To be spiritually dead is to be diabolically alive
R. C. SproulRead
When God's justice falls, we are offended because we think God owes perpetual mercy. We must not take His grace for granted. We must never lose our capacity to be amazed by grace
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of recognizing and appreciating grace rather than taking it for granted.
R. C. Sproul's quote reflects on human expectations of divine mercy, suggesting that when faced with justice, we are often offended as we mistakenly assume that we are entitled to continuous grace. It serves as a reminder to maintain a sense of wonder and gratitude for the grace we receive, rather than viewing it as something owed to us.
In practice
In a sermon discussing the nature of divine mercy, this quote can illustrate the balance between grace and justice.
To be spiritually dead is to be diabolically alive
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.
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?
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.
Without God man has no reference point to define himself.
I do not want to drive across a bridge designed by an engineer who believed the numbers in structural stress models are relative truths.
Without the way, there is no going; without the truth, there is no knowing; without the life, there is no living.
When the emotional soul receives a wounding shock, the soul seems to recover as the body recovers. But this is only in appearance. Slowly, slowly the wound to the soul begins to make itself felt, like a bruise, which only slowly deepens its terrible ache, till it fills all the psyche. And when we think we have recovered and forgotten, it is then that the terrible after-effects have to be encountered at their worst.
A man must ride alternately on the horses of his private and his public nature.
Is insincerity such a terrible thing? I think not. It is merely a method by which we can multiply our personalities.
I realized that Eastern thought had somewhat more compassion for all living things. Man was a form of life that in another reincarnation might possibly be a horsefly or a bird of paradise or a deer. So a man of such a faith, looking at animals, might be looking at old friends or ancestors. In the East the wilderness has no evil connotation; it is thought of as an expression of the unity and harmony of the universe.
The principle of nonviolent resistance seeks to reconcile the truths of two opposites-Acquiescence and violence -while avoiding the extremes and immoralities of both.
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