R.C. Sproul > Quotes

“Luther’s chronic stomach troubles have also been linked to a psychosomatic problem. His neurotic phobias all seemed to go directly to his stomach, destroying his digestion. His problem with flatulence has become legendary, due in part to his own exaggeration of it. His writings are sprinkled with references to his constant belching and breaking of wind. He said, “If I break wind in Wittenburg, they will hear it in Leipzig.” Fortunately Luther was able to find a sanctified use for his flatulence. He advised his students that the breaking of wind was a most effective device to repel the attacks of the devil. Elsewhere Luther spoke of resisting Satan by throwing an inkwell at him. Luther described his battle with Satan in the terms of a man under siege. He was sure that he was a personal target of the prince of hell.”
― R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God

“We fail in our duty to study God’s Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work.”
― R.C. Sproul, Knowing Scripture

“But, someone will say, does God not know, even without being reminded, both in what respect we are troubled and what is expedient for us, so that it may seem in a sense superfluous that he should be stirred up by our prayers-as if he were drowsily blinking or even sleeping until he is aroused by our voice? But they who thus reason do not observe to what end the Lord instructed his people to pray, for he ordained it not so much for his own sake as for ours. Now he wills-as is right-that his due be rendered to him, in the recognition that everything men desire and account conducive to their own profit comes from him, and in the attestation of this by prayers. But the profit of this sacrifice also, by which he is worshiped, returns to us. Accordingly, the holy fathers, the more confidently they extolled God's benefits among themselves and others, were the more keenly aroused to pray ...
Still it is very important for us to call upon him: First, that our hearts may be fired with a zealous and burning desire ever to seek, love, and serve him, while we become accustomed in every need to flee to him as to a sacred anchor. Secondly, that there may enter our hearts no desire and no wish at all of which we should be ashamed to make him a witness, while we learn to set
all our wishes before his eyes, and even to pour out our whole hearts. Thirdly, that we be prepared to receive his benefits with true gratitude of heart and thanksgiving, benefits that our prayer reminds us come from his hand. (Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, ed. John T. McNeill [Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1960], Book 3, chapter 20, section 3.)”
― R.C. Sproul, Does Prayer Change Things?

“Perhaps the most important principle in Scripture regarding abilities is found in Paul's injunction that we ought to make a sober analysis of ourselves, not thinking too highly of ourselves (Rom. 12:3). Through sober analysis, we can
make a serious,”
― R.C. Sproul, Can I Know God's Will?

“Cualquiera que sugiera que el bautismo es innecesario está desafiando el mandato de Cristo mismo.”
― R.C. Sproul, ¿Qué Es el Bautismo?

“Puesto que no tenemos el poder de ser en nosotros mismos, no duraríamos ni un segundo sin su poder sustentador. Eso es parte de la providencia de Dios.”
― R.C. Sproul, ¿Controla Dios todas Las Cosas?

“The journey has but one guarantee: Christ promises to go with us and to bring us out the other side. Our Lord finishes what He starts. He does not abort His handiwork in the middle of its creation.”
― R.C. Sproul, Pleasing God: Discovering the Meaning and Importance of Sanctification

“depends," said the cat, fixing a sardonic smile on the confused girl.
"On what?" Alice managed to reply.
"It depends on your destination. Where are you going?" the cat asked.
"I don't know," Alice stammered.
"Then," said the cat, his grin spreading wider, "it doesn't matter which way you go.”
― R.C. Sproul, Can I Know God's Will?

“When I violate one point of God's law, I bring myself into opposition to God Himself.”
― R.C. Sproul, How Should I Live In This World?

“Jesus declared that our productivity, our fruitfulness, is directly linked to our abiding in Him. As Christians, we will bear fruit, but it will vary in degree. The closer we stay to Christ, the more fruit we will bear. The more we wander out from the center and neglect the means of grace that He has given to us, the less fruit we will produce.”
― R.C. Sproul, John

“skipping, and singing the whole way. They recalled the words of Jesus in the upper room of the”
― R.C. Sproul, Who Is Jesus?

“God makes no promise that He will use my story as His power unto salvation. The gospel is not about me. The gospel is aboutJesus. It is the proclamation of the person and work of Christ, and of how a person can appropriate the benefits of the work of Christ by faith alone.”
― R.C. Sproul, John

“Căutarea călăuzirii providențiale a lui Dumnezeu trebuie întotdeauna subordonată studiului de către noi a voii revelate a lui Dumnezeu.”
― R.C. Sproul, Can I Know God's Will?

“In Old Testament Israel, drunkenness was a problem, and God spoke against drunkenness and saw it as a serious sin. But the problem was the drunkenness, not the drink.”
― R.C. Sproul, What Can I Do With My Guilt?

“The image of God in the narrow sense concerns mankind's ethical capacity and behavior. In creation, man was given the ability and the responsibility to mirror and reflect the holy character of God. Since the fall, the mirror has been splotched by the grime of sin. We have lost our capacity for moral perfection, but we have not lost our humanity with this ethical loss.”
― R.C. Sproul, Abortion: A Rational Look at An Emotional Issue

“commemoration like Christmas and Easter. The event is described only twice in the New Testament. I am now convinced that no single event in the life of Jesus”
― R.C. Sproul, Who Is Jesus?

“Si mi voluntad está esclavizada por mis disposiciones y deseos, ¿qué esperanza tengo de romper alguna vez los patrones del pecado que son tan destructivos para mi actual tipo de conducta?”. En un sentido real, el proceso de santificación implica una radical reprogramación del yo interior. No somos víctimas de fuerzas mecánicas ciegas que controlan nuestro destino. Como seres inteligentes, podemos hacer algo para cambiar las disposiciones de nuestro corazón y las inclinaciones de nuestra mente.”
― R.C. Sproul, ¿Puedo conocer la voluntad de Dios?

“When Jesus heard that statement from Simon, He pronounced a benediction. He looked at His disciple and said: “Blessed”
― R.C. Sproul, What Does It Mean to Be Born Again?

“In biblical categories, there is a triad of virtues, all of which point beyond themselves to the holiness of God. This triad is composed of the good, the true, and the beautiful.”
― R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God

“The world or the soul? Please the world or please God?”
― R.C. Sproul, Pleasing God: Discovering the Meaning and Importance of Sanctification

“Nosotros afirmamos confiadamente que Dios nos ha revelado quién es Él, quiénes somos nosotros y cómo se espera que nos relacionemos con Dios. Él nos ha revelado aquello que le agrada y lo que Él ordena.”
― R.C. Sproul, ¿Cómo debo vivir en este mundo?, Spanish Edition

“Si algo provoca en nosotros nuestra comprensión de la soberanía de Dios, debería ser una intensa vida de oración de agradecimiento”
― R.C. Sproul, ¿Puede la oración cambiar las cosas?

“We have no merit to offer God except for that earned for us by our Savior.”
― R.C. Sproul, Matthew

“We should be concerned with our environment because God placed man in His garden and made Him responsible to dress, fill, keep, and replenish it. Adam and Eve were not given the right to exploit or abuse the created world. They were, however, made superordinate, not subordinate, to the animals. Animals are here for our well-being. We do not exist to serve them; they exist to serve us, and we are to rule them benevolently. Today, naturalism has replaced God with Mother Earth, and we do more to protect fish eggs than human fetuses. Our priorities are out of order.”
― R.C. Sproul, Truths We Confess: A Systematic Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith

“in prayer. The Holy Spirit teaches, inspires, and illumines God’s Word to us. He mediates the Word of God and assists us in responding to the Father in prayer. Simply put, prayer has a vital place in the life of the Christian. One”
― R.C. Sproul, Does Prayer Change Things?

“But if Jesus was not really forsaken on the cross, we are still in our sins. We have no redemption. We have no salvation. The whole point of the cross is that if Jesus was going to bear our sins and the sanctions of the covenant, then He had to experience the fullness of the curse. He had to experience utter and complete forsakenness by the Father.”
― R.C. Sproul, Saved from What?

“What is the goal of the Christian life? It is godliness born of obedience to Christ. Obedience unlocks the riches of the Christian experience. Prayer prompts and nurtures obedience, putting the heart into the proper “frame of mind” to desire obedience.”
― R.C. Sproul, Does Prayer Change Things?

“When Jesus celebrated His final Passover with His disciples, He departed from the standard liturgy in the middle of the celebration. He added a new meaning to the Passover celebration as He took the unleavened bread, attaching a new significance to it when He said, “This is My body which is broken for you.” Then, after the supper had been completed, He took the wine and he said, in effect, “I’m attaching a new significance to this element as you celebrate the Passover because this wine is my blood. Not the blood of the lamb in the Old Testament whose blood was marked on the doorpost, but now this cup is my blood.” In essence, Jesus was saying, “I am the Passover; I am the Paschal Lamb; I am the one who will be sacrificed for you. It is by My blood being marked over the door of your life that you will escape the wrath of God.” So He said: “From now on, this is My blood, which is shed for you for the remission of your sins. This is the blood of a new covenant.” This new covenant that He instituted that very night fulfills the old covenant, giving it its fullest and most meaningful expression.”
― R.C. Sproul, What Is The Lord's Supper?

“The punitive measures against murder underscore the gravity of the crime precisely because of the value of the victim.”
― R.C. Sproul, Abortion: A Rational Look at An Emotional Issue

“O primeiro fruto do arrependimento autêntico é o reconhecimento de nossa profunda necessidade de misericórdia.”
― R.C. Sproul, O Qué es el arrepentimiento?