To be spiritually dead is to be diabolically alive
R. C. SproulRead
Fallen man is free to choose what he desires, but because his desires are only wicked he lacks the moral ability to come to Christ. As long as he remains in the flesh, unregenerate, he will never choose Christ. He cannot choose Christ precisely because he cannot act against his own will. His fall is so great that only the effectual grace of God working in his heart can bring him to faith.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the idea that fallen humanity is bound by wicked desires and cannot choose to come to Christ without divine intervention.
R. C. Sproul's quote illustrates the theological belief that due to the fall of man, individuals are enslaved by their sinful desires. It asserts that without the transformative and enabling grace of God, a person is incapable of making the righteous choice to follow Christ. This perspective emphasizes the necessity of divine grace in the redemption process, suggesting that inherent human weakness prevents genuine self-directed moral choice.
Themes
GraceFaithRedemptionSinDivine Intervention
In practice
Example use cases
During a sermon discussing the nature of sin and grace.
More from R. C. Sproul
All quotes →I’ve often wondered where Jesus would apply His hastily made whip if He were to visit our culture. My guess is that it would not be money-changing tables in the temple that would feel His wrath, but the display racks in Christian bookstores.
R. C. SproulRead
The real crisis of worship today is not that the preaching is paltry or that it's too drafty in church. It is that people have no sense of the presence of God, and if they have no sense of His presence, how can they be moved to express the deepest feelings of their souls to honor, revere, worship, and glorify God?
R. C. SproulRead
We talk about predestination because the Bible talks about predestination. If we desire to build our theology on the Bible, we run head on into this concept. We soon discover that John Calvin did not invent it.
R. C. SproulRead
Without God man has no reference point to define himself.
R. C. SproulRead
I do not want to drive across a bridge designed by an engineer who believed the numbers in structural stress models are relative truths.
R. C. SproulRead
Similar quotes
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! _x000D_ My sin, not in part but the whole, _x000D_ Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, _x000D_ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
Horatio SpaffordRead
If tomorrow were never to come, it would not be worth living today.
Albert EinsteinRead
I wonder if people who asked for God to intervene in our world, really know what they are asking. Will they want to be there when God really does intervene?
C. S. LewisRead
Vice does not lose its character by becoming fashionable.
John WesleyRead
Feminism starts out being very simple, and it ends up being a world view that questions hierarchy altogether.
Gloria SteinemRead
Real isn't how you are made. It's a thing that happens to you. Sometimes it hurts, but when you are Real you don't mind being hurt. It doesn't happen all at once. You become. Once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand. Once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always.
Margery WilliamsRead