In the days when I still hated Christianity, I learned to recognize, like some all to familiar smell, that almost unvarying something which met me, now in Puritan Bunyan, now in Anglican Hooker, now in Thomas Dante. It was there (honeyed and floral) in Francois de Sales; it was there (grave and homely) in Spenser [...]
Archive for the ‘Sproul, R.C.’ Category
Doxology of the Saints in Church History
Posted in Sproul, R.C., tagged Blaise Pascal, C. S. Lewis, Francois de Sales, John Bunyan, Thomas Dante on February 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Spirituality
Posted in Sproul, R.C., tagged Righteousness, Spirituality on February 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Spirituality can be a cheap substitute for righteousness.
- R.C. Sproul, Pleasing God, copyright 1988, page 33
Muting the Inner Voice of the Conscience
Posted in Sproul, R.C., tagged Consience, Romans 1, Sin on February 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
By repeating sins over and over again we can mute the inner voice of conscience. We fall into the decadence described by Paul in Romans 1 whereby we not only continue in sin but encourage others to join us in it (Romans 1:32).
- R.C. Sproul, Pleasing God, copyright 1988, page 219
The Call to Transformation
Posted in Sproul, R.C., tagged Romans 12, Transformation on February 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
It is easy to trivialize nonconformity. We can reduce this to simplistic externals as the Pharisees did. Authentic nonconformity rests upon transformation. They apostle Paul adds a positive mandate to the negative prohibition. He said “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing your mind” (Romans 12:2)
It is the prefix [...]
No One Is Born a Christian
Posted in Sproul, R.C., tagged Born-Again, Christ, Christian, Holy Spirit on January 31, 2009 | 4 Comments »
No one is born a Christian. By nature we are flesh. The Christian life begins with the work of the Holy Spirit in rebirth. The term “born-again Christian” is almost a misnomer. It is a redundancy. It is a kind of theological stuttering. If one is born again, then he is a Christian. If his [...]
Is Perfectionism a Doctrine?
Posted in Sproul, R.C., tagged Doctrine, Perfectionism, Sanctification, Second Blessing on January 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Sanctification is a process. It is a gradual process. Run for your life from those who promise you instant sanctification. There is a poisonous doctrine – one that dies hard in Christian circles – called the doctrine of perfectionism. It teaches that some people have already attained spiritual perfection in this world. They promise a [...]
How Do I Know I Have the Saving Righteousness of Christ?
Posted in Sproul, R.C., tagged Faith, Righteousness, Saving Faith on January 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
How do I know I have the saving righteousness of Christ? Can I not deceive myself into thinking I have the real thing when in fact my faith is fraudulent? Just because a person claims to believe in Christ is no guarantee that he has saving faith. It is by our fruits that we demonstrate [...]
We Must Work Out Our Salvation
Posted in Sproul, R.C., tagged Holy Spirit, Philippians 2, Pleasing God, Rebirth, Regeneration, Salvation on January 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
If we live to please God, we must constantly remind ourselves that our effort is extremely important. Our salvation doesn’t end when we are reborn. True, the Spirit does the work of regeneration by Himself. Regeneration is monergestic, not synergistic. I am quiet, passive, when the Spirit does His work of quickening my soul. But [...]
Achieving Spiritual Perfection is Deadly
Posted in Sproul, R.C., tagged God's Law, Holiness of God, Perfectionism, Performance, Pride on January 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
For people to convince themselves that thay have already achieved spiritual perfection, they must do one or both of two things: They must so reduce the demands of God’s law to such a low level that they can obey them, or they must radically inflate their own assessment of their spiritual performance.
Either of these steps [...]
Above All Else
Posted in Sproul, R.C., tagged Kingdom of God, Righteousness on January 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
We are to seek the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness. We notice that Jesus says that we are to seek these things first. The New Testament word that is used here for first is the Greek word protos, which does not mean simply first in a series of many things. Rather the word carries the [...]
