“The perfection we do not have, Jesus provided. The judgment we do not want, Jesus bore.”
- John Piper, Finally Alive (Scotland, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 2009), 74.
“Who is occupying the throne today?”
“In our vision of ultimate reality, who is occupying the throne today? Are we authentic New Testament Christians, whose vision is filled with Christ crucified, risen and reigning? Is guilt still reigning, and death? Or is grace reigning, and life?
To be sure, sin and Satan may seem to be reigning still, since many continue to bow down to them. But their reign is an illusion, a bluff. For at the cross they were decisively defeated, dethroned and disarmed.
Now Christ reigns, exalted to the Father’s right hand, with all things under his feet, welcoming the nations, and waiting for his remaining enemies to be made his footstool.”
—John Stott, The Message of Romans (Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1994), 162
Gospel for the body
“Wonderful is this deep characteristic of the Scripture; it is Gospel for the body. In Christ, the body is seen to be something far different from the mere clog, or prison, or chrysalis, of the soul. It is its destined implement, may we not say its mighty wings in prospect, for the life of glory. The glory of the immortal body will have profound relations with the work of God in the sanctified soul.”
—H. C. G. Moule, The Epistle to the Romans (Fort Washington, PA: CLC Ministries, 2001)
Felix Culpa
“He has not only caused the sin of man to act as a foil for the display of the full radiance of His attributes, and especially of His love, but has also, by the offering up of His Son, provided a means of salvation by which we might attain to a much higher stage of glory and relationship to God than we once possessed in our progenitor, or than we should ever have attained if we had not fallen. Our fall afforded Him the opportunity of showing that in the destruction of sin He could not only manifest His justice, but also glorify His mercy in remitting and forgiving sin, without infringing upon His righteousness.”
- F. W. Krummacher, The Suffering Saviour (Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, n.d.), 13.
The Prayer of Our High Priest
“It doesn’t matter how complicated, how desperate, perhaps even hopeless your life has become. No matter how overwhelmed you may feel by your problems, if your trust is in Jesus Christ, you can be sure that he is praying for you now and through that prayer he will provide for you the resources to bring you relief or enable you to carry on.
The most important thing that you and I need to learn about prayer is this: first of all and ultimately, prayer is not something we do but what Jesus does for us.”
- Richard B. Gaffin, “Christ, Our High Priest in Heaven“
All things for good
“God is never doing just one thing in what he does with us. He is always doing thousands of things that we cannot see. He never has only one purpose in what he does. He always has thousands of purposes, in everything he does. He is infinitely wise, and everything he does relates to everything else that he does sooner or later. For those who love him and are called according to his purpose, all of them—all of them!—work together for good.”
- John Piper, You Will Never Be Thirsty Again
Love for the gospel
“The longer I live the less optimistic I am that I will end without sin and the more grateful I become for the blood of Christ imputed to me. As I grow older I do not feel myself becoming gloriously holy but I find myself feeling great love for the gospel.”
- John Piper, in a message given at the re:Focus pastors conference
