the heart of the Christian message is God Himself waiting for
His redeemed children to push in to conscious awareness of His
presence. That type of Christianity which happens now to be the
vogue knows this Presence only in theory. It fails to stress
the Christian's privilege of present realization. According to
its teachings we are in the presence of God positionally, and
nothing is said about the need to experience that Presence
actually. We are satisfied to rest in our judicial possessions
and, for the most part, we bother ourselves very little about
the absence of personal experience.- A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Pursuit of God [1948], Christian Publications, 1982, p. 35
The best proof that He will never cease to love us lies in that He never began. What we are for Him and what He is for us belongs to the realm of eternal values. Without this we are nothing, in it we have all.- Geerhardus Vos: Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation, ed. By Richard B Gaffin, p.29
What is Christ's joy in us, but that He deigns to rejoice
on our account? And what is our joy, which He says shall be
full, but to have fellowship with Him? He had perfect joy on
our account, when He rejoiced in foreknowing and predestinating
us; but that joy was not in us, because we did not then exist;
it began to be in us, when He called us. And this joy we
rightly call our own, this joy wherewith we shall be blessed,
which is begun in the faith of them who are born again, and
shall be fulfilled in the reward of them who rise again.- Augustine of Hippo (354-430), from Tractate 83 on the Gospel of John as quoted in A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, vol. III, John Peter Lange & tr. Philip Schaff, New York: C. Scribner amp Co., 1871,p. 485
on our account? And what is our joy, which He says shall be
full, but to have fellowship with Him? He had perfect joy on
our account, when He rejoiced in foreknowing and predestinating
us; but that joy was not in us, because we did not then exist;
it began to be in us, when He called us. And this joy we
rightly call our own, this joy wherewith we shall be blessed,
which is begun in the faith of them who are born again, and
shall be fulfilled in the reward of them who rise again.- Augustine of Hippo (354-430), from Tractate 83 on the Gospel of John as quoted in A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, vol. III, John Peter Lange & tr. Philip Schaff, New York: C. Scribner amp Co., 1871,p. 485
It is thought that unconditional grace is unsafe. Man will
feel free to go on sinning. On the contrary, unconditional
forgiveness is the only rope that is long enough to reach to
the bottom of the pit into which we have fallen.-Edward Judson (1844-1914), "Life under pressure: a Lenten sermon", in The Outlook, v. XCVII, Lyman Abbott, ed., Outlook Co., 1911, p. 749
feel free to go on sinning. On the contrary, unconditional
forgiveness is the only rope that is long enough to reach to
the bottom of the pit into which we have fallen.-Edward Judson (1844-1914), "Life under pressure: a Lenten sermon", in The Outlook, v. XCVII, Lyman Abbott, ed., Outlook Co., 1911, p. 749
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