R.C. Sproul > Quotes

“Once we are reconciled and justified we can rejoice even when people slander us and wound us deeply. We can glory in it because of Christ and our justification. We glory in tribulation because we know what tribula-tion does. Paul understood, because he believed in the sovereignty and providence of God. There are no accidents in this world. No matter how many injustices are heaped upon us this side of heaven, they do not mean anything compared to the crown of glory that God has prepared for his people. Paul is saying that when we go through afflictions and tribulations we can glory in them, not because we enjoy pain but because we know what tribulation yields. For most people, tribulation breaks the spirit, leads them to despair, and causes them to abandon all hope. Not so for the Christian.”
― R.C. Sproul, Romans

“The attention at the beginning of these petitions is on the exaltation of God and His concerns. In the initial phrases of the Lord's Prayer, Jesus fixes our gaze not on ourselves but on God.
People”
― R.C. Sproul, The Prayer of the Lord

“Any time we discuss a historical event, we review the facts, and sometimes we argue about what really took place, what was said, what was observed. However, once we agree on the facts (or agree to disagree), we are still left with the most important question we can ask: What is the meaning of the event?”
― R.C. Sproul, Who Is Jesus?

“The life of faith is not just about believing that God exists; it is about believing God or trusting God.”
― R.C. Sproul, Can I Have Joy In My Life?

“We do not “find” God as a result of our search for him. We are found by him. The search for God does not end in conversion; it begins at conversion. It is the converted person who genuinely and sincerely seeks after God. Jonathan Edwards remarked that seeking after God is the main business of the Christian life.”
― R.C. Sproul, What is Reformed Theology?: Understanding the Basics

“Anybody can believe in God. What it means to be a Christian is to trust him when he speaks, which does not require a leap of faith or a crucifixion of the intellect. It requires a crucifixion of pride, because no one is more trustworthy than God.”
― R.C. Sproul, Romans

“One excruciating problem faced by single women-more so in past generations than today-is caused by the unwritten rule of our society that allows men the freedom actively to pursue a marriage partner while women are considered loose if they actively pursue a prospective husband. No biblical rule says that a woman eager to be married should be passive. There is nothing that prohibits her from actively seeking a suitable mate.”
― R.C. Sproul, Can I Know God's Will?

“look to the Bible and not my feelings as the basis of the Christian life. I've”
― R.C. Sproul, Five Things Every Christian Needs to Grow

“God's kingdom will never come where His name is not considered holy.”
― R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God

“If to secure our redemption Christ only needed to make an atonement for us, he could have come down from heaven and gone directly to the cross. But he also had to fulfill all righteousness by submitting at every point to the law of God. By his sinless life he achieved positive merit, which merit is imputed to all who put their faith in him. Christ not only died for us but he lived for us as well.”
― R.C. Sproul, What is Reformed Theology?: Understanding the Basics

“Once a man ceases to recognize the infinite value ofthe human soul... then all he can recognize is that man is something to be used. But then he will also have to go further and recognize that some men can no longer be utilized and he arrives at the concept that there are some lives that have no value at all.
-Helmut Thielicke”
― R.C. Sproul, Abortion: A Rational Look at An Emotional Issue

“Lo que hizo Judas fue totalmente malo, pero cuando Dios ordena todas las cosas que suceden, él no solo ordena los fines sino también los medios para esos fines, y él actúa a través de todas las cosas para llevar a cabo su justo propósito.”
― R.C. Sproul, ¿Controla Dios todas Las Cosas?

“The scribes and Pharisees were highly educated and deeply dedicated to understanding and keeping the law. This serves as a warning for us. The Bible is clear enough for any Christian to understand its basic meaning; nevertheless, the Word of God in every generation becomes distorted and misunderstood. These distortions happen not because there is something wrong with the clarity of the Word of God but because there is something wrong with us. We come to the Bible with our minds clouded by sin. We must resist the temptation to read into the Bible something that is not there or to try to use the Bible, as Luther said, as a wax nose that we can twist to support our own biases and prejudices. Here our Lord undertakes an important warning about how we are to understand the law of God.”
― R.C. Sproul, Matthew

“The Bible never tells us to take a leap of faith into the darkness and hope that there’s somebody out there.The Bible calls us to jump out of the darkness and into the light.That is not a blind leap.The faith that the New Testament calls us to is a faith rooted and grounded in something that God makes clear is the truth.”
― R.C. Sproul, Defending Your Faith: An Introduction

“Just laws reflect what is right.”
― R.C. Sproul, Abortion: A Rational Look at An Emotional Issue

“La advertencia suprema de Jesús es que Dios nos juzgará según cómo juzguemos nosotros a los demás.”
― R.C. Sproul, ¿Puede la oración cambiar las cosas?

“That is intellectual madness. What are the chances that the universe was created by chance?”
― R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God

“It is the task of the pastor and of the church to feed the sheep. If someone who is not a sheep comes in, that's fine, but we're not going to change the menu and give the sheep goats' food. Worship is for the sheep.”
― R.C. Sproul, John

“To reduce the demands of God’s law is to do violence to the holiness of God. To inflate one’s own self-assessment to the point of self-delusion is an extreme form of pride.”
― R.C. Sproul, Pleasing God: Discovering the Meaning and Importance of Sanctification

“two vitally important truths about the Christian life: we are pilgrims, and we make progress.”
― R.C. Sproul, Pleasing God: Discovering the Meaning and Importance of Sanctification

“There is a pattern here, a pattern repeated in history. God appears, people quake in terror, God forgives and heals, God sends. From brokenness to mission is the human pattern”
― R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God

“When one is immersed in a Christian subculture that puts a great deal of stress on making decisions, responding to altar calls, and praying the sinner’s prayer, it is easy to miss this important point—making a decision to follow Jesus has never converted anyone. This is because it is not a decision that converts a person; it is the power of the Holy Spirit that does so.”
― R.C. Sproul, Can I Be Sure I'm Saved?

“When we find ourselves depressed, down, irritated, annoyed, or otherwise unhappy, we need to return to the source of our joy, and then we will see those circumstances that are sapping our joy in perspective. The circumstances of this life will pale into insignificance when compared to that which we have received from God.”
― R.C. Sproul, Can I Have Joy In My Life?

“The issue of faith is not so much whether we believe in God, but whether we believe the God we believe in.”
― R.C. Sproul, Knowing Scripture

“Only the justified person can be comfortable in the presence of a holy God.”
― R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God

“Likewise, abortions performed to save the lives of women are exceedingly rare. The real issue is abortion for convenience or because the child is simply not wanted.”
― R.C. Sproul, Abortion: A Rational Look at An Emotional Issue

“Christ comes from the Greek word christos, which means "anointed." It corresponds to the Hebrew word translated "messiah." When Jesus is called”
― R.C. Sproul, Who Is Jesus?

“cuando oramos, debemos recordar quién somos y a quién nos dirigimos.”
― R.C. Sproul, ¿Puede la oración cambiar las cosas?

“Evangelism is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.”
― R.C. Sproul, What Is Repentance?

“But while Paul is silent about the question of future choices in verse 11, he does not remain so. In verse 16 he makes it clear: “So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” This is the coup de grace to Arminianism and all other non-Reformed views of predestination. This is the Word of God that requires all Christians to cease and desist from views of predestination that make the ultimate decision for salvation rest in the will of man. The apostle declares: “It is not of him who wills.” The non-Reformed views must say that it is of him who wills. This is in violent contradiction to the teaching of Scripture. This one verse is absolutely fatal to Arminianism.”
― R.C. Sproul, Chosen by God