We are responsible to clothe ourselves with Christlike character, but we are dependent on God's Spirit to produce within us His "fruit."
Topics: Holy Spirit Source: Transforming Grace, p. 116.
Humility, then, is a recognition that we are at the same time "worm Jacob" and a mighty threshing sledge - completely weak and helpless in ourselves, but powerful and useful by the grace of God.
Topics: Humility Source: Transforming Grace, p. 201.
It is hypocritical to pray for victory over our sins yet be careless in our intake of the Word of God.
Topics: Hypocrisy Source: The Pursuit of Holiness, p. 75.
Every day God patiently bears with us, and every day we are tempted to become impatient with our friends, neighbors, and loved ones. And our faults and failures before God are so much more serious than the petty actions of others that tend to irritate us! God calls us to graciously bear with the weaknesses of others, tolerating them and forgiving them even as He has forgiven us.
Topics: Impatience Source: The Practice of Godliness, p. 174.
The cure for impatience with the fulfillment of God's timetable is to believe His promises, obey His will, and leave the results to Him. So often when God's timetable stretches into years we become discouraged and...want to give up or try to work something out on [our] own.
Topics: Impatience, Trust Source: The Practice of Godliness, p. 176.
God intends the Christian life to be a life of joy - not drudgery. The idea that holiness is associated with a dour disposition is a caricature of the worst sort. In fact, just the opposite is true. Only those who walk in holiness experience true joy.
Topics: Joy, Holiness Source: The Pursuit of Holiness, p. 154.
The purpose of rejoicing is not so we can feel better emotionally (though that will happen). The purpose of joy is to glorify God by demonstrating to an unbelieving world that our loving and faithful heavenly Father cares for us and provides for us all that we need.
Topics: Joy Source: The Practice of Godliness, p. 115.
True joy comes only from God and He shares this joy with those who walk in fellowship with Him.
Topics: Joy Source: The Pursuit of Holiness, p. 154.
There are two 'courts' we must deal with: the court of God in Heaven and the court of conscience in our souls. When we first trust in Christ for salvation, God's court is forever satisfied. Never again will a charge of guilt be brought against us in Heaven. Our consciences, however, are continually pronouncing us guilty. That is the function of conscience. Therefore, we must by faith bring the verdict of conscience into line with the verdict of Heaven. We do this by agreeing with our conscience about our guilt, but then reminding it that our guilt has already been borne by Christ.
God does not exalt His mercy at the expense of His justice. And in order to maintain His justice, all sin without exception must be punished. Contrary to popular opinion, with God there is no such thing as mere forgiveness. There is only justice.
Topics: Justice Source: The Gospel for Real Life, p. 43.
God's wrath arises from His intense, settled hatred of all sin and is the tangible expression of His inflexible determination to punish it. We might say God's wrath is His justice in action, rendering to everyone his just due, which, because of our sin, is always judgment.
Topics: Justice Source: The Gospel for Real Life, p. 52.
We are responsible to clothe ourselves with Christlike character, but we are dependent on God's Spirit to produce within us His "fruit."