What is The Church? Quotes

“glimpsed”
― R.C. Sproul, What Is the Church?

“confines of the institutional church there are people who are true believers, but there are also unbelievers inside the visible, institutional church. They’re in the church, but they’re not in Christ because they’ve made a false profession of faith. Jesus said of some of His contemporaries, “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Matt. 15:8). Jesus recognized that there were people within Israel who were not true believers. Paul said something similar: “Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel” (Rom. 9:6). These Jews went through the rituals and were part of the visible community. They were participating in all of the activities, but they were still aliens and strangers to the things of God. In the New Testament, the metaphor that Jesus uses with respect”
― R.C. Sproul, What Is the Church?

“together”
― R.C. Sproul, What Is the Church?

“He also told us to take great care in exercising church discipline, lest in our zeal to purify the church we rip out the wheat along with the tares.”
― R.C. Sproul, What is The Church?

“Jesus uses this metaphor to give a warning to the church that, on the one hand, the church is to be engaged in discipline so that those weeds that threaten to destroy the purity of the church are removed.”
― R.C. Sproul, What is The Church?

“We’ve learned to coexist with people with whom we disagree. We value that peace. But I’m afraid the danger is that we value it so much that we’re willing to obscure the gospel itself.”
― R.C. Sproul, What is The Church?

“Luther said that when the gospel is preached with passion and with accuracy, it does not bring peace. In fact, our Lord Himself said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34).”
― R.C. Sproul, What is The Church?

“The message of the false prophets of Israel was one of peace.”
― R.C. Sproul, What is The Church?

“Luther said that it was inevitable that before long, the truth of the gospel would be hidden once more in obscurity. The reason he gave was that where the gospel is preached, it divides and controversy ensues. People don’t want ongoing controversy. We want peace.”
― R.C. Sproul, What is The Church?

“ornithological specimens of the same or similar plumage tend to habitually congregate in the closest possible proximity.” Or being translated, “birds of a feather flock together.”
― R.C. Sproul, What is The Church?

“when”
― R.C. Sproul, What Is the Church?

“Realmente necesitamos mover cielo y tierra para mantener la paz. No obstante, al mismo tiempo, se nos llama a ser fieles a la verdad del evangelio y la pureza de la iglesia.”
― R.C. Sproul, ¿Qué es la iglesia?

“Hemos aprendido a coexistir con personas con las que discrepamos. Valoramos esa paz. Pero me temo que el peligro es que la valoramos tanto que estamos dispuestos a oscurecer el evangelio mismo.”
― R.C. Sproul, ¿Qué es la iglesia?

“Lutero dijo que cuando el evangelio se predica con pasión y precisión, no trae paz.”
― R.C. Sproul, ¿Qué es la iglesia?

“Hemos aprendido a coexistir con personas con las que discrepamos. Valoramos esa paz. Pero me temo que el peligro es que la valoramos tanto que estamos dispuestos a oscurecer el evangelio mismo. Debemos tener cuidado de hablar de unidad cuando en realidad no la tenemos.”
― R.C. Sproul, ¿Qué es la iglesia?

“Lutero dijo que era inevitable que, dentro de poco tiempo, la luz del evangelio sería escondida una vez más en la oscuridad. La razón que dio fue que allí donde se predica el evangelio, este divide y provoca controversia. La gente no quiere constante controversia. Lo que queremos es paz. El mensaje de los falsos profetas de Israel era un mensaje de paz. Pero su paz era ilusoria. Ellos predicaban paz cuando no había paz, o lo que Lutero llamaba una paz carnal. Lutero dijo que cuando el evangelio se predica con pasión y precisión, no trae paz.”
― R.C. Sproul, ¿Qué es la iglesia?

“I think the attribute of the church that is most seriously under attack in our day is its Apostolicity, because there has been a wholesale rejection within the church of the authority of sacred Scripture.”
― R.C. Sproul, What is The Church?

“So controversial was the preaching of the gospel that the religious establishment of the Jewish community forbade the Apostles from preaching the gospel at all because it was controversial and because it divided people.”
― Reformation Trust Publishing, What is The Church?

“the unity of which the New Testament speaks is a unity of faith, a unity where people come together because of a common commitment to truth and to the gospel.”
― Reformation Trust Publishing, What is The Church?

“The purpose of witnessing is to make something manifest that is hidden.”
― Reformation Trust Publishing, What is The Church?

“We’ve learned to coexist with people with whom we disagree. We value that peace. But I’m afraid the danger is that we value it so much that we’re willing to obscure the gospel itself.”
― Reformation Trust Publishing, What is The Church?