Category Archives: Quote of the Day

Quote of the day

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Reason Enough

“Most Christians would agree with C. S. Lewis when he says [of the doctrine of the Final Judgment], “There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power.” * But we cannot do so, for two reasons: first, because it enjoys the full support of Christ’s own teaching, and second, because it makes a good deal of sense. If the gospel is extended to us for our acceptance, it must be possible also to reject and refuse it. The alternative would be for God to compel an affirmative response.
It would be nice to be able to say that all will be saved, but the question arises, Does everyone want to be saved? What would love for God be like if it were coerced? There is a hell because God respects our freedom and takes our decisions seriously, more seriously, perhaps, than we would sometimes wish. God wants to see hell completely empty; but if it is not, He cannot be blamed. The door is locked only on the inside. It is not Christians but the unrepentant who “want” it [to be locked].”
* C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, p. 106
… Clark H. Pinnock (b. 1937), Reason Enough, Exeter: Paternoster, 1980, p. 116-117

Quote of the day

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The Problem of Pain

Submitted with a compassionate view toward Rob Bell. May the Spirit of God guide us into all truth.

“In the long run, the answer to all those who object to the doctrine of hell is… a question: “What are you asking God to do?” To wipe out their past sins and, at all costs, to give them a fresh start, smoothing every difficulty and offering every miraculous help? But He has done so, on Calvary. To forgive them? They will not be forgiven. To leave them alone? Alas, I am afraid that that is what He does.”
… C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), The Problem of Pain, New York: Macmillan, 1944, p. 116

Quotes from this morning

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Christ and Israel

“John Bunyan understood the Gospel when he wrote that tract, “The Jerusalem Sinner Saved.” He knew that every sinner is a Jerusalem sinner who has crucified the Lord of Glory; and to whom, notwithstanding all this, the grace of God is exceedingly abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. Therefore the Apostle Paul himself is a pattern… of the grace of God abounding to the Christ-crucifiers. A new covenant is made with those who transgressed the first covenant. It is the brethren of Joseph, who have sold him into Egypt, who are made the partakers of Joseph’s power and of Joseph’s riches.”
… Adolph Saphir (1831-1891), Christ and Israel, London: Morgan and Scott, 1911, p. 191

Classic Christianity

“The deepest need of humanity is for salvation from sin. This is the quandary to which the gospel speaks. The church that forgets the gospel of salvation is finally not the church but its echo. The church that becomes focused upon maintaining itself instead of the gospel becomes a dead branch of the living vine. The church is imperiled when it becomes intoxicated with the spirit of its particular age, committed more to serve the gods of that age than the God of all ages.”
… Thomas C. Oden (b. 1931), Classic Christianity: A Systematic Theology, HarperCollins, 2009, p. 233

Advent – Day Seventeen

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“We have become so accustomed to the idea of divine love and of God’s coming at Christmas that we no longer feel the shiver of fear that God’s coming should arouse in us. We are indifferent to the message, taking only the pleasant and agreeable out of it and forgetting the serious aspect, that the God of the world draws near to the people of our little earth and lays claim to us. The coming of God is truly not only glad tidings, but first of all frightening news for every one who has a conscience.”
… Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), A Testament to Freedom: the essential writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Geffrey B. Kelly, F. Burton Nelson, eds., HarperCollins, 1995, p. 185

Confess it with thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. We have much to be thankful for.

“Whenever we call God the Creator of heaven and earth, let us at the same time reflect, that the dispensation of all those things which he has made is in his own power, and that we are his children, whom he has received into his charge and custody, to be supported and educated; so that we may expect every blessing from him alone, and cherish a certain hope that he will never suffer us to want those things which are necessary to our well-being, that our hope may depend on no other; that, whatever we need or desire, our prayers may be directed to him, and that, from whatever quarter we receive any advantage, we may acknowledge it to be his benefit, and confess it with thanksgiving; that, being allured with such great sweetness of goodness and beneficence, we may study to love and worship him with all our hearts.”

… John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, I.xiv.22, p. 170

The most loving thing we can do is to tell people the truth

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Life Together

“Where Christians live together the time must ultimately come when in some crisis one person will have to declare God’s Word and will to another. It is inconceivable that the things that are of utmost importance to each individual should not be spoken by one to another. It is unchristian consciously to deprive another of the one decisive service we can render to him…
The more we learn to allow others to speak the Word to us, to accept humbly and gratefully even severe reproaches and admonitions, the more free and objective will we be in speaking ourselves… The humble person will stick to truth and love. He will stick to the Word of God and let it lead him to his brother…
Reproof is unavoidable. God’s Word demands it when a brother falls into open sin. Where defection from God’s Word in doctrine or life imperils the fellowship… the word of admonition and rebuke must be ventured. Nothing can be more cruel than the tenderness that consigns another to his sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe rebuke that calls a brother back from the path of sin. It is a ministry of mercy, an ultimate offer of genuine fellowship, when we allow nothing but God’s Word to stand between us, judging and succoring.”
… Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Life Together [1954], tr. Daniel W. Bloesch & James H. Burtness, Fortress Press, 2004, p. 104-107

Quote of the Day

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Calvin's Institutes

“…we ought not to allow a brother to be affected by any evil, without being touched with compassion for him.”
… John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, IV.xvii.38, p. 573

How to Read the Bible

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How to Read the Bible

“We are frequently advised to read the Bible with our own personal needs in mind, and to look for answers to our private questions. That is good, as far as it goes… But better still is the advice to study the Bible objectively, … without regard, first of all, to our own subjective needs. Let the great passages fix themselves in our memory. Let them stay there permanently, like bright beacons, launching their powerful shafts of light upon life’s problems—our own and everyone’s—as they illumine now one, now another dark area of human life… Following such a method, we discover that the Bible does “speak to our condition” and meet our needs, not just occasionally or when some emergency arises, but continually.”
… Frederick C. Grant (1891-1974), How to Read the Bible, London: Thomas Nelson, 1959, p. 8-9