Quotables

I have a practice of reading, slowly and prayerfully, through a book on the gospel as part of my devotions, marking and collecting my favorite quotes. Here's a brief sample:

“The glory of the gospel is this: The one from whom we need to be saved is the one who has saved us.” ~ R. C. Sproul in Saved from What?

“The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man.” ~ John Stott in The Cross of Christ

“The gospel reminds me first that what I actually deserve from God is a full cup churning with the torments of His wrath. This is the cup that would be mine to drink if I were given what I deserve each day. …That God, in fact, has given me a cup that is full of “every spiritual blessing in Christ,” and this without the slightest admixture of wrath, leaves me truly dumbfounded with inexpressible joy.” ~ Milton Vincent in A Gospel Primer for Christians

“Don’t buy the lie that cultivating condemnation and wallowing in your shame is somehow pleasing to God, or that a constant, low-grade quilt will somehow promote holiness and spiritual maturity. It’s just the opposite! God is glorified when we believe with all our hearts that those who trust in Christ can never be condemned.” ~ C. J. Mahaney in The Cross Centered Life

“You don't have anything to prove to us or the world. The work is finished at Calvary, and that work alone has unlimited meaning and value.” ~ Jack Miller in The Heart of a Servant Leader

“I fear that the cross, without ever being disowned, is constantly in danger of being dismissed from the central place it must enjoy, by relatively peripheral insights that take on far too much weight. Whenever the periphery is in danger of displacing the center, we are not far removed from idolatry.” ~ D. A. Carson in The Cross and Christian Ministry

“This is the gospel by which we were saved, and it is the gospel by which we must live every day of our Christian lives.” ~ Jerry Bridges in The Discipline of Grace