J. I. Packer Quotes - Page 5

If our theology does not quicken the conscience and soften the heart, it actually hardens both.

There are few things stressed more strongly in the Bible than the reality of God's work as Judge.

The Church, therefore, has two constant needs; instruction in the truths by which it must live, and correction of the shortcomings by which its life is marred.

Martin Luther described the doctrine of justification by faith as the article of faith that decides whether the church is standing or falling. By this he meant that when this doctrine is understood, believed, and preached, as it was in New-Testament times, the church stands in the grace of God and is alive; but where it is neglected, overlaid, or denied, ... the church falls from grace and its life drains away, leaving it in a state of darkness and death.

We must learn to measure ourselves, not by our knowledge about God, not by our gifts and responsibilities in the church, but by how we pray and what goes on in our hearts. Many of us, I suspect, have no idea how impoverished we are at this level. Let us ask the Lord to show us.

God uses chronic pain and weakness, along with other afflictions, as his chisel for sculpting our lives.

Joy is a condition that is experienced, but it is more than a feeling; it is, primarily, a state of mind.

Maturity is a compound of wisdom, goodwill, resilience, and creativity.

The saving power of the cross does not depend on faith being addded to it; its saving power is such that faith flows from it

It is often the case, as all the saints know, that fellowship with the Father and the Son is most vivid and sweet, and Christian joy is greatest, when the cross is heaviest.

We meet God through entering into a relationship both of dependance on Jesus as our Saviour and Friend and of discipleship to Him as our Lord and Master.

The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor -- spending and being spent -- to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others -- and not just their own friends -- in whatever way there seems need.

Have you been holding back from a risky, costly course to which you know in your heart God has called you? Hold back no longer. Your God is faithful to you, and adequate for you. You will never need more than He can supply, and what He supplies, both materially and spiritually, will always be enough for the present.

The gift of sonship to God becomes ours not through being born, but through being born again.

The way to be truly happy is to be truly human, and the way to be truly human is to be truly godly.

Arminianism is 'natural' in one sense, in that it represents a characteristic perversion of Biblical teaching by the fallen mind of man.

Sanctification has a double aspect. Its positive side is vivification, the growing and maturing of the new man; its negative side is mortification, the weakening and killing of the old man.

The Puritan ethic of marriage was first to look not for a partner whom you do love passionately at this moment but rather for one whom you can love steadily as your best friend for life, then to proceed with God’s help to do just that.

If one preaches the Bible biblically, one cannot help preaching the gospel all the time.

Justification is the truly dramatic transition from the status of a condemned criminal awaiting a terrible sentence to that of an heir awaiting a fabulous inheritance.

God's love is an exercise of his goodness toward sinners who merit only condemnation.

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.

Scripture is the most up-to-date and relevant reading that ever comes my way.

This one word 'grace' contains within itself the whole of New Testament theology.

The grace of God is love freely shown toward guilty sinners, contrary to their merit and indeed in defiance of their demerit.