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[Amethystisagem]

"We talk about how amazing God's grace is, but if it's the will of the sinner that determines whether or not God applies that grace, and if Christ's death on the cross only made salvation 'possible,' the efficacy of which is likely determined by the will of the sinner, then exactly what is so amazing?"—David G. Smart

I am especially fond of this quote, and the person who penned it.

 

[Antman_05]

"if you thought Jesus was coming tomorrow how would you live." Unknown

 

[Antman_05]

"If i'm coming to Christ i'm coming clean" Ravenhil

 

[cygnusx1]

‘Can we possibly, without utter absurdity, maintain that there first existed in anyone the good virtue of a good will, to entitle him to the removal of his heart of stone? How can we say this, when all the time this heart of stone itself signifies precisely a will of the hardest kind, a will that is absolutely inflexible against God? For if a good will comes first, there is obviously no longer a heart of stone.’


Augustine, On Grace and Free Will, 29



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‘For we are now speaking of the desire for goodness. If they want to say that this begins from ourselves and is then perfected by God, let them see how they can answer the apostle when he says, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” (2 Cor. 3:5)’




Augustine, Against Two Letters of the Pelagians, 2:18​

 

[McWilliams]

They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea. Francis Bacon

 

[cygnusx1]

The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord must be understood as follows: grace is the only thing that delivers human beings from evil; without it, they do absolutely nothing good, whether in thought, or in will and emotion, or in action. Grace not only makes known to people what they ought to do, but also enables them to perform with love the duty that they know.
The apostle Paul certainly asked God to inspire the Corinthians with this good will and action when he said, ‘Now we pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear to be approved, but that you should do what is good’ (2 Cor.13:7). Who can hear this and not wake up and confess that the Lord God is the One Who turns us away from evil so that we do good? For the apostle does not say, ‘We admonish, we teach, we exhort, we rebuke.’ He says, ‘We pray to God that you do no evil, but that you should do what is good.’ Of course, he was also in the habit of speaking to them, and doing all those things which I have mentioned — he admonished, he taught, he exhorted, he rebuked. But he knew that all these things which he was openly doing in the way of planting and watering were of no avail, unless He Who secretly gives the increase answered his prayer on the Corinthians’ behalf. For as the same teacher of the Gentiles says, ‘Neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God Who gives the increase’ (1 Cor.3:7).

Augustine.
On Rebuke and Grace, 3​

 

[cygnusx1]

"One great contest, between the religion of Arminianism, and the religion of Christ, is, who shall stand entitled to the praise and glory of a sinner's salvation? Conversion decides this point at once; for I think that, without any imputation of uncharitableness, I may venture to say, that every truly awakened person, at least when he is under the shine of God's countenance upon his soul, will fall down upon his knees, with this hymn of praise ascending from his heart, Not unto me, O Lord, not unto me, but to thy name, give the glory: I am saved not for my righteousness, but for thy mercy and thy truth's sake."
AUGUSTUS TOPLADY​

 

[McWilliams]

Man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God's majesty" - John Calvin

 

[McWilliams]

Learn to hold loosely all that is not eternal. ... A. M. Royden

 

[Hackett]

It is never too late to be what you might have been.

[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, SANS-SERIF]-George Eliot[/FONT] [FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, SANS-SERIF][/FONT]
Hummm now that is food for thought.

 

[PETE_]

The sin of immorality is not one we are instructed to fight, it isone we are told to flee. Run from that compromising situation.Saturate that place with your absence.......Adrian Rogers

 

[McWilliams]

A Summary of the Gospel
The gospel of Christ in general is this: It is the good tidings that God has revealed concerning Christ. More largely it is this: As all mankind was lost in Adam and became the children of wrath, put under the sentence of death, God, though He left His fallen angels and has reserved them in the chains of eternal darkness, yet He has thought upon the children of men and has provided a way of atonement to reconcile them to Himself again... Namely, the second person of the Trinity takes man's nature upon Himself, and becomes the Head of a second covenant, standing charged with sin. He answers for it by suffering what the law and divine justice required, and by making satisfaction by keeping the law perfectly, which satisfaction and righteousness He tenders up to the Father as a sweet savor of rest for the souls that are given to Him...And now this mediation of Christ is, by the appointment of the Father, preached to the children of men, of whatever nation or rank, freely offering this atonement unto sinners for atonement, requiring them to believe in Him and, upon believing, promising not only a discharge of all their former sins, but that they shall not enter into condemnation, that none of their sins or unworthiness shall ever hinder the peace of God with them, but that they shall through Him be received into the number of those who shall have the image of God again to be renewed unto them, and they they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. - Jeremiah Burroughs

 

[McWilliams]

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for Christians. The Gospel is not merely something non-Christians desperately need, but something every Christian needs to hear repeatedly. It should be a part of every Christian sermon, book, pamphlet or article. Whether the subject matter concerns growing in godliness, prayer, the life of faith, walking in love, stewardship over finances, marriage and the family, or control of the tongue - name the topic - the Gospel should always be center stage. Many “practical” “Christian” messages actually leave the Gospel out, ridding us of the very power that will make its truths work in our lives. But its not at all practical and not at all Christian without the Gospel. Any sermon can only be successfully applied when we are in vital, living union with Christ on the basis of the Gospel. Therefore, as believers, we should be very eager to be shown how the Gospel applies to the subject at hand. We should read each page of the Scriptures through the lens of the Gospel, and thus avoid legalism on the one hand, or (antinomianism) the idea that God is not at all interested in our obedience, on the other. We need to preach the Gospel to ourselves everyday, for it lies at the very center of the Christian life. Applying the Gospel to every area of our lives is the way to experience God’s intended victory and blessing. If we are living below the level of our inheritance in Christ, God asks us, “what is it about the Gospel do you not understand?”
- Pastor John Samson

 

[McWilliams]

he Chief end of all mission work is the Glory of God. Our greatest concern is that His Name be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun (Malachi 1:11). We find our great purpose and constant motivation, not in man or his needs, but in God, His commitment to His own glory and our God-given desire to see Him glorified in every nation, tribe, people and language.Paul Washer

 

[McWilliams]

Is it not God who gives the disposition to believe? If men are disposed to have eternal life, doest not He in every case dispose them?" - C.H. Spurgeon

 

[McWilliams]

God has not deserted his Church; he has brought her through even darker hours than those which try our courage now, yet the darkest hour has always come before the dawn. We have today the entrance of paganism into the Church in the name of Christianity. But in the second century a similar battle was fought and won. And another Reformation in God's good time will come."

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]- J. Gresham Machen, 1923 [/FONT]​

 

[McWilliams]

The theory of penal substitution is the heart and soul of an evangelical view of the atonement. I am not claiming that it is the only truth about the atonement taught in the scriptures. Nor am I claiming that penal substitution is emphasized in every piece of literature, or that every author articulates clearly penal substitution. I am claiming that penal substitution functions as the anchor and foundation for all other dimensions of the atonement when the scriptures are considered as a canonical whole. I define penal substitution as follows: The Father, because of his love for human beings, sent his Son (who offered himself willingly and gladly) to satisfy his justice, so that Christ took the place of sinners. The punishment and penalty we deserved was laid on Jesus Christ instead of us, so that in the cross both God’s holiness and love are manifested. The riches of what God has accomplished in Christ for his people are not exhausted by penal substitution. The multifaceted character of the atonement must be recognized to do justice the canonical witness. God’s people are impoverished if Christ’s triumph over evil powers at the cross is slighted, or Christ’s exemplarly love is shoved to the side, or the healing bestowed on believers by Christ’s cross and resurrection is downplayed. While not denying the wide-ranging character of Christ’s atonement, I am arguing that penal substitution is foundational and the heart of the atonement. - Thomas Schreiner

 

[cygnusx1]

CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON​

(19th Century World famous English Baptist Preacher and author. 62 large volumes of his sermons say it all [printed weekly until 25 years after his death] Famous for hius stand against the Downgrade Apostasy of the Baptist Union.)​

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"Brethren, the command to believe in Christ must be the sinner’s warrant, if you consider the nature of our commission. How runs it? "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." It ought to run, according to the other [Hyper Calvinist] plan, "preach the gospel to every regenerate person, to every convinced sinner, to every sensible soul." But it is not so; it is to "every creature." But unless the warrant be a something in which every creature can take a share, there is no such thing as consistently preaching it to every creature." (​

Sermon on 1 John 3:23 entitled: "The warrant of Faith." Contains an exposure of the hyper Calvinist position​

"A yet further charge against us is, that we dare not preach the gospel to the unregenerate, that, in fact, our theology is so narrow and cramped that we cannot preach to sinners. Gentlemen, if you dare to say this, I would take you to any library in the world where the old Puritan fathers are stored up, and I would let you take down any one volume and tell me if you ever rend more telling exhortations and addresses to sinners in any of your own books. Did not Bunyan plead with sinners, and whoever classed him with any but the Calvinists? Did not Charnock, Goodwin, and how we agonise for souls, and what were they but Calvinists? Did not Jonathan Edwards preach to sinners, and who more clear and explicit on these doctrinal matters. The works of our innumerable divines teem with passionate appeals to the unconverted. Oh, sirs, if I should begin the list, time should fail me. It is an indisputable fact that we have laboured more than they all for the winning of souls. Was George Whitfield any the less seraphic? Did his eyes weep the fewer tears or his bowels move with the less compassion because he believed in God’s electing love and preached the sovereignty of the Most High? It is an unfounded calumny. Our souls are not stony; our bowels are not withdrawn from the compassion which we ought to feel for our fellow-men; we can hold all our views firmly, and yet can weep as Christ did over a Jerusalem which was certainly to be destroyed. Again, I must say, I am not defending certain brethren who have exaggerated Calvinism. I speak of Calvinism proper, not that which has run to seed, and outgrown its beauty and verdure. I speak of it as I find it in Calvin’s Institutes, and especially in his Expositions. I have read them carefully. I take not my views of Calvinism from common repute but from his books. Nor do I, in thus speaking, even vindicate Calvinism as if I cared for the name, but I mean that glorious system which teaches that salvation is of grace from first to last. And again, then, I say it is an utterly unfounded charge that we dare not preach to sinners."​

 

[cygnusx1]

(Opening of the Metropolitan Tabernacle - a series of sermons on the doctrines of grace)​

In the second place we observe from the text that the invitation is very wide — ​

WHOSOEVER WILL, LET HIM TAKE THE WATER OF LIFE FREELY.

" How wide is this invitation! There are some ministers who are afraid to invite sinners, then why are they ministers! for they are afraid to perform the most important part of the sacred office. There was a time I must confess when I somewhat faltered when about to give a free invitation. My doctrinal sentiments did at thee time somewhat hamper me. I boldly avow that I am unchanged as to the doctrines I have preached; I preach Calvinism as high, as stern, and as sound as ever; but I do feel, and always did feel an anxiety to invite sinners to Christ. And I do feel also, that not only is such a course consistent with the soundest doctrines, but that the other course is after all the unsound one, and has no title whatever to plead Scripture on its behalf. There has grown up in many Baptist churches an idea that none are to be called to Christ but what they call sensible sinners. I sometimes rebut that by remarking, that I call stupid sinners to Christ as well as sensible sinners, and that stupid sinners make by far the greatest proportion of the ungodly. But I glory in the avowal that I preach Christ even to insensible sinners — that I would say even to the dry bones of the valley, as Ezekiel did, "Ye dry bones live!" doing it as an act of faith; not faith in the power of those that hear to obey the command, but faith in the power of God who gives the command to give strength also to those addressed, that they may be constrained to obey it. But now listen to my text; for here, at least, there is no limitation. But sensible or insensible, all that the text saith is, "Whosoever will, let him come and take the water of life freely."(Sermon on Revelation 22:17 entitled: 'Come and Welcome' 1859)​

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[McWilliams]

The History of Man's Moral Nature
The chart below is a theological model of man in his four states: Man in the State of Innocency (pre-fall), Man in the State of Bondage (post-fall), Man in the State of Grace (regenerate man) & Man in the State of Glory (In God's Presence). It attempts to compare the abilities and moral inclinations of man based upon the testimony of Scripture. Good and Evil are compared to an absolute standard in this chart. Over against the Pelagian view of man, Augustine developed his now famous fourfold view of man: (1) Before the Fall, man was able to sin or not sin. (2) Fallen, unregenerate man is not able not to sin. (3) Fallen, but regenerated man is able to sin or not sin. (4) Glorified man is not able to sin. Faith and a desire for obedience both spring from our new nature, not from the will of natural man (John 1:13, Rom 9:16, 1 Cor 2:14; John 6:63-65)