To be spiritually dead is to be diabolically alive
R. C. SproulRead
We are able to persevere only because God works within us, within our free wills. And because God is at work in us, we are certain to persevere. The decrees of God concerning election are immutable. They do not change, because He does not change. All whom He justifies He glorifies. None of the elect has ever been lost.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes that our ability to persevere in life stems from divine influence and certainty about salvation.
R.C. Sproul's quote reflects the belief that human perseverance is enabled by God's active presence and influence within individuals. It conveys the idea that while we have free will, it is ultimately God's unchanging nature and immutable decrees that assure the faithful of their salvation and glorification. This assurance is a foundation for believers, affirming that those whom God has chosen will remain steadfast and ultimately be saved.
In practice
During a church sermon discussing the power of faith in tough times.
To be spiritually dead is to be diabolically alive
I’ve often wondered where Jesus would apply His hastily made whip if He were to visit our culture. My guess is that it would not be money-changing tables in the temple that would feel His wrath, but the display racks in Christian bookstores.
The real crisis of worship today is not that the preaching is paltry or that it's too drafty in church. It is that people have no sense of the presence of God, and if they have no sense of His presence, how can they be moved to express the deepest feelings of their souls to honor, revere, worship, and glorify God?
We talk about predestination because the Bible talks about predestination. If we desire to build our theology on the Bible, we run head on into this concept. We soon discover that John Calvin did not invent it.
Without God man has no reference point to define himself.
I do not want to drive across a bridge designed by an engineer who believed the numbers in structural stress models are relative truths.
Faith leads us beyond ourselves. It leads us directly to God.
I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you will trust God.
When you look at the Cross, what do you see? You see God’s awesome faithfulness. Nothing – not even the instinct to spare His own Son – will turn him back from keeping His word.
Cast all your cares on God; that anchor holds.
Every promise of Scripture is a writing of God, which may be pleaded before Him with this reasonable request, 'Do as Thou hast said.' The Heavenly Father will not break His Word to His own child.
No harm can come to me since, in whatever happens, I see only the tender hand of Jesus.
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