Gospel (77)
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The moral law requires obedience, but gives no strength (as Pharaoh required brick, but gave no straw), but the gospel gives strength; it bestows faith on the elect; it sweetens the law; it makes us serve God with delight.The Ten Commandments, 44
The Gospel is temporary, but the law is eternal and is restored precisely through the Gospel. Freedom from the law consists, then, not in the fact that the Christian has nothing more to do with the law, but lies in the fact that the law demands nothing more from the Christian as a condition of salvation. The law can no longer judge and condemn him. Instead he delights in the law of God according to the inner man and yearns for it day and night.
though the moral law be thus far abolished, it remains as a perpetual rule to believers. Though it be not their Saviour, it is their guide. Though it be not foedus, a covenant of life; yet it is norma, a rule of life. Every Christian is bound to conform to it; and to write, as exactly as he can after this copy. 'Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid.' Rom iii 31. Though a Christian is not under the condemning power of the law, yet he is under its commanding power.The Ten Commandments, 44
This I urge against Antinomians, who say the moral law is abrogated to believers; which, as it contradicts Scripture, so it is a key to open the door to all licentiousness. They who will not have the law to rule them, shall never have the gospel to save them.The Ten Commandments, 44
If the gospel-even when you are orthodox-becomes something which you primarily assume, but what you are excited about is what you are doing in some sort of social reconstruction, you will be teaching the people that you influence that the gospel really isn't all that important. You won't be saying that-you won't even mean that-but that's what you will be teaching. And then you are only half a generation away from losing the gospel. http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/blogs/cj-mahaney/post/Don-DA-Carson-Preserving-A-Passion-for-the-Gospel.aspx
Christianity exists only when the preaching of the cross is its message.
Jesus has borne the death penalty on our behalf. Behold the wonder! There He hangs upon the cross! This is the greatest sight you will ever see. All of Grace (48)
The truth of the Gospel is the principle article of all Christian doctrine...Most necessary is it that we know this article well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads continually Death by Love (91)
Works? Works? A man get to heaven by works? I would as soon think of climbing to the moon on a rope of sand! Sep 29, 1770 Newburyport, Massachusetts. From the sermon: "How willingly would I live forever to preach Christ, but I die to be with him."
The Christian Gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. The Reason for God (181)
Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace, because He takes away sin; and you and I are workers for peace when we preach His Gospel, which is the Gospel of peace just because it is the Gospel of deliverance from sin. Sin means war, and where sin is, there will war be. Righteousness means peace, and
there can never be peace where righteousness has not first been
realized.Faith and Life
Calvary's saving power does not depend on faith being added to it; its saving power is such that faith flows from it.
The theology of the cross is not a cerebral thing; it profoundly affects our Christian experience and existence, making demands upon our whole lives and turning theology into something which controls not just our thoughts, but the very way in which we experience the world around and taste the blessing and fellowship of God himself.
God is not a megalomaniac when he makes much of Himself, we would be megalomanicas if we made much of ourselves, because we would be unloving and that is what is infinitely loving for God to do because when he draws our attention to Himself it's like inviting us to a fountain. He is the ultimately satisfying reality in the Universe. reFocus Conference 2010
What is the reason that many professors are no more holy and humble, but waspish and peevish and harsh, and of a rugged disposition, but because they have not studied the gospel more
A good Christian makes gospel piety and moral equity kiss each other. Herein some discover their hypocrisy: they will obey God in some things which are more facile, and may raise their repute; but other things they leave undone.The Ten Commandments, 2
The true gospel is a call to self-denial. It is not a call to self-fulfillment.
The cross is the object of faith, the theme of worship, the means of bringing men to God, the basis of living the saved life, the burden of apostolic preaching, and the reality signified by the sacraments.
The Law with its function does contribute to justification - not because it justifies, but because it impels one to the promise of grace and makes it sweet and desirable. Therefore we do not abolish the Law; but we show its true function and use, namely, that it is a most useful servant impelling us to Christ; for its function and use is not only to disclose the sin and wrath of God but also to drive us to Christ. Therefore the principal purpose of the Law in theology is to make men not better but worse; that is, it shows them their sin, so that by the recognition of sin they may be humbled, frightened, and worn down, and so may long for grace and for the Blessed Offspring.
The benefits of the gospel (justification, reconciliation, redemption, adoption) were being separated from Christ, who is himself the gospel. The benefits of the gospel are in Christ. They do not exist apart from him. They are ours only in him. They cannot be abstracted from him as if we ourselves could possess them independently of him.The Whole Christ (p. 44). Crossway
How could we have such a low view of the gospel of Jesus Christ that we have to manipulate men psychologically to get them to come down and pray a prayer? ...How many times have I heard evangelists say, "It'll only take five minutes."? No my dear friend, it will take your life-all of it! "We're just trying to attract people and then we'll gradually bring them in further and further." That is what the cults do, that's not what Jesus did. Notice that in the gospels every time a great crowd is following Jesus, he turns around and says something so radical to them that most of them walk away. Of course Jesus probably would not get invited to teach evangelism
But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross.
And I beheld God's love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace. Song:All I Have Is Christ
It makes me so angry, when men treat the glorious gospel of Christ as though it was a first step into Christianity, that takes ten minutes of counselling, and then you go onto greater stuff.
Preach the gospel to yourself everyday. The Gospel for Real Life
God's children when they are spiritually healthy spend most of the time at the foot of the cross. Sermon: Is Your View of the Cross Worldly
All the other revelations of God in Christ are like rays of sun breaking through the clouds. But the death of Christ for sinners was like a bolt of lightning.
If we want to spend our minds to the fullest in knowing God to the fullest so that we can love him to the fullest, this is where we will focus. DG Conference 2010
It's Christ or nothing. And you better want it that way. Why? If it was 99.99% Christ and 0.01% you, you'd go to hell. http://youtu.be/9W2fuFWUIL0 (around 54 minutes in)
The greatest punishment inflicted upon Christ, when he stood as a sacrifice for sin, was not the act of men, but the act of God
O Hell, I see thee surging round; But in my Lord a cleft I've found, A solid, sure abiding place From which my enemy I face, As here with Thee at God's right hand, I on Thy Calvary-Victory stand.
I think the attempt to make the gospel "relevant" is irrelevant to someone who knows Christ. It's boring, because it's about an imaginary Christ designed for those who define themselves in consumerist terms. Good News for Anxious Christians (165)
Christ hath made an infinite satisfaction in a finite time, by undergoing that fierce battle with the wrath of God, and getting the victory in a few hours, which is equivalent to the creatures bearing it and grappling with it everlastingly.Works
It's hard to convince people that the loving God they can't see sacrificed His Son for sinners & calls them too repentance to escape the wrath to come, when a church they can see celebrates & indulges the very sins that sent His Son to the cross.
Put the gospel first. And that means you must put the priorities of the gospel at the center of your prayer life.Basics for Believers
When God originally gave his commands to Adam and Eve in the garden, he gave those commands to them as blessings. They weren't things upon which his love was contingent. He loved them and blessed them in the garden. And their obedience to the commands was the very sphere in which they enjoyed that blessedness. And when we are saved by Christ, when we are united to Christ, we are able to walk in a manner that is worthy of the gospel. We are to live in a manner that is like the Lord Jesus Christ. And he delighted in obeying God. And so the law of God shows us what that life of peace and blessedness is like. It shows us what it's like to live a life worthy of the gospel once we've trusted in Jesus Christ.
The law of God helps us to know God, know ourselves, know our need, and know the life of peace and blessedness. It helps us to know God because it specifically reveals his character and his attributes, his holy will, what he's like.
These poor men think they can preach the Gospel without preaching the Law. I say, they must preach the Law, unless they do not mean to preach the Gospel. The Law entered that the offence might abound: proclaim it, I say, for this purpose among your ungodly congregations; lift up your voices like trumpets, and tell the people their transgressions, that you may glorify the more your honoured Master, in proclaiming the infinite riches and fulness of His great salvation. Preach the Law to those who believe, as finished, cancelled, dead for their salvation: point them to Immanuel as holding it in His bleeding hand, and saying to them, "If ye love me, keep my Commandments."
The good news of the kingdom is not freedom from hardship, suffering, and loss. It is the news of a Redeemer who has come to rescue me from myself. His rescue produces change that fundamentally alters my response to these inescapable realities. The Redeemer turns rebels into disciples, fools into humble listeners. He makes cripples walk again. In him we can face life and respond with faith, love, and hope. And as he changes us, he allows us to be a part of what he is doing in the lives of others. As you respond to the Redeemer's work in your life, you can learn to be an instrument in his hands.
If the gospel is old news to you, it will be dull news to everyone else.
When we preach Christ crucified, we have no reason to stammer, or stutter, or hesitate, or apologize; there is nothing in the gospel of which we have any cause to be ashamed.
We have an unchanging gospel, which is not today green grass and tomorrow dry hay; but always the abiding truth of the immutable Jehovah.
The church is the fruit of the gospel.
The man who does not glory in the gospel can surely know little of the plague of sin that is within him.
There is no greater state than to get up from your knees knowing that God has forgiven every sin you've ever committed.
We never move on from the gospel; we move on in the gospel.
Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty.
Sometimes I go to God and say, "God, if Thou dost never answer another prayer while I live on this earth, I will still worship Thee as long as I live and in the ages to come for what Thou hast done already. God's already put me so far in debt that if I were to live one million millenniums I couldn't pay Him for what He's done for me.
Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to see it as something done by us.
The Gospel does not call us to receive Christ as an addition to our life, but as our life.
It is only against the pitch blackness of the night that we see the glory of the stars. And it is only against the pitch blackness of man's radical depravity that we can begin to see the glories of the gospel.
We have but one Saviour; and that one Saviour is Jesus Christ our Lord. Nothing that we are and nothing that we can do enters in the slightest measure into the ground of our acceptance with God. Jesus did it all.
A true Christian does not see God's promise of forgiveness as a license to sin, a way to abuse His love and presume on His grace. Rather, he sees God's gracious forgiveness as the means to spiritual growth and sanctification. He continually thanks God for His great love and willingness to forgive.
Christ has freed you from all your enemies, from the curse of the law, the predominant damnatory power of sin, the wrath of God, the sting of death, and the torments of hell.Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices
If God had perceived that our greatest need was economic, he would have sent an economist. If he had perceived that our greatest need was entertainment, he would have sent us a comedian or an artist. If God had perceived that our greatest need was political stability, he would have sent us a politician. If he had perceived that our greatest need was health, he would have sent us a doctor. But he perceived that our greatest need involved our sin, our alienation from him, our profound rebellion, our death; and he sent us a Savior.
What is the difference between the moral law and the gospel? (I) The law requires that we worship God as our Creator; the gospel, that we worship him in and through Christ.The Ten Commandments, 43
Man's wisdom detracts from the glory of God, who is more honoured by the simplicity of the gospel, than luxuriance of wit.
We can no longer afford to be pious functional deists as Christians who regard God as no longer active in history to judge & bless nations in terms of obedience to the gospel & who, whilst speaking of biblical inspiration deny its material authority & application in the world.
Again, the glory of one attribute is more seen in one work than in another: in some things there is more of His goodness, in other things more of His wisdom is seen, and in others more of His power. But in the work of redemption all His perfections and excellencies shine forth in their greatest glory.
If I have learned anything in 35 or 40 years of teaching, it is that students don't learn everything I teach them. What they learn is what I am excited about, the kinds of things I emphasize again and again and again and again. That had better be the gospel.
To run and work the law commands, Yet gives me neither feet nor hands; But better news the gospel brings: It bids me fly and gives me wings.
To run, to work, the law commands, The gospel gives me feet and hands. The one requires that I obey, The other does the power convey.Ralph Erskine, Gospel Sonnets or Spiritual Songs (Edinburgh: John Pryde, 1870), 288- 89
It was in this context that his friend Johannes Agricola (1492-1566) drew what he thought were the logical conclusions of this radical contrast between law and gospel the abolition of any role for the law in the Christian life. He expounded this "antinomianism" first in debate with Philip Melanchthon and then later with Luther himself.The Whole Christ (p. 139). Crossway
The gospel never overthrows God's law for the simple reason that both the law and the gospel are expressions of God's grace. Therefore the reverse is true: grace confirms the law and its true character.The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism, and Gospel Assurance Why the Marrow Controversy Still Matters (p. 88). Crossway
This, in fact, is the lie that sinners have believed ever since - the lie of the not-to-be-trusted-because-he-does-not-love-me-false-Father. The gospel is designed to deliver us from this lie. For it reveals that behind and manifested in the coming of Christ and his death for us is the love of a Father who gives us everything he has: first his Son to die for us and then his Spirit to live within us.The Whole Christ (p. 69). Crossway.
John Bunyan put the putting off of the burden too far off from the commencing of the pilgrimage.
The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism, and Gospel Assurance Why the Marrow Controversy Still Matters (p. 59). Crossway.
There is a living Savior who, because he died and rose again, is sufficient to save you and indeed each and every person who comes to him in faith. There is fullness of grace in Christ crucified. And you, too, may find salvation in his name.The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism, and Gospel Assurance Why the Marrow Controversy Still Matters (p. 51). Crossway
The offer of the gospel is to be made not to the righteous or even the repentant, but to all. There are no conditions that need to be met in order for the gospel offer to be made.The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism, and Gospel Assurance Why the Marrow Controversy Still Matters (p. 42). Crossway
Mark is intentionally recapping the Jonah episode in Mark 4. He uses nearly identical words and phrases. Both Jesus and Jonah are in a boat. Both are in storms described in similar terms. Both boats are filled with others who are terrified of death. Both groups wake the sleeping prophets angrily, rebuking them. Both storms are miraculously calmed and the companions saved. And both stories conclude with the men in the boats more terrified after the storm is stilled than they were before.Preaching, 78
Without the gospel everything is useless and vain; without the gospel we are not Christians; without the gospel all riches is poverty, all wisdom folly before God; strength is weakness, and all the justice of man is under the condemnation of God. But by the knowledge of the gospel we are made children of God, brothers of Jesus Christ, fellow townsmen with the saints, citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, heirs of God with Jesus Christ, by whom the poor are made rich, the weak strong, the fools wise, the sinner justified, the desolate comforted, the doubting sure, and slaves free. It is the power of God for the salvation of all those who believe.John Calvin's preface to Pierre Robert French translation of the New Testament (1534)
More and more am I jealous lest any views upon prophecy, church government, politics, or even systematic theology, should withdraw one of us from glorying in the cross of Christ. Salvation is a theme for which I would fain enlist every holy tongue. I am greedy after witnesses for the glorious gospel of the blessed God. O that Christ crucified were the universal burden of men of God.Lectures to My Students (p. 79). Zondervan
It is astonishingly ironic that Christianity's tremendous teaching regarding the value of women - their equality with men in standing before God and the honor given their role as mothers and wives - is ignored by so many who oppose the faith, yet those same people will embrace sources such as this [Gospel of Thomas] that are so patently anti-woman in their viewpoint.Scripture Alone: Exploring the Bible\'s Accuracy, Authority and Authenticity (pp. 130-131). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
By transgressing God's commandment, we became his enemies. Therefore, in the last times, the Lord has restored us to his friendship through his incarnation. He has become the Mediator between God and man, propitiating the Father against whom we have sinned. He has cancelled our disobedience by his obedience and conferred upon us the gift of communion with, and subjection to, our MakerAdversus omnes haereses 5.17.1
The Church today is concerned about communicating with the contemporary world and especially about the need to speak in a new idiom. The language of the Church had better be the language of the NT. To proclaim the Gospel with new terminology is hazardous when much of the message and valuable overtones that are implicit in the NT might be lost forever.Christian Words, viii
The gospel is not a sterile set of facts; it is the dynamic through which God redeems sinners from the bondage of sin (Rom 1:16).Gospel According to Jesus 3e(81)
If you're saved here tonight, you're not saved because the Romans and Jews rejected Jesus. You're not saved because they put a crown of thorns on his head. You're not saved because they ran a spear through his side. And you're not saved even because they nailed Him to a cross. Do you know why you are saved if you are saved? Because when Jesus Christ was hanging on that cross. He bore your sin, the sin of God's people. And all the fierce wrath of God that should fall upon you, fell upon His only begotten Son. Someone had to pay that price, someone had to die. Sermon: Shocking Youth Message
My friend on the day of the second coming you will understand absolutely everything about the second coming. but you will be in eterntiy of eternities in heaven and you will not even begin to comprehend the glory of God in calvary. It's what everything's about.
Again and again, in book after book, we see descriptions of the gospel that end up relegating the cross to a secondary position. In its place are declarations that the heart of the gospel is that God is remaking the world, or that he has promised a kingdom that will set everything right, or that he is calling us to join him in transforming our culture. Whatever the specifics, the result is that over and over again, the death of Jesus in the place of sinners is assumed, marginalized, or even (sometimes deliberately) ignored. What is the Gospel?(103)
Top Authors
1. Charles Spurgeon (107)
2. J.C. Ryle (103)
3. Thomas Watson (87)
4. John Piper (80)
5. John Calvin (76)
6. J.I. Packer (72)
7. Louis Berkhof (62)
8. C.S. Lewis (49)
9. George Swinnock (49)
10. A.W. Pink (47)
11. Francis Schaeffer (47)
12. Gerald Bray (46)
13. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (43)
14. Tim Keller (42)
15. Abraham Kuyper (40)
16. B.B. Warfield (37)
17. Thomas Brooks (36)
18. John Flavel (36)
19. Martin Luther (33)
20. John Owen (33)
2. J.C. Ryle (103)
3. Thomas Watson (87)
4. John Piper (80)
5. John Calvin (76)
6. J.I. Packer (72)
7. Louis Berkhof (62)
8. C.S. Lewis (49)
9. George Swinnock (49)
10. A.W. Pink (47)
11. Francis Schaeffer (47)
12. Gerald Bray (46)
13. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (43)
14. Tim Keller (42)
15. Abraham Kuyper (40)
16. B.B. Warfield (37)
17. Thomas Brooks (36)
18. John Flavel (36)
19. Martin Luther (33)
20. John Owen (33)
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1. Sin (138)2. Prayer (106)
3. Preaching (99)
4. Scripture (94)
5. Faith (90)
6. Gospel (71)
7. Suffering (55)
8. Law (45)
9. Truth (40)
10. Justification (37)
11. Church (36)
12. Salvation (36)
13. Apologetics (30)
14. Fear (30)
15. Grace (29)
16. Love (28)
17. Worship (27)
18. Creation (26)
19. Pride (26)
20. Sanctification (26)
21. Unbelief (25)
22. Evolution (24)
23. Heaven (23)
24. Holiness (23)
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26. Theology (23)