We’re more concerned about our own “victory” over sin than we are about the fact that our sins grieve God’s heart.
We don’t have to start all over again and try to keep the slate clean. There is no more slate.
Our sins are forgiven and we are accepted as righteous by God because of both the sinless life and sin-bearing death of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no greater motivation for dealing with sin in our lives than the realization of these two glorious truths of the gospel.
Every day of our Christian experience should be a day of relating to God on the basis of His grace alone. We are not only saved by grace, but we also live by grace every day.
Jesus did not die just to give us peace and a purpose in life; he died to save us from the wrath of God.
Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit in us whereby our inner being is progressively changed, freeing us more and more from sinful traits and developing within us over time the virtues of Christlike character.
When God saves us through Christ, He not only saves us from the penalty of sin, but also from its dominion.
Faith in Christ and a reliance on ourselves, even to the smallest degree, are mutually exclusive.
God in His love always wills what is best for us. In His wisdom He always knows what is best, and in His sovereignty He has the power to bring it about.
We need to call sin what the Bible calls it and not soften it with modern expressions borrowed from our culture.
It is just as important to trust God as it is to obey Him. When we disobey God we defy His authority and despise His holiness. But when we fail to trust God we doubt His sovereignty and question His goodness.
The fruit of the Spirit is fundamentally relational. Rather than originating with us, it flows to us from our union with Christ, and it flows beyond us to bring us into fellowship with others. The secret of this flow – and our unity with God and others – is humility.
Our duty is found in the revealed will of God in the Scriptures. Our trust must be in the sovereign will of God as He works in the ordinary circumstances of our daily lives for our good and His glory.
Instead of living in the sunshine of God’s forgiveness through Christ, we tend to live under an overcast sky of guilt most of the time.
God’s love to us cannot fail any more than His love to Christ can fail.
The grace that brought salvation to you is the same grace that teaches or disciplines you. But you must respond on the basis of grace, not law.
As we search the Scriptures, we must allow them to search us, to sit in judgment upon our character and conduct.
We believers do need to be challenged to a life of committed discipleship, but that challenge needs to be based on the gospel, not on duty or guilt. Duty or guilt may motivate us for awhile, but only a sense of Christ’s love for us will motivate us for a lifetime.
Christ exhausted the cup of God’s wrath. For all who trust in Him there is nothing more in the cup. It is empty.
As we grow in holiness, we grow in hatred of sin; and God, being infinitely holy, has an infinite hatred of sin.