plans four hundred years of affliction for his people (Gen. 15:13) before the Promised Land, we should not be surprised that he says to us, 'through many tribulations you must enter the kingdom of God' (Acts 14:22)." (pg. 77)
"God's allegiance to his own name is the foundation of his faithfulness to us. If God ever forsook his supreme allegiance to himself, there would be no grace for us. If he based his kindness to us on our worth, there would be no kindness to us." (pg. 93)
John Piper, Spectacular Sins: And Their Global Purpose In The Glory Of Christ (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008)
Sunday, January 17, 2010
The Assurance of Faith: Conscience in the Theology of Martin Luther and John Calvin - by Randall C. Zachman
"The conscience is that power of the soul that judges what the person does on the basis of what the person should do, thereby rendering the person either condemned or acquitted - that is, justified - before God. Apart from the grace of Christ, the conscience only finds such condemnation by the performance of good works. The grace of Jesus Christ frees the conscience from its attempt to justify itself before God by trusting in its own works, and places the trust of the conscience in the righteousness and forgiveness of Christ alone." (pg. 2)
"The question that the testimony of a good conscience addresses is not, 'Do I have a gracious God?' but rather, 'Is my faith in the grace of God sincere or hypocritical?' In other words, the testimony of the good conscience builds on the foundation of God's witness to us in the gospel and cannot replace that foundation." (pg. 6)
"The church cannot be judged by its appearance, but only by whether it has the Word of Christ crucified. Hence the primary task of the church is to preach the Word of God, while letting externals take their course." (pg. 10ff)
"On the basis of the evidence, I am convinced it is possible to show that the theologia crucis is the governing motif of Luther's theology, and that the Fatherhood of God in the Son through the Holy Spirit is the guiding doctrine of Calvin's theology." (pg. 14)
"...at the heart of all false knowledge of God - which Luther calls either theologia gloriae, general knowledge (cognitio generalis), or legal knowedge (cognitio legalis) - is the conscience's attempt to testify to itself about God and its status before God on the basis of what it sees and feels, that is, works of the law." (pg. 20)
"False teaching creates a false conscience. 'It is the nature of all hypocrites and false prophets to create a conscience where there is none, and to cause conscience to disappear where it does exist.'" (pg. 27)
"The more the conscience is guided by its feelings of piety, the more it falls from works that are good in themselves to works that seem to be good and holy but are in fact worthless and even harmful." (pg. 35)
"According to God's own self-revelation in the Word, however, the acquittal of God is offered only to those who are condemned before God in their own consciences; and the law is preached not so that we might attain an approving testimony of conscience through works, but so that the conscience might stand condemned before God on the basis of its own works. The self-revelation of God thus directly contradicts the testimony of the conscience to itself about God." (pg. 41)
"Without the revelation of sin in the Word, the conscience could never arrive at the conclusion that we are helpless sinners who deserve only the wrath of God." (pg. 45)
"In sum, because of the limitations of the natural mind, compounded by the blindness inflicted by Satan, the conscience is not capable of hearing the Word of the law and acknowledging its truth. Unless God works inwardly in the heart and conscience, the Word will be rejected as a lie." (pg. 47)
"Just as no one but Christ could perform the work of redemption, so no one but Christ could testify as to the significance of that work; for the testimony that God wishes to be gracious to sinners is unknown to the heart, mind, and conscience of humanity." (pg. 58)
"...faith believes God's promise to have mercy on sinners to be true, even though both reason and conscience oppose such a promise." (pg. 60)
"Works are done with a free conscience when they are not performed to improve our relationship with God but are done out of confidence and trust in the mercy of God revealed in Christ." (pg. 73)
"The testimony of the good conscience has its most direct use not before the judgment seat of God - for there we are all sinners - but before the judgment of the world." (pg. 80ff)
"In sum, the good conscience testifies to the truth of our faith, yet true faith trusts only in Christ and not in the testimony of conscience." (pg. 86)
"This darkness of mind is especially apparent when the human mind judges the governance and providence of God in the world; in its ignorance the mind thinks that all things are tumbled about fortuitously, and believes in fortune or chance instead of providence. The mind's limitations are also apparent in our contemplation of the works of God in general, for in contemplating creation we look only at the works and do not consider their author." (pg. 107)
"Even though we are aware of our sins by the accusing testimony of conscience, we are not aware of our inability to do anything but sin, because of our ignorance of the sin of concupiscence, which gives birth to all actual sins; thus we think that the solution lies not in the grace of repentance given by Christ, but in our own efforts to do good and shun evil." (pg. 120)
"Hypocrites pretend to worship the God from whom they flee, but when they hear the Word of God they cannot help but openly blaspheme God. In this way the Word of God discloses the thoughts of many hearts (Luke 2:35)." (pg. 125)
"Without the Holy Spirit, the Word of God only removes all excusing ignorance of God by awakening the condemning judgment of conscience." (pg. 125)
"The fountain of every good is only known by participation in the triune life of God itself: for the Son and Holy Spirit bring about our participation in the powers of God that can only come from the Father. No creature will be able to know or call on God as Father without being engrafted into the Son by the Holy Spirit." (pg. 133)
"Any desire or motion of the heart or conscience not in accord with the holiness of God is a mortal sin." (pg. 147)
"The essential functioning of the conscience is short-circuited by pride and self-love, so that its accusing testimony results not in humility but in hypocrisy. It is therefore necessary for the conscience to be awakened by the teaching of the law so that it might come to a genuine knowledge of its sin and a serious awareness of the judgment of God." (pg. 149)
"To call Jesus the Christ is the same as to call him the fountain from which we must draw every good thing." (pg. 165)
"Because it is axiomatic that God is true and cannot lie, God's witness in the gospel of Jesus Christ establishes our minds, hearts, and consciences in certainty, which all human opinion taken together is unable to do." (pg. 179)
"Only the godly simultaneously have confidence in God as their Father while they fear God as their Lord and judge." (pg. 182)
"The testimony of a good conscience that arises out of our conformity to Jesus Christ has as it primary purpose the confirmation that our knowledge of Christ is genuine and our confession of faith sincere." (pg. 198)
"Justification is the irreducible basis, and sanctification is the irreducible goal, of our adoption as children of God in Jesus Christ." (pg. 213)
Randall C. Zachman, The Assurance of Faith: Conscience in the Theology of Martin Luther and John Calvin (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 2005)
"The question that the testimony of a good conscience addresses is not, 'Do I have a gracious God?' but rather, 'Is my faith in the grace of God sincere or hypocritical?' In other words, the testimony of the good conscience builds on the foundation of God's witness to us in the gospel and cannot replace that foundation." (pg. 6)
"The church cannot be judged by its appearance, but only by whether it has the Word of Christ crucified. Hence the primary task of the church is to preach the Word of God, while letting externals take their course." (pg. 10ff)
"On the basis of the evidence, I am convinced it is possible to show that the theologia crucis is the governing motif of Luther's theology, and that the Fatherhood of God in the Son through the Holy Spirit is the guiding doctrine of Calvin's theology." (pg. 14)
"...at the heart of all false knowledge of God - which Luther calls either theologia gloriae, general knowledge (cognitio generalis), or legal knowedge (cognitio legalis) - is the conscience's attempt to testify to itself about God and its status before God on the basis of what it sees and feels, that is, works of the law." (pg. 20)
"False teaching creates a false conscience. 'It is the nature of all hypocrites and false prophets to create a conscience where there is none, and to cause conscience to disappear where it does exist.'" (pg. 27)
"The more the conscience is guided by its feelings of piety, the more it falls from works that are good in themselves to works that seem to be good and holy but are in fact worthless and even harmful." (pg. 35)
"According to God's own self-revelation in the Word, however, the acquittal of God is offered only to those who are condemned before God in their own consciences; and the law is preached not so that we might attain an approving testimony of conscience through works, but so that the conscience might stand condemned before God on the basis of its own works. The self-revelation of God thus directly contradicts the testimony of the conscience to itself about God." (pg. 41)
"Without the revelation of sin in the Word, the conscience could never arrive at the conclusion that we are helpless sinners who deserve only the wrath of God." (pg. 45)
"In sum, because of the limitations of the natural mind, compounded by the blindness inflicted by Satan, the conscience is not capable of hearing the Word of the law and acknowledging its truth. Unless God works inwardly in the heart and conscience, the Word will be rejected as a lie." (pg. 47)
"Just as no one but Christ could perform the work of redemption, so no one but Christ could testify as to the significance of that work; for the testimony that God wishes to be gracious to sinners is unknown to the heart, mind, and conscience of humanity." (pg. 58)
"...faith believes God's promise to have mercy on sinners to be true, even though both reason and conscience oppose such a promise." (pg. 60)
"Works are done with a free conscience when they are not performed to improve our relationship with God but are done out of confidence and trust in the mercy of God revealed in Christ." (pg. 73)
"The testimony of the good conscience has its most direct use not before the judgment seat of God - for there we are all sinners - but before the judgment of the world." (pg. 80ff)
"In sum, the good conscience testifies to the truth of our faith, yet true faith trusts only in Christ and not in the testimony of conscience." (pg. 86)
"This darkness of mind is especially apparent when the human mind judges the governance and providence of God in the world; in its ignorance the mind thinks that all things are tumbled about fortuitously, and believes in fortune or chance instead of providence. The mind's limitations are also apparent in our contemplation of the works of God in general, for in contemplating creation we look only at the works and do not consider their author." (pg. 107)
"Even though we are aware of our sins by the accusing testimony of conscience, we are not aware of our inability to do anything but sin, because of our ignorance of the sin of concupiscence, which gives birth to all actual sins; thus we think that the solution lies not in the grace of repentance given by Christ, but in our own efforts to do good and shun evil." (pg. 120)
"Hypocrites pretend to worship the God from whom they flee, but when they hear the Word of God they cannot help but openly blaspheme God. In this way the Word of God discloses the thoughts of many hearts (Luke 2:35)." (pg. 125)
"Without the Holy Spirit, the Word of God only removes all excusing ignorance of God by awakening the condemning judgment of conscience." (pg. 125)
"The fountain of every good is only known by participation in the triune life of God itself: for the Son and Holy Spirit bring about our participation in the powers of God that can only come from the Father. No creature will be able to know or call on God as Father without being engrafted into the Son by the Holy Spirit." (pg. 133)
"Any desire or motion of the heart or conscience not in accord with the holiness of God is a mortal sin." (pg. 147)
"The essential functioning of the conscience is short-circuited by pride and self-love, so that its accusing testimony results not in humility but in hypocrisy. It is therefore necessary for the conscience to be awakened by the teaching of the law so that it might come to a genuine knowledge of its sin and a serious awareness of the judgment of God." (pg. 149)
"To call Jesus the Christ is the same as to call him the fountain from which we must draw every good thing." (pg. 165)
"Because it is axiomatic that God is true and cannot lie, God's witness in the gospel of Jesus Christ establishes our minds, hearts, and consciences in certainty, which all human opinion taken together is unable to do." (pg. 179)
"Only the godly simultaneously have confidence in God as their Father while they fear God as their Lord and judge." (pg. 182)
"The testimony of a good conscience that arises out of our conformity to Jesus Christ has as it primary purpose the confirmation that our knowledge of Christ is genuine and our confession of faith sincere." (pg. 198)
"Justification is the irreducible basis, and sanctification is the irreducible goal, of our adoption as children of God in Jesus Christ." (pg. 213)
Randall C. Zachman, The Assurance of Faith: Conscience in the Theology of Martin Luther and John Calvin (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 2005)
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