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Our aim in studying the Godhead must be to know God himself better. Our concern must be to enlarge our acquaintance, not simply with the doctrine of God’s attributes, but with the living God whose attributes they are.
J. I. Packer
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes the importance of knowing God personally rather than merely understanding religious doctrines.

J. I. Packer asserts that the purpose of studying God should go beyond an academic understanding of His attributes. Instead, the focus should be on developing a deeper personal relationship with the living God, thereby enriching one's spiritual acquaintance with Him rather than just intellectual knowledge.

Themes

GodRelationshipAttributesKnowledgeSpirituality

In practice

Example use cases

This quote would be perfect in a sermon discussing the importance of faith over doctrine.

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Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life's problems fall into place of their own accord.
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He that has learned to feel his sins, and to trust Christ as a Saviour, has learned the two hardest and greatest lessons in Christianity.
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We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the psalms, and that the habit of celebrating the greatness and graciousness of God yields an endless flow of thankfulness, joy, and zeal.
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The fruit of wisdom is Christlikeness, peace, humility and love. And, the root of it is faith in Christ as the manifested wisdom of God
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Were I asked to focus the New Testament message in three words, my proposal would be ADOPTION THROUGH PROPITIATION, and I do not expect ever to meet a richer or more pregnant summary of the gospel than that.
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Only when it is seen that what decides each individual's destiny is whether or not God decides to save him from his sins, and that this is a decision that God need not make in any individual case, can one begin to grasp the biblical view of grace.
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