It
is sin that is the cause of our misery. It is sin that provoked God and brought
His curse on man. He hates sin with a perfect hatred and will do everything to
root it out. It is to take away sin that God gave His Son -- that Jesus gave
Himself. It is God who sets us free. Not only free from punishment, curse,
uneasiness and terror, but also free from sin itself. You know that He was
manifested so that He might take away our sins. Let us receive this thought deep
into our hearts -- it is God who takes away our sins. The better we grasp this
the more blessed our life will be. - Andrew Murray
Either
sin is with you, lying on your shoulders, or it is lying on Christ, the Lamb of
God. Now if it is lying on your back, you are lost; but if it is resting on
Christ, you are free, and you will be saved. Now choose what you want. -
Martin Luther
It
will never do to plead sin as an excuse for sin, or to attempt to justify sinful
acts by pleading that we have an evil heart. This instead of being a valid
apology, is the very ground of our condemnation. - Archibald Alexander
Our
first problem is that our attitude towards sin is more self-centered than
God-centered. We are more concerned about our own "Victory" over sin than we are
about the fact that our sin grieve the heart of God. We cannot tolerate failure
in our struggle with sin chiefly because we are success oriented, not because we
know it is offensive to God. - Jerry Bridges
Self-righteousness....is
the largest idol of the human heart—the idol which man loves most and God hates
most. Dearly beloved, you will always be going back to this idol. You are always
trying to be something in yourself, to gain God's favour by thinking little of
your sin, or by looking to your repentance, tears, prayers; or by looking to
your religious exercises, your frames, etc; or by looking to your graces, the
Spirit's work in your heart. Beware of false Christs. Study sanctification to
the utmost, but make not a Christ of it. - Robert Murray M'Cheyne
I think that most
Christians would be better pleased if the Lord did not inquire into their
personal affairs too closely. They want Him to save them, to keep them happy,
and to take them off to heaven at last, but not to be too inquisitive about
their conduct or services. - A. W. Tozer
You know how the steel of the finest sword may be rusted by a drop of water. Yet
if the water is not allowed to remain, but is wiped away as soon as it falls, it
harms not the steel, and no rust ensues. If, however, through neglect or
otherwise, the water is allowed to remain, rust will follow, destroying both the
edge and brightness of the weapon. So it is with sin. The moment it falls upon
the conscience, the blood must be applied; else dimness and doubting will be the
consequence. Remember it is the blood, the blood alone; that can remove these. -
Horatius Bonar
Evangelical
repentance is repentance of sin as sin: not of this sin nor of that, but of the
whole mass. We repent of the sin of our nature as well as the sin of our
practice. We bemoan sin within us and without us. We repent of sin itself as
being an insult to God. Anything short of this is a mere surface repentance, and
not a repentance which reaches to the bottom of the mischief. Repentance of the
evil act, and not of the evil heart, is like men pumping water out of a leaky
vessel, but forgetting to stop the leak. Some would dam up the stream, but leave
the fountain still flowing; they would remove the eruption from the skin, but
leave the disease in the flesh. - Charles Spurgeon
Some psychological and sociological conditioning occurs in every man's life and
this affects the decisions he makes. But we must resist the modern concept that
all sin can be explained merely on the basis of conditioning. - Francis A.
Schaeffer
I inquired what iniquity
was, and found it to be no substance, but the perversion of the will, turned
aside from Thee, O God, the Supreme, towards these lower things. - Augustine
Two
thousand years of failure have not taught some reformers that you can't stop sin
by declaring it illegal. Two thousand years have not taught them that you can't
save a man's soul by force -- you can only lose your own in the attempt.
Drunkenness and gambling and secularism and lechery -- various hopeful churchmen
have earnestly tried to outlaw them all; and what is the result? A drunken
nation, a gambling nation, a secularist nation, an adulterous nation. And,
often, a ruined Church. - Joy Davidman
It
is sin that is the cause of our misery. It is sin that provoked God and brought
His curse on man. He hates sin with a perfect hatred and will do everything to
root it out. It is to take away sin that God gave His Son -- that Jesus gave
Himself. It is God who sets us free. Not only free from punishment, curse,
uneasiness and terror, but also free from sin itself. You know that He was
manifested so that He might take away our sins. Let us receive this thought deep
into our hearts -- it is God who takes away our sins. The better we grasp this
the more blessed our life will be. - Andrew Murray
Either
sin is with you, lying on your shoulders, or it is lying on Christ, the Lamb of
God. Now if it is lying on your back, you are lost; but if it is resting on
Christ, you are free, and you will be saved. Now choose what you want. -
Martin Luther
It
will never do to plead sin as an excuse for sin, or to attempt to justify sinful
acts by pleading that we have an evil heart. This instead of being a valid
apology, is the very ground of our condemnation. - Archibald Alexander
Our
first problem is that our attitude towards sin is more self-centered than
God-centered. We are more concerned about our own "Victory" over sin than we are
about the fact that our sin grieve the heart of God. We cannot tolerate failure
in our struggle with sin chiefly because we are success oriented, not because we
know it is offensive to God. - Jerry Bridges
Self-righteousness....is
the largest idol of the human heart—the idol which man loves most and God hates
most. Dearly beloved, you will always be going back to this idol. You are always
trying to be something in yourself, to gain God's favour by thinking little of
your sin, or by looking to your repentance, tears, prayers; or by looking to
your religious exercises, your frames, etc; or by looking to your graces, the
Spirit's work in your heart. Beware of false Christs. Study sanctification to
the utmost, but make not a Christ of it. - Robert Murray M'Cheyne
I think that most
Christians would be better pleased if the Lord did not inquire into their
personal affairs too closely. They want Him to save them, to keep them happy,
and to take them off to heaven at last, but not to be too inquisitive about
their conduct or services. - A. W. Tozer
You know how the steel of the finest sword may be rusted by a drop of water. Yet
if the water is not allowed to remain, but is wiped away as soon as it falls, it
harms not the steel, and no rust ensues. If, however, through neglect or
otherwise, the water is allowed to remain, rust will follow, destroying both the
edge and brightness of the weapon. So it is with sin. The moment it falls upon
the conscience, the blood must be applied; else dimness and doubting will be the
consequence. Remember it is the blood, the blood alone; that can remove these. -
Horatius Bonar
Evangelical
repentance is repentance of sin as sin: not of this sin nor of that, but of the
whole mass. We repent of the sin of our nature as well as the sin of our
practice. We bemoan sin within us and without us. We repent of sin itself as
being an insult to God. Anything short of this is a mere surface repentance, and
not a repentance which reaches to the bottom of the mischief. Repentance of the
evil act, and not of the evil heart, is like men pumping water out of a leaky
vessel, but forgetting to stop the leak. Some would dam up the stream, but leave
the fountain still flowing; they would remove the eruption from the skin, but
leave the disease in the flesh. - Charles Spurgeon
Some psychological and sociological conditioning occurs in every man's life and
this affects the decisions he makes. But we must resist the modern concept that
all sin can be explained merely on the basis of conditioning. - Francis A.
Schaeffer
I inquired what iniquity
was, and found it to be no substance, but the perversion of the will, turned
aside from Thee, O God, the Supreme, towards these lower things. - Augustine
Two
thousand years of failure have not taught some reformers that you can't stop sin
by declaring it illegal. Two thousand years have not taught them that you can't
save a man's soul by force -- you can only lose your own in the attempt.
Drunkenness and gambling and secularism and lechery -- various hopeful churchmen
have earnestly tried to outlaw them all; and what is the result? A drunken
nation, a gambling nation, a secularist nation, an adulterous nation. And,
often, a ruined Church. - Joy Davidman